Secrets To A 500,000 Mile Car

[user removed]

My 1937 Ford with the original flathead would produce 60 PSI oil pressure after cranking for 5 seconds. It usually sat in the garage for at least a week between being driven, sometimes much longer. Thats about 10 revolutions of the engine to get that pressure.

It had a start button that would crank the engine with the ignition off, so I used that to prelube the engine.

No oil filter. 80 year old technology. 6 volt system with starter cranking at 100 RPM. less that half the cranking speed of a modern engine.

I never wait after the engine is running, not even a second, just enough time to put it in gear and go. I might change that if it was 20 below, but that will never happen here.

In fact in the .3 mile from my garage to the main road, through the neighborhood, I will pulse up to 35 and glide to the stop sign, and my mileage reading will INCREASE during that glide even though the engine has been running for about 30 seconds from a cold start.

It's also 10 feet vertical rise from my garage to the road in 80 feet distance.

regards
Mech

[Diesel_Dave]

I think the logic about warming up (not that I agree with it) is that you don't want to put the engine under load until the oil has warmed up enough to get everywhere it needs to be. Of course, if you don't put the engine under load, it's not going to warm up as fast...

I personally, start off before I start my engine--that's the nice part about my house being higher than the road...and using 2 oil pan heaters--just put it in neutral and coast off until the first stop sign where I bump start.

[Ryland]

Around here most cars rust out before they reach 500,000 miles, but if rust is not an issue and you replace stuff as it wears out then it should last forever, right? but I see a lot of people who keep driving cars that are broken and who just ignore issues, I had my neighbor almost scrap her car because it needed new spark plugs! a car gets an issue and it gets traded in or sold.
If you can read, read your owners manual! it often tells you how often to check stuff over on your car, oil changes at 7,500 or 10,000 miles unless you are letting it idle a lot, increase tire pressure for highway driving, change your brake fluid so you don't get water rusting out the brake system, fix stuff that is causing excessive wear.

[AaronMartinSole]

Originally Posted by Ryland

Around here most cars rust out before they reach 500,000 miles, but if rust is not an issue and you replace stuff as it wears out then it should last forever, right? but I see a lot of people who keep driving cars that are broken and who just ignore issues, I had my neighbor almost scrap her car because it needed new spark plugs! a car gets an issue and it gets traded in or sold.
If you can read, read your owners manual! it often tells you how often to check stuff over on your car, oil changes at 7,500 or 10,000 miles unless you are letting it idle a lot, increase tire pressure for highway driving, change your brake fluid so you don't get water rusting out the brake system, fix stuff that is causing excessive wear.

The lesson I'm getting from this is, play it safe and perform preventative, pre-emptive maintenance, even if the car isn't having issues! Better safe than sorry right? Maybe this fluid could've gone another couple dozen thousand miles, but what's $30? Cheap insurance right? I bet the vast majority of car issues and failures result from just not keeping regular simple maintenance! I mean the thing you said about brake fluid - who knew?

I guess when I go to the auto parts store, I see shelf and shelf of additives and special formulas and products designed to get more life out of your car and to protect it.

I guess my question is, other than regular maintenance, are there any other secrets to a 500,000 mile car?

Does anyone recommend any of those products they sell on shelf after shelf at the auto parts store?

[Frank Lee]

The secret is to have the perfect environment- not too hot, not too cold, trips not too short or too long, nice smooth paved roads, clean air, no road salt. Easy on the gas pedal, easy on the brakes.

You seem so eager to dump chemicals in everything; I doubt they hurt, I doubt even more that they help. Just time and money down the drain most of the time.

There are some specific situations where a parts store chemical can help. I've used SeaFoam to free up a sticky lifter. The auto manufacturers, oil refiners, and myself ALL SAY that if there's no specific problem, there's no need for additives.

You're having a hard time letting go of the idling thing too. Try just getting in the car, getting all situated, turning the key, then going. You might like it.

Re: rusty brake lines: living in the rust belt, I have had to replace hard brake lines on numerous occasions; they all rusted out from the outside in. Changing the fluid every x years wouldn't have made a lick of difference; 10-12 years in the road salt is about all a person can expect to get. Perhaps changing brake fluid would have merit in a different environment that is more susceptible to condensation BUT again, as on the engine (even moreso) the brake system is SUPPOSED to be sealed i.e. it is NOT vented to the atmosphere so unless the little hands are always in there messing around it should be OK.

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by AaronMartinSole

I mean the thing you said about brake fluid - who knew?

People who read their owners manual know, but like frank I've also had brake lines and many other parts rust from the outside, but I've also changed out brake parts that had rusted from the inside, putting grit in to the system and wearing out seals on the slave cylinders, so while I agree that every 3 years for brake fluid might be a bit often, but it does take on moisture, it does get dirty and there is no filter to pull that grit out that the system creates.

I'm not sure what other parts are wearing out that need some secret attention.

I use products like Sea Foam as well to keep things moving freely and to keep water from building up in my fuel system, an issue that is more common with motorcycles and less common with E10 gasoline as the alcohol sucks up moisture.

I also like keeping my car pretty close to stock, stock ride height, stock exhaust, stuff like that, because stuff like lowering a car makes it ride rough and you bottom out more on stuff like pot holes, over time that can be really rough on a car, over sized exhaust doesn't seem to help the engine run smoother.

[roosterk0031]

Not an expert, but with Frank, don't mess with what's working, Malibu with 247000 tranny doesn't call for ever changing tranny fluild unless extreme duty, I'm not going to mess with it. Oil I've gone 15,000+ between changes, no issues. I've taken 5 cars to 200,000 sold 3 other 2 are going till they die or in Stratus it sags in the middle to the ground cause of rust.

Listen to your car, track you MPG cause it tells you if something changing, and if you want 500,000 miles, drive alot. Age and infrequent use kills, drive them once a week or 2. Leave them outside for a month or 2 without moving is just asking for problems. Scangauge is a great tool to give more information than what the factory gauges do regardless of FE uses.

Only mess with brake fluid when I have to replace a caliper or wheel cylinder.

[Frank Lee]

Just sayin'- my stuff sits for months, sometimes years at a time between being run (especially now that I ride my electric bicycle all over the place); seems the worst that has come of it is when the mice move in.

[AaronMartinSole]

A book just came in the mail that I forgot I ordered. How to Make Your Car Last Forever. I've only gone through a few pages, but it recommended sticking with the severe service regimen for me and I've learned so many new things that I never knew needed maintenance. Things like inspecting your spark plugs every 20,000 miles, changing your transmission filter! Didn't even know cars had a transmission filter! A fuel filter! Serpentine/timing belts, PCV valves? He talks about all those additives they sell at the auto parts store too and literally pleads the fifth on most of those questions. Then there are things he mentions like more expensive car washes that wash the underbelly in salty regions and rust protection. Picture by picture instructions on how to do maintenance. He says things like the steering and suspension and even the parking brake cable needs lubricating! I would have never even thought about doing that. I think he has a show on Sirius XM radio. Fantastic easy read. I guess I have a lot more maintenance to do on my car!

[Frank Lee]

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