How high can the RPM of an engine go before the pistons give out?

Question

Yes, still on my same car questions from a while back. Nissan claims that they did put oil in my car after the oil change and that either I let the RPM go to high or that I downshifted when I wasn't supposed to. I know it wasn't downshifting b/c my car won't even let me go into a lower gear if it's not ready for it. Maybe if I force it hard enough, but I know I didn't force any gears.
I still don't think it was the "high RPM," however, tomorrow when I meet w/ the Nissan lawyers, I would like to be able to give them an average of how high the RPM can go before the pistons would bust a hole in my engine.
(I still don't think it was this though, seeing that I was driving my car 60mph in 5th gear).
Thanks to all those who have helped out!

Answer 1

I do not know, but if you want to find out, put it in neutral, and press the gas pedal all the way in until the engine seizes.

Answer 2

Hmm, there would be other signs of oil starvation (piston scuffing in the other cylinders, significant bearing wear / failure resulting in galling of the crankshaft. If they did not put a sufficient amount of oil in the crank case, there should also be major signs of oil exiting the hole made by the failed piston's rod exiting the block. Since I do not know your model / engine option I cannot advise you as if your car is equipped with a low oil pressure shutoff in the PCM.

The redline of your car (when it ran) was indicated on your tach, usual redlines are around 6.5 -7K RPM for Japanese cars, in 5th going 60 your RPM should have been about 2,200 (once again I assume you have a manual transmission) so you are well below redline. I would say piston failure would occur on its own around 8,500 RPM, now if the engine did not have oil the piston could fail at 1,000 rpm due to galling the cylinder walls OR from oil starvation of the top end resulting in a valve stuck open and the piston striking it, first hit bends the valve, second hit contacts the valve's side acting as a cold chisel shattering the piston.

Has your engine been disassembled to determine the cause of failure? Nissan is a ba**buster when it comes to warranty claims on some of their models i.e. Sentra SE-R, perhaps they view the crowd that buys these cars immature or not as responsible as Maxima, 350ZX, and Titan buyers. You need to be careful as Nissan is taking the stance to deny your claim and lay the blame at your doorstep, the engine needs to be disassembled to determine the actual cause of failure, I don't know that I would trust the same dealer to do this.

Nissan's have become very computer controlled cars, it is hard to break redline, virtually impossible with their Automatics ( I had an 04 Maxima / Automatic and it would go onto limp home mode if I had it WOT (wide open throttle) on an inclined freeway on ramp, I had to pull over turn the car off and restart it )

Answer 3

Pistons dont just give out if you momentarily spike your rpms, you have to hold it there (5000-7000rpms) for a while before they blow. Sounds like either there was no oil in the engine, and it was hot enough to warp components, or there was a problem before the oil change.
Loose filters, not putting the plug back in right, or just not adding oil would be my first assumption. 60 in 5th should be about 2500-3000- rpms, and unless you street rod on the weekend, normal driving shouldnt do that much damage to your engine (unless were talking a 25 year old car)

Answer 4

As long as the high rpm is not extreme, there is no problem except for high fuel consumption. Oil pressure and delivery are the same, forces are lower (because of the lower gear), and deposit formation is reduced. The improved performance you feel is probably due to the high rpm cleaning out combustion chamber deposits. Back when I was a kid and worried about being drafted and sent to Vietnam, it was the equivalent of using Seafoam - a trendy thing to do. It was popularly known as an "Italian tune-up." More recently when Volvo 850s get hard to start because they are just driven around town, an Italian tune-up frees the sticky valves and makes them purr again.

Answer 5

An examination of the engine would make it very obvious if failure was caused by over revving or oil starvation. Over revving genrally doesn't cause piston failure in factory vehicles because the valves start floating first and the computer restricts rpm anyhow. You'd have to go 130mph in 5th gear before you redlined that thing. Nissan is just trying to avoid paying for their mistakes.

Answer 6

Your Nissan could probably do 9K before damage occoured. Subaru's EA81 engine redlines at 5500rpm, but will actually go to almost 12,000 before it flies apart.

Answer 7

you must be right. 60 in 5th aint nothing. they must not believe you.