i ahve an 86 TA with 170,000 miles, i have owned it for the past 7,000 or less. the guy who owned it tbeofre me took really good care of it and used it to drive form work and back (1 hour drive both ways). now i need some advice, whut should i do to keep the engine from dying? and how much longer do you think it will last?

 

170000 highway miles is pretty friendly to the engine, high miles isn't bad at all, I've seen thirdgens with 250k + that looked like they had just been driven off the lot. An SBC should be good for 200k without rebuild and possibly up to 300k... but I would seriously consider a rebuild at 200k, mostly for performance reasons.

The main thing is to keep it well lubricated and don't go much over 3000 between oil changes (some people will say 7500 with synthetic oil, but why risk it?). The longest lived engine I've seen (my dad's Toyota P/U) runs 10-40 in the winter and 20-50 in the summer, with oil changes every 2500 miles... it's got 320k on it without rebuild and still runs OEM compression on all 4 cylinders, while knocking back 30 MPG.

Edit: Also consider driving techniques to help... don't let the engine lug, if it won't accelerate without some coaxing, then consider down shifting... I've found my LG4 to prefer any RPM between 1800 and 3000... this not only helps longevity, but will award you with better gas mileage.

 

My friend and I are going through a 260k mile, '91 Formula...the original 305 TPI was just replaced 7k ago...and this car has had a hard life. A tech at the dealer I work for owned it new, went to a guy who did nothing but drive highway miles with it a year later, sold it to a kid when it had 190k, that kid ran it into a school bus, and beat on it until 230k or so, then another kid got it and beat it.

The chassis/suspension/steering is pretty shabby, but the original T-5 is holding up well behind the new crate 350. I have learned while high mileage cars can be more work, they are far from being hard to work with...

 

Jason, Is my 83 176k L69 not good enough for you to talk about anymore??? This car appears to have been well mantained for most of its life by the dealer ( all ac delco replacement parts ie. wiper motor, shocks etc) however the second owner just ran the thing put as little money into it as possible and then when it was limping sold it to a pot head who beat the ever livin sh*t out of this car. Even managed to snap the clutch Z-bar. Well I have driven it approx 5k so far. I treat her nice, changed all the fluids and was able to run it 1500mi strait to Florida from Massachusetts. At first I was worried about the valve seals but seems afetr running they have come back alot. I still get a tiny puff at startup but who cares. The motor has never been rebuilt and runs damn strong. I have no fears of it dieing in the near future. Take care of it and just run it...

 

Sorry Matt, didn't mean to leave you out there

I can testify to the running condition of his L69, and it does not appear to have ever been pulled for a rebuild. I drove it last summer for about 30 miles, and while it shook a bit, the engine pulled VERY strongly, and the original tranny shifts good too.

Now that the car is in 89,000 pieces undergoing restoration, I don't know when will be the next time either he or I drives it

 

I wouldnt worry about the milage just take good care of it and change the oil. if all of the miles are highway miles the trany should be good for a while also.