Milestone: 190,000 miles on 84SE...
 

Well, passed the 190k mile mark this morning driving to work, and for some reason, it's always a 'kick' to see the odometer spin over that many '9's at once! Just fixed an EFI return line leak last night (at the firewall), and thought I'd post a quick mile-marker to let people know how long these cars really last when you take care of them.

For posterity; the car is garaged now 100% of the time, but wasn't in it's prior 15 years of ownership when my Dad had it. It's an Arizona car, so no rust ANYWHERE, and it's always been driven on roads that are pretty well devoid of potholes and assorted road hazards. I'm a stickler for routine maintenance, so you can imagine that all oil changes were performed and fluids changed when they were supposed to be.

Car still runs fantastic, particularly after my 'rolling restoration' over the past 5 years that many of you have seen progress along the way. Still quiet inside, and idles and accelerates very smoothly. A joy to drive - and I drive it back and forth to work every day (about 12k mi/yr). Still gets 18mpg city and about 20-22 highway - can't complain there.

Original items:

Engine - not rebuilt - smokes a bit on startup for 1/2 mile, but that was due to my mistake of putting MMO in the oil at 185k miles. Oil cooler replaced at 20k miles but that was due to it being run up on a curb when parking. Oil cooler lines replaced after leaks developed at 170k miles. OMP rebuilt last year.

Radiator - original, though rodded-out about 3 times in the past 20 years. Runs cool with factory T-stat, along with original engine fan w/clutch.

Transmission - not rebuilt (added Synthetic Lube and shifts very smoothly), clutch disk replaced several times, original pressure plate.

Drivetrain - other than a driveshaft replacement back at 60k miles, the pumpkin and all other drivetrain components are still original as it left the factory. Added Royal Purple and GM LSD fluid last year - still runs quietly.

EFI system - replaced injectors last year, but AFM and all other EFI components are originals. Fuel filter changed at about 50k mile intervals, but never had a problem with them. Original fuel pump, as well - 20 years old and still running strong. Original igniters, replaced coils last year for performance upgrade.

Stereo system - original and working (but tapedeck squeals), and will be replaced with a Blaupunkt CD head and amps this weekend if all goes well. Original power antenna, too.

Take good care of them and they will last a very long time.

Mine has over 115k and that baby doesn't even smokes. Congrats Guy.

the only thing that has been replaced on my -84 is (besides routine maintence; oil, fluids, battery) the clutch and driveshaft. i have 173k and still running strong. and i know my car was treated like crap before i got it. so you can even wail on them an they will last a long time

I just hit 203,600 miles. Still starts fine, runs fine, and jumps into the high RPMS without a problem. Original engine, no rebuild on it, new tranny though, the old one was stuck in 3rd, and the gears were in a pile at the bottom of the gearbox.

good times. my original -SE engine lasted 215k mi and died due to internal coolant seal failure a day after topping it out on the highway.

Well, what's funny is that I have a spare SE engine sitting on a stand in my garage, complete down to having plugs and wires installed, oil filter mounted, and cleaned up and ready for installation.

Since the car sees that spare engine sitting there every night, it'll probably last me until at least 250k miles!

I am around 154K but let me ask you something. How come my car smokes sometimes a little when is cold, and sometimes when is very hot weather. But when is perfect temperature it dosen't smoke at all. At least when I start to warm it up in the morning or during the day.

By the way how can I make my car not smoke like that sometimes? It dosen't seem like a very bad smoke just enough to boder my future wife.

Im at a 178k Woot

my -se is at 215k now. still runs great

My SE before last was around 282,000 before I retired it :cool:

Grats on 190K.

What is your impression of how MMO negatively impacted your seals?

Well, to answer both your questions (LatinHeat and Hammy); about a year and a half ago, I decided that MMO was great stuff in my gas tank, and it said right there on the bottle that you can also add it to your oil system by displacing a quart of oil for a quart of MMO at your next change. I was excited.

Next oil change came around and I added the quart of MMO as directed. Immediately - and I mean within the first startup - the car started smoking. Not puffs of smoke, not steaming smoke, but JAMES BOND SPYHUNTER SMOKE! I had neighbors come down the street to see if my house was on fire. No other changes made to the car, just an oil change and adding the MMO. The smoke would stop after about 2-3 minutes of driving once the car was warmed up.

Well, after posting here and reading up on what could have happened, it seems that the carbon eating properties of MMO are such that when I added it to my oil system, it 1) thinned out the oil with MMO, and 2) ate away all the 'good' carbon that was helping to seal my oil control seals which keep oil inside the rotors from getting sucked into the intak path. The combination of the thinned out lubricant and the loss of so much 'good' carbon was letting the oil get past the seals and drawn into the combustion chambers, where it was being burned.

I kicked myself, I screamed at the world, I cried...

Then, I changed the oil again. No change.
Then, I added 'engine honey'. No change.
Then, I changed the oil AGAIN. No change.
Then, I switched to 20w50 weight. No change.
Then, I switched to 5w20 weight. Slight improvement.
Then, it turned to summer and the problem went away. Come winter, the car spews Smokescreen on startup and people stop and stare.

During the summertime, the engine block temperature is higher which helps it to warm up more quickly. Once the block warms up, the seals expand out to fill the gaps, thus sealing the oil from the intake path. During the winter, the engine starts out very cold, and allows for greater tolerances between seals - but also means that more oil gets past into the intake tract.

The only upshot to this situation is that I never have to worry about cold-start friction, and apparently, neither do you!

My aussy sa22c(closer to your guys 12a gsl fb) to the letter, cept its more like

8am uni start means the baby gets started at 6am, and a lunchtime start means starting her at 11pm or so, smokes like a bitch until i've done about a km of driving at 6am, but at lunchtime you'd swear it was rebuilt yesterday.

I got 149k on my 12a How much longer do u think it has left till rebuild? It only sometimes smokes on start ups and runs pretty good. Whats the usual life span on a 7?

Mine rx7 had 281,000km /174,000miles on it before it got stolen, and was original everything. Just well looked after. No new major parts needed.

I hate the image they have of being unreliable and always needing work. Like anything, if you look after it they will last a very long time.

172,238 today just got a fresh clutch today so yepe for my 85'gsl.

Good cause i only get the best maitence parts,, K&N filter FRAM air filter Castrol GTX :) keep my baby on the road

o ya and its had the "KISS OF DEATH" since 101,000.

166k on my -se, but it's been rebuilt (by previous owner) at 100k

still going strong!

160k on my 85 -se. Had to replace exhaust, springs, shocks, clutch.

Interesting... some GSL-SEs with high mileage have coolant seals that don't seal very well when the engine is cold (lots of white smoke), and when the engine warms up the coolant seal "seals" better, and the smoke goes away and the engine runs fine.

But others are not so lucky, and the white smoke doesn't go away, and in the next few days the smoke gets worse and the engine dies.

I wonder what explains the difference.

:confused: