My Random Thoughts on Keeping a Car Running for a while

[Donald]

I have a 2015 F-250. Been treated with a couple of sprayed rust proofing products over the years. Now in DE it's hard to find someone who sprays the rustproofing products. I work from home so I try and avoid driving the few times when the roads are salt or brine treated. I just upgraded the HPFP. Keep up with suspension and brakes. Get outside detailed 2x a year. Don't let wife or kids drive it. Don"t get into the vehicle with screwdriver or putty knife sticking out of back pocket (did that in another vehicle and you can guess the result).

 

[KrisZ]

I like to keep the vehicles I bought brand new for a long time, but honestly, outside or regular maintenance and your willingness to keep it, there is no formula for the long term ownership.

There are just too many variables to account for. Your perfectly maintained and babied car can be totaled by an uninsured driver tomorrow. No one will care, especially your insurance company that it was your “baby” or that you waxed it once a week and changed the oil from the premium shelf at Walmart.

I know that some guys like to worry about their cars all the time and that’s how they “enjoy” the ownership, but man, that sounds exhausting.

 

[TomYoung]

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. .

You are going to have to explain this alternator idea. You can leave it in forever, and replace when needed years down the road. Do you believe that it degrades and causes further damage?

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

Don't drive the car in the rust belt seems to be the best way to make the car last.
My engine can last X miles!
Good for you.
My seat just fell out of the bottom of my car when I got in it too vigorously. But yeah the engine is a great.

 

[VersatileGuy]

You are going to have to explain this alternator idea. You can leave it in forever, and replace when needed years down the road. Do you believe that it degrades and causes further damage?

I left alternators on old cars that didn't run for two-three years. These cars were not garaged. So things got stuck over time, even the exterior locks took time to loosen up again. When time came to fire them up, the alternators were dead.

My suspicion is simple. Heat from regular use prevents water vapor from infiltrating and causing some form of chemical breakdown on the voltage regulator internals, the diode material, and even maybe breaking down the wiring varnish.

I had to eat one getting stranded on a main road, and then it got towed because I wasn't close by in order to get cell service. The company also dented the hood.

 

[TomYoung]

I left alternators on old cars that didn't run for two-three years. These cars were not garaged. So things got stuck over time, even the exterior locks took time to loosen up again. When time came to fire them up, the alternators were dead.

My suspicion is simple. Heat from regular use prevents water vapor from infiltrating and causing some form of chemical breakdown on the voltage regulator internals, the diode material, and even maybe breaking down the wiring varnish.

I had to eat one getting stranded on a main road, and then it got towed because I wasn't close by in order to get cell service. The company also dented the hood.

Maybe the advice should be to make sure things are mobile when you start up. On pulling and selling the alternator as advice, you got nuthin

 

[VersatileGuy]

Maybe the advice should be to make sure things are mobile when you start up. On pulling and selling the alternator as advice, you got nuthin

I'm barely understanding what exactly your point is or what are you trying to say? What is the meaning of "things are mobile".

Nor did I say anything about selling the alternator.

Or are you saying I'm lying and my story is fiction.

 

[TomYoung]

I'm barely understanding what exactly your point is or what are you trying to say? What is the meaning of "things are mobile".

Nor did I say anything about selling the alternator.

Or are you saying I'm lying and my story is fiction.

Not saying you are lying. I encourage you to look at the second line of your post#35 which interpreted wrongly due to the poor sentence construction using an ambiguous antecedents. I used the word mobile to describe non- binding, freely moving components. Whatever you were suggesting about removing the alternator is ignorant advice

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

antecedents.

I had to look up a new for me word. Thank you.

 

[supton]

Not saying you are lying. I encourage you to look at the second line of your post#35 which interpreted wrongly due to the poor sentence construction using an ambiguous antecedents.

Indeed, learned a new word today...

but I read post #35 the same way. Store the alternator well, or sell the alternator.

Remove the alternator from the vehicle and either sell it or keep it in climate controlled facilities if put into very long term storage

Shame on having to replace an alternator on the side of the road. Did it seize or just fail?

Antidotally... few years ago on my daily driver (a car that I would drive 50 miles to work, then 50 home, 5 days a week, plus trips on Saturday & Sunday), I had noticed that the radiator tank (fiberglass) was cracked and showed signs of weeping. Ordered a radiator on Wed, swapped in on Saturday. After getting in I noticed... the battery light was on. I had driven it the day before! but it didn't care, alternator died that day.

No sooner did I get the alternator swapped that the cable running from the shifter to the transmission snapped. Three quick repairs, I think it was down for 3 weeks (lost two as I tried to go cheap and order replacement brushes for the OEM Denso alternator--wasn't that--then it was a few days to get the cable in the mail).

 

[Johnson Johnson]

Good tips. Don’t follow oil change OCI or fuel.

I use 10k interval per VW and at 190k no issues.

I worked on off brand gas station in college. We bought ends of tanker trucks including premium sometimes added to our regular tanks from branded stuff like Mobil , Shell , BP etc. All trucks went to same depot in Boston but each brand had a tank or so.

Do you use ACEA oils?

 

[andyd]

Some do, but it's generally a low oil pressure indicator - not oil level. Your profile picture

A major cause of low oil pressure is low oil. That said, the low oil level light was dead accurate at a qt low on my 528e. Camrys don't use much oil in the 5K mile OCI I observe

 

[MetalSlug]

This should be sticky thread , I love topic like this .

 

[TheOilWizard]

A major cause of low oil pressure is low oil. That said, the low oil level light was dead accurate at a qt low on my 528e. Camrys don't use much oil in the 5K mile OCI I observe

Sure, but the point I was making was not to rely on the oil pressure indicator as a sign you need to add oil. By that point you're at a critical level and damage could occur. If the car is equipped with an oil level indicator (not pressure), that's a different situation.

 

[Kurtatron]

I’m thinking of adding an engine block heater. The kinds that go into the freeze plugs. I’m convinced it will reduce wear after watching FreedomWorx’s video on start up wear using prefilled vs dry oil filters.

He cited a study that explain the cold start wear isn’t from sub-optimal tolerances due to cold metal or uneven expansion due to thermal expansion rates. Cold start wear is due to water condensation on cold cylinders from combustion. The water, heat, and acidic products of combustion eat the metal away when it condenses on the cold metal.

Block heater is like $30. Maybe to spare some wear, I’ll install one of those.

 

[Johnson Johnson]

A major cause of low oil pressure is low oil. That said, the low oil level light was dead accurate at a qt low on my 528e. Camrys don't use much oil in the 5K mile OCI I observe

That's a quality car, I had a few around 15-17 years ago when they were cheap. I used to buy them on eBay for £500-900, as long as the rear subframe mounts and bulkhead were solid, they seemed excellent.

Two particularly nice ones fell into the wrong hands sadly and they ruined them. Be worth loads now. Wish I'd kept them.

 

[chorty]

#5. I spray diesel fuel everywhere.

Otherwise everything else is pointless.

 

[chorty]

I’m thinking of adding an engine block heater. The kinds that go into the freeze plugs. I’m convinced it will reduce wear after watching FreedomWorx’s video on start up wear using prefilled vs dry oil filters.

He cited a study that explain the cold start wear isn’t from sub-optimal tolerances due to cold metal or uneven expansion due to thermal expansion rates. Cold start wear is due to water condensation on cold cylinders from combustion. The water, heat, and acidic products of combustion eat the metal away when it condenses on the cold metal.

Block heater is like $30. Maybe to spare some wear, I’ll install one of those.

View attachment 286599

In a perfect scenario, the only item to wear besides a thrust bearing on a manual, are the piston rings.

Everything else suffers on the first start before oil is pressurized, which does take time, and longer with thicker oil, be it from improper viscosity, or temperatures.

The only pitfall with block heaters, as they're just block heaters. The gearbox is always thought of last.

On my heavy equipment, I always let the hydraulics move oil for 15-20mins before loading it heavily when its -20*F

 

[MCompact]

I'm going on 30 years of ownership of my Club Sport. I haven't babied it but I have maintained it by the book. It was my HPDE instructor car from 1996 to 2012 where the M42 motor spent the majority of the time spinning north of 4,500 rpm. The engine has only needed a front seal and a thermostat.

 

[4WD]

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).

I do that and not just to let the vehicle warm slowly - I take a slower route and sip coffee - but most importantly I’m avoiding LH turns at a busy 50 mph intersection … Then it’s RH turns in a slower speed limit/less traffic area …