What an old timer used to get 600K

[Robbie Alexander]

Met an old timer courier today that I have seen over the years but never talked with. Today I noticed his truck was re-painted and oh, looked so fine for an old truck... I asked him his miles, he said 741K. I asked when he rebuilt the engine, and he said right at 600K. I asked why, he said because it would not pass inspection. I asked him why, he said because it blew too much smoke. I asked How MUCH, he said between 1/4 -1 Quart a day (tank) I asked him the average, he said usually 1 quart to 3/4 quart a day unless he didn't get on the freeway. I asked him When this started he siad in the high 300K to low 400K and just got worse until it was burning what it did. I asked him what oil he used, and he said CASTROL 20w-50 since new, and on the rebuilt too, before the 20-50 he'd use a straight 50 in the summer and a 20 or 30 in the winter. He said his secret besides the oil was to not ever have a leak and to always rebuild anything like starter or alt, etc. and stick with the original motor. This is his second truck that he's done like this. We talked about the rear end, never changing the fluid with 741K original miles, but the tranny he rebuilt when the engine was done at 600K.
I listened to his motor with 141K on it and it sounded like new, as he pulled away, he said to me, to just pick ONE oil that you like and one method and stick to it and not to change. HUMMMM.

 

[Jim]

For a vehicle that is run all day long that mileage is not really all that impressive. It was already burning oil at 300,000 miles.
One thing that has helped newer cars tremendously is fuel injection. The old carburetors with chokes would dilute the oil with gas and they cylinders would wear fast.
A diesel engine in a truck should go a million miles without much trouble.

 

[Robbie Alexander]

quote:

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Originally posted by Jim:
For a vehicle that is run all day long that mileage is not really all that impressive. It was already burning oil at 300,000 miles.
One thing that has helped newer cars tremendously is fuel injection. The old carburetors with chokes would dilute the oil with gas and they cylinders would wear fast.
A diesel engine in a truck should go a million miles without much trouble.

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And mine burned oil since new and has never quit.
So what? It started at 300K-400K before it got bad
and had to be rebuilt at 600K.
I donno if this is EFI it's an 1988 Toyota, and it is a GASOLINE engine. This is a small pick-up.
Used in Courier work. A lot of stop and go and sitting in traffic.
If this is no big deal that he got the milage out of a 20-50 oil I don't know what is.

 

[Bluestream]

I would say that it is very impressive. Courier type driving is the same as taxi and Police work. Constant acceleration, and then braking with very little highway driving. This is as hard as it gets. Original differential fluid?

There is a school of thought that you should never change the rear end fluid. I had a 92 Jaguar XJ6 that had 80,000KM and was six years old when I changed the diff fluid for the first time. A day later the rear end started to have a whine.

Did you ask him how often he changed the oil?

 

[Tim_Z]

741,000 miles in stop-and-go traffic? Do you think this fellow MIGHT be pulling your leg? While not impossible, that is 49K+ per year.

I think is is easy for one to overstate their mileage on a vehicle.

Tim

 

[Jim]

quote:

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If this is no big deal that he got the milage out of a 20-50 oil I don't know what is.

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I figured that based on the mileage driven it must have spent most of the time on the highway. If it was used as a delivery truck and it was a small engine then yes, I would say it's impressive.

 

[Scooby]

If it is a 1988 Toyota truck it IS fuel injection. Toyota went from the 22R (carb) to 22RE (FI) in mid 1985.

 

[Robbie Alexander]

quote:

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Originally posted by Bluestream:
*-*-*Original differential fluid?

There is a school of thought that you should never change the rear end fluid. I had a 92 Jaguar XJ6 that had 80,000KM and was six years old when I changed the diff fluid for the first time. A day later the rear end started to have a whine.

Did you ask him how often he changed the oil?

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Same work I do, least til I get on with something else. Yes orig. fluid, I checked several times.
As far as the rear end, I changed mine severa; times before 100K then let it stay there over 200K, got the milage someplace, anyhow, after I changed it again, I did within 13K miles get a lot, much more play there.
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TIM:
NOPE, I have seen this guy over the years, the same with several of these guys I either worked with them over the years or keep bumping into them but it it usually tooo buzy, but since 9-11 it has been almost dead and so there are more chances to "talk" between stops.... It's been slow. I use to do 70-80K recently, and a young guy working most of my waking life over 200k upwards, upwards, upwards well beyond this per year... course that rate did not last too long
and after a drunk hurt my back and a couple accidents like a motorcycle doing faster than the dial showed and a fall and such, I cant and wont do what I did when I was young and dumb.
Anyhow the reason why I knew something was different is because it was painted, and he said a lady creamed the side and he had it repainted, etc...
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Jim:
I put more than this and could put more than I do but the money is not there and I FEEL too old... so I don't.
I will say this, often times it is either in the early part of the day that I put a lot on or in the evening. It is nothing for me to be running all day stop and go, 10-30 stops and have 80-150 miles (after 4-8 hours) then the last couple hours put on the last 100-200 miles in a cross town or outa town run.
Most of the time though it will go from 8-4 with about 150-160 miles, most trips on the express will be for 1-5 miles, and a couple 10 or 20 miles maybe 50 miles one way usually with 1-10 stops, and a 1-3 stop return. This process could take 3 hours 1 hour or 8 hours, it depends on the speed of 1-2 runs. Anyhow most of the day is in Morning traffic, then afternoon traffic, then rush hour traffic, and in between there is still more traffic with about a 1-2 hour window that it moves. There are days though that it seems like I never get a light and am always on the right side of the freeway and these days I can get 300-400 sometimes 600-750 miles cause I'm always cruzing at a good clip and the runs when we hit this kinda flow, the dispatcher usually places on me all the long stuff... it just seems like when it moves it moves for you all day and when it doesnt it doesnt.