FAQ: Maintenance Lessons - first 200,000 miles

This thread is for you to post maintenance "lessons learned" from your first 200,000 miles - what are things to pay attention to, from a maintenance perspective, that are not in the owner's manual list of scheduled maintenance? What have you learned about parts quality - that is for what things will only OE or better-than-OE parts do?

I'll start next post.

Albert

Here are some things I recalled when writing a reply about a coolant leak to Tori:

1) When everything is running right, idle is rock steady and there ar eno squeaks growls groans or whistles. The idle squeaks I have had have been either a pulley dying or the alternator bearing dying. I busted a supercharger belt and an accessory belt before I got the point - point being that if I hear a squeeak or chirp at idle, next time I am under the hood I take a wrench, slip off a tensioner and turn pulleys until I find the squeaker. They squeak *long* before they go.

2) Some people complain about the pink Dexcool coolant. I have no problems with it after almost 220,000 miles. I suspect the problems some people have with it are related to the mineral or chemical content of the water they mix it with, At 150,000-ish miles you are due for a coolant change. If you are still using Dexcool by allmeans continue but consider either buying the pre-mix or getting distilled water (distilled water is cheap in plastic bottles at WalMart for instance) to mix it. OR you could consider doing what I have done - I use condensate water from a dehumidifier or air conditioner (depending on season, the silly thing is running anyway...)

3) If you ever have the transmission out, at this mileage, consider replacing the engine rear main seal with a high-quality Timken or some such.

4) Towards 200,000 miles watch for evidence (oil track under the hood) of leaking front seals and replace accordingly. I had the local dealer mechanic replace my front cam seal, it was not very expensive leading me to think I shoulda done it myself - car was in shop for other reasons though so I had him do it to cut my downtime.

5) If you can help it, never drive with unbalanced wheels.

Albertj

And if you have a SC engine, replace the LIM with an aluminum one! Thats what killed my first engine at just under 100k. My replacement engine with only 60k on it had some pretty nasty looking ones.

Change your SC oil at some periodic time.
GM says it never needs to be done, and we all know that is hogwash.
Some people recommend every 30K miles or so.

Look in the "Write Up" section for how to do it.

moldymac wrote:

And if you have a SC engine, replace the LIM with an aluminum one! Thats what killed my first engine at just under 100k. My replacement engine with only 60k on it had some pretty nasty looking ones.

Agreed.
I changed mine at around 68k miles, and coolant passage seals were already halfway seperated from the gasket body. Replaced them with the nice aluminum ones of course.

AA: this thread is not "who's in the club" but rather "how to get in" - a different thing. Although some of the Club posts taked about how to get in.

6) clean your engine (once or twice a year, like spring and fall, should do it) so you can easily see leaks or other issues.

7) if you live in an area where you drive on winter roads treated with anything (sand, salt, what have you) be sure to rinse off the underbody with clear water every so often - a clean-water rinse each time temp goes above freezing ought to do it. Consider taking it to a pressure-washer car wash and cleaning it with 'high pressure soap' followed by the 'lemon wax' - I had a Chrysler I did that with, it stayed almost pristine (that car wash closed, though, and the one I use with Riv does not have the lemon wax)

8) drive defensively.

Albertj

Okay, fair enough. So this thread will be about preventative measures, the other about recorded maintenance. That works.

Regarding idler and tensioner pulleys, they have been known to fail as early as 85k and as late as 100k miles. I have personally recorded one fail as soon as 120 miles after first signs of squeak or grinding noise.

I'm now at 199k miles. I've been told this is a good time to change timing chain and dampener, especially if running higher valvespring rate with a cam or high-lift rockers. My Rollmaster is sitting on the shelf, ready to go in - so far no problems though.

What is a good preventive maintenance change interval for front / rear wheel bearings?

Albertj

Personally, I think 100k miles for front hubs, 200k miles for rears is a good starting point. I replaced my driver side front at 105k because it started growling, and the other side around ~130k because it felt looser than the passenger side. Both of my rears are still good at 204k miles.

PS - I recently had the front end inspected on a lift by a professional. Passenger front ball-joint is loose (torn boot), driver side is fine. As preventative maintenance, I've ordered new (remanufactured by Dorman) L & R control arms equipped with fresh ball joints and bushings. I think this is a good idea at around 200k miles.

moldymac wrote:

And if you have a SC engine, replace the LIM with an aluminum one!

Make that the LIM gasket...

albertj wrote:

What is a good preventive maintenance change interval for front / rear wheel bearings?

Albertj

In my case I had 99k on my 97 when I got it and both front ones were making noise, and the rear left's ABS sensor died.

Eldo wrote:

moldymac wrote:

And if you have a SC engine, replace the LIM with an aluminum one!

Make that the LIM gasket...

Whoops, forgot a word in there.

I never change hub bearings just for the heck of it, they fail very slowly usually giving thousands of miles of warning.

98inSFl wrote:

I never change hub bearings just for the heck of it, they fail very slowly usually giving thousands of miles of warning.

My Eldorado had the "unitized" hub/bearings all the way around, and in 185,000 miles I only replaced 1 of the fronts. I suspect that more hubs are changed on these cars because of the damned integrated ABS sensors, than for worn out bearings...

Eldo wrote:

98inSFl wrote:

I never change hub bearings just for the heck of it, they fail very slowly usually giving thousands of miles of warning.

My Eldorado had the "unitized" hub/bearings all the way around, and in 185,000 miles I only replaced 1 of the fronts. I suspect that more hubs are changed on these cars because of the damned integrated ABS sensors, than for worn out bearings...

Generally this has been my experience, I've lost all my hubs once to bad ABS sensors. I noticed that when I replaced with Timken, they just roll and roll. BCAs ran about 75,000 miles to failing, sensors failed - usually the wiring to the sensor. No name hubs/sensors are not worth the trouble.

Albertj

Moldymac (David) was just documenting his personal experience with the Hub/bearings/sensor issues he had at around 100K miles.
He got unlucky as we have seen some others on here that have had premature failures of a variety of things.
Thankfully they are the exception instead of the rule.
Take for instance Kyle (GMfreak) that has the front sub frame rot out at 80K miles on a 1998 car.
I had a Trans require an overhaul on a stock one owner car at 80K miles. That is certainly not the norm. The only "abuse" this trans saw, was probably the same as most of these cars and that is the owner did not have the trans fluid changed at all before I bought it.
Getting off track, sorry.

My car was also very neglected mechanically. After the engine started knocking at 99,900 miles (no joke!) it was dumped in the woods at someone house for 2 years until I bought it.

I could tell early on in ownership that these cars were really well built and designed, so I really shouldn't be surprised. but let me pose a question to you guys, can a car three years older (mine) and living in the snow belt be able to achieve this? I mean the cars' systems have been used day in and day out for a longer period of time and under extreme weather conditions, not to take away from Scott(sburch23)'s accomplishment, but is it more probable to achieve this with a newer car in a warmer climate?

I don't think that makes a difference BMD. The only effect the snow and extreme cold would have would be the rust (salt). As long as you maintain the vehicle properly, it should last a long time. Most ppl ignore the warning signs of something going wrong, and maintenance never gets done. Or, most ppl just don't care. I hear every day from at least one person....."it's just a car". I hate that. My gf has that mentality. You should see here car tho....it's a mess. She has a 2007 Malibu that's in worse shape than my Riv!

My '96 has been in Minnesota since new and has over 200,000 miles.
I just have a little surface rust on one quarter panel I need to tend to. Gas fill pipe so far still seems solid.

Sometimes higher end cars such as these were, have better life expectancies because the people that bought them new had the money to maintain them.
And were probably more inclined to have the dealership do routine service.

I guess as Scott(sburch23) said I might be more worried about mileage than condition. Living in Southern Ontario, with the cold, snow and salt, its definately a challenge maintaining your car. But, maintaining my cars is a top priorety, so I hope it pays off. I just thought that with higher mileage and the life expectancy of parts, getting to 20 yrs is gonna be tough, but it looks like many of us are determined to try.

I'm in Ohio, not in the snow belt, but it snows a bit and we have salt on the roads. We also have hot, humid summers with 95-100ºF temps. Currently I have 209k miles with only a few small issues; my car has never seen a garage. I think there are only a few places where it's 'ideal' to drive a car for an extended period of time. Northern California and Oregon come to mind.

Some areas that are very dry (western desert states) do well for preventing exterior rust, but the intense heat and lack of humidity can deteriorate rubber seals and interior parts. Keeping the car covered or garaged will prevent this.

Coastal communities have air that contains some level of salt, and this will attack your paint from the top down, so there's a big disadvantage there. Washing the car more frequently should help.

So the snow belt isn't so bad if you put a good coat of wax on the car before winter and spray her down (underneath too!) after driving on salty roads. Snow & ice in itself will not hurt your car. Cold temps are harder for starting, but you can use common sense not to rev the engine too high until warmed up. You can also keep the car/block warm to help ease cold starts.

Personally, I think it's more about care & maintenance than the location in the end. If you know what's needed to fight the bad stuff, and you work to protect your car, you should easily get 200k+ miles, and at least 10 years of life. Use sunshades in the sun, keep the car clean inside and out, listen for noises, and if something brakes, get it fixed asap!

Weather is a challenge no matter where you live. It is true that I spent most of my time in the south. I have not had a garage to shield it from hail, or intense sunlight. Some of the things that I have done to protect it are to keep it washed and waxed. Some people never wax. After several years I had polished off the pinstripe and had to add a tape one. I also keep the windows cracked open in summer so that the interior stays near ambient instead of getting up to 140 degrees or so.

This past winter I worked in Cortland NY where it snowed constantly. I took the car to a carwash that could spray the underbody whenever I could.

I agree that the original cost of our cars meant that people could afford to keep them up as well. I am the second owner. I acquired the car when it was 3 years old and had 32,000 miles. It had been exceptionally well kept.

Well, I wouldn't say that living in the "snow belt isn't so bad", when the salt is activated by fluctuation in temps either from day to day or from outside to garage, it eats at the body, floor, frame while you sleep. Repairing structural erossion or replacing a rotted subframe is something that people who do not live in the snow belt don't need to worry about, although each region does have it's unique challenges when dealing with the climate. But I totally agree that proper maintenance is the key, some Rivs up here are rusted to sh*t from neglect, while mine looks good as new.

I've been shocked at some of the rust I've seen on the site... What do they use, like 1 inch of salt for every inch of snow?!?

Like AA said, Northern Cali and Oregon are great places to maintain a rust-free car.
What I'm wondering is: has anyone here made or seen a homemade underbody wash? If I had to deal with the salt, I'd be tempted to take some galvanized pipe (maybe even Schedule 80+) and a drill, and make a rectangle of about 3'x7' with holes in the top of the cross-pipes and a garden hose connector with a quick-connect on one side. That way when there was a decent break in the Winter weather, I could toss it in the driveway and slowly drive the car back & forth over it...