I try to fill up with E0 when I can. Cenex E0 Top-Tier is great to use!
My Random Thoughts on Keeping a Car Running for a while
- Thread starter Boomer
- Start date
Where do you find this mysterious juice?
Keep your tire pressure sensors working at all times.
Check the nut behind the wheel.
I've mentioned my bi-monthly 4 hour runs here before.
These runs consistently eliminate stumbling performance in locally driven vehicles.
Family members occasionally ask me to use their cars when I make these trips
I used to think, "...Don't be lazy, just check your tire pressure with a gauge. It's more precise."
However, I've had occasions where a tire has lost pressure over a few days and the sensor caught it.
AND it never happened again.
This just happened. My RF tire just decided to lose air. I refilled it and it stayed at my pressure as usual.
So yes, keep those TPMS sensors working AND check your tire pressure with a gauge consistently.
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You mean the loose one?
Patman
Staff member
I think this list is great but I also think it’s missing probably the most important factor in helping a car last a long time. It’s the way you drive it! I especially think that you can really make the engine and transmission last way longer if you drive it gently during the warm up phase (the time period between the cold start and when the oil reaches operating temperature).
Patman, that is a very good point!!!
This as well as…just because your engine will rev 6k doesn’t mean it should. Passing yes, but just to hear-feel the engine spin up isn’t best for a stock engine. Most of our vehicles aren’t race cars. The recent years of GM 5.3 V8 lifter failures have had some help from the owners. Adhering to the built in oil change reminder (too long) and spinning the engine up because it can (doesn’t mean it should) has trashed many camshafts, lifters, and ultimately engines. Just like the original post, common sense…..
I also live by every Sunday morning oil level checks and NEVER leave anything in my car. Whatever I get in the car with I take it out when I get home. My cars are always spotless “day one” inside.
Patman
Staff member
That’s a great habit to get into and it can also lessen the chances of it getting broken into (since criminals probably look inside to see if there is anything of value to take)
Good list.
Much of it is not necessary to get a vehicle to reasonably high mileage though. There are things on here that I’ve never done and still had several vehicles go 10 yrs/200K miles.
I’d call this more of +10 yrs/250-500K miles list/plan. When you are pushing it that far it’s the little things that will add up over time.
Much of it is not necessary to get a vehicle to reasonably high mileage though. There are things on here that I’ve never done and still had several vehicles go 10 yrs/200K miles.
I’d call this more of +10 yrs/250-500K miles list/plan. When you are pushing it that far it’s the little things that will add up over time.
STORY:
While working in a far away city, I was, for a while, the only guy with a car. I gave guys a ride back to the hotel, where I too was staying, and one bloke left his leather brief case on the shelf directly beneath my car's fast back windshield*.
He said, "Since we were going back to work the next day, I figured I'd leave my posh leather brief case in the car".
I could've strangled him. Yes, thieves TRIED to break into my car.
They twisted a slap hammer into the rear hatch lock cylinder.
One of the bosses broke off and they must not have had a replacement screw for the collet as they didn't complete the break in.
Still, I could've strangled that dolt.
*1977 Toyota Celica GT; California GT
As I've mentioned before, my wife worked at my son's school and often handled the car line. She was constantly amazed at the number of cars that had interiors resembling the inside of a dumpster. No way would either of us tolerate any garbage in the car- or in the luggage compartment.
Stabil or use ethanol free gas if storage is of a longer time period.
Remove the alternator from the vehicle and either sell it or keep it in climate controlled facilities if put into very long term storage
Replace valve cover gaskets around 100k or at the first sign of failure. The hoses and stuff are chemically incompatible with motor oil aerosol. .
Remove the alternator from the vehicle and either sell it or keep it in climate controlled facilities if put into very long term storage
Replace valve cover gaskets around 100k or at the first sign of failure. The hoses and stuff are chemically incompatible with motor oil aerosol. .
A good tip I have heard is to keep your leather seats clean because dirt is abrasive and will wear down the finish.
I'm a clean car guy now, but I wasn't always...
I'm a clean car guy now, but I wasn't always...
And sweat includes salt ...bad for leather.
The oil burner makers do
our VW which consumes quart every 5-6k has it.Avoid short tripping whenever possible. Instead of 2 or 3 or 4 short trips, try to combine all at once. Reduce cold starts when possible.
Be a defensive driver. Take good care of your car, get it to 150K and 10 years old only to be smacked by a guy running a stop sign. Insurance company totals your babied vehicle for a small check.
