Kenteth

I'm going to texas (about 2400 miles roundtrip) next month for a short visit (bout a week or so). I'll be driving my FC down. The car has 146k on it. I took the car down to Omaha and back (1200 miles round trip) without any hitch.

What should I do to get the car prepared for the trip?
I know the basics, new spark plugs, oil change before I go. Anything else?

I'm only getting about 12mpg, which is really harsh. It was 16mpg before I modified the exhaust. Anyhow...

Any comments to ensure a safe and event-free trip.

(And yeah, I'll have basicaly my entire shop packed in the hatch incase something does go wrong)

homebrewer

Several tips that depend on the level of maintenance you do:

1. Ensure fuel filter has been changed recently.
2. Check for fuel smell under hood before filter change....pulsation dampeners are known to leak and would have for you to have a fire during your trip.

3. Cooling system needs to be in top notch shape. If u haven't changed coolant in past 2 years, now is the time to do it. Carry spare gallon of 50/50 mix w/ you for emergency.

4. Check belts and if they look frazzled, worn, or glazed, replaced them before you go. If not, carry some new ones in truck with basic tool kit as backup spares.

5. Battery: Ensure battery fluid is topped off. Long drives can overcharge a battery and cause it to boil fluid off. 13.8 -14.1 volts is what u should be pushing on the alternator charge cirucit as a general rule. Don't forget to carry jumper cables or one of those jump start devices. I had an alternotor fail during a 2,000 mile trip and it was due to stuck brushes. If charge circuit fails during trip, lightly bang/tap the alternator with something hard to preclude stuck brushes.

6. Oil/Filter change and carrry spare quart of oil and check oil with each fuel filling.

7. Plugs/Cables: I would n't worry about them unless their change is overdue.

8. Carry spare fuses, tire pump, cell phone, etc...

capn

i think you will have it pretty much covered. how long has it been since you changed your fuel filter? check tire pressures/condition, look for leaks, check if clutch is still good, i guess just a basic routine maintenance and just go through a haynes manual it usually has all the nessesary things for certain time intervals.

Kenteth

All of it, I'm in college
Two years ago with the first tranny swap, probably 15k since then. Think I need to replace?
S5, never had a problem though.
Drained, flushed, and filled Last summer. (probably 5-6kmiles)
Dual alt belts only. I'll be amazed if the emission police don't stop me at the border. They look fine. Replaced last year, about 10kmiles ago.
Optima redtop, never had a problem with it.
overdo at the moment, its been about 2.5kmiles. Will do before I head that way.

CablesL: Two years old, ~15kmiles.
Plugs: overdue at about ~5kmiles.
Fuses good. Tire (augh, yeah i *guess* i should throw that pos spare back in, heh), cell phone good.

One thing I was wondering, will the car be ok changing from 30degree weather to ~80+ degree weather in about 16 hours?

(Wish I had A/C!)

jon88se

This is a good opportunity to replace some inexpensive yet VITAL parts:

-Coolant
-Radiator hoses
-Alternator belt
-Fuel filter
-O2 sensor (for that bad gas mileage)
-Air filter (replace/clean)

Here is a list of things to inspect:

-Tire tread for punctures
-Tire pressure
-Oil cooler lines
-Alternator

Might as well do an oil change and replace the plugs while you're at it. Even if your alternator checks out, if you have a spare take it with you. They can just crap out all at once and they are easy to change on the side of the road.

Cell phone is most important

No need to go nuts with carrying tools IMHO - take 10mm 12mm and 14mm sockets, some screwdrivers etc...zip ties too!

Kenteth

If anyone is in the Dalas, Abilene, Tulsa, Whichita, or Omaha areas and wouldn't mind helping out, it would be good to have some backup contacts on the route for support.

capn

if you were comming on the east side i could help ya but no such luck.


but also be sure your sunroff and windows are working since you dont have AC

Kenteth

Well.. East Texas :P lol

I'll be planning for most the drive at night, its about a 22 hour drive. Doubt I'll be stopping. Not the first time I've driven it like that though. Last time was in a 93 Ford Probe (with a mazda engine of course.) That was in the middle of summer, I was damn glad I had a/c in that car. It wasn't really hot once I got east of Dallas. But damn north texas blows.

Last time I left and spent the night in South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas... sunlight appeared at about Oklahoma. By about lunch, I was skipping across dallas (seriously wrong time of day to try to jog through that traffic clusterfuck.) and was in the Shreveport area by early evening. I think I got stuck in traffic for two hours at Dalas though. Its almost worth my effort to plan avoiding dallas, but it looks so much easier, theres no backtracking with the Interstate, just massive traffic that runs about 90mph until you hit this blockage of traffic that moves about 15mph for two freaking hours.

Dltreezan

iTrader: (3)

change thermostat. Mine went out on the way from oregon to NC and I broke down about 35 miles from home on the last leg of my 3200 mile journey....i think the overheating problem it resulted in actually might have been what killed my motor....

casio

fort worth, texas! about 40 miles west of dallas. when's this road trip? i'm moving soon!

Kenteth

Casio - Next month, you be around?



And
Dltreezn - yeah, thats a good idea. It was replaced two years ago too, but it couldn't hurt again.

Defiant FC3S

my brothers live in abilene

KingCobraV9

iTrader: (2)

if you just replaced the thermo 2 years ago it schould be fine as long as it was a factory one.

Kenteth

I stopped there to get gas and asked the guy which way to the interstate. He looked at me weird and started talking in spanish. I was like..oh... ok then, paid and left.

Though thats about as far south as I went, I never heard anyone else speaking spanish. Well, not until I headed back north to Tulsa. Now theres an interesting town... Holy ricer hell in the middle of nowhere.

casio

abilene is far west. in the middle of no where. don't look for anything west of DFW except for el paso (unless youre farther south).
?no hablas espanol? ?por que no? inecesitas espanol en tejas! just kidding. there is a lot of spanish here, though.
i won't be around too far into march. i want to be moving march 1st; possibly in nyc march 1st. but i'll see. it's all a matter of selling my car!

jon88se

Shoulda pulled over on the highway once it got a little warm, waited for it to cool down and removed it haha

trent1059

I am in the DFW area, if you need a little help you can call me, I will be more than willing to bring tools, parts or/and beer. I have no problem driving a hundred miles or so to help a brother. I drive 160 miles a day to work anyway. I will PM you my cell

Trent

Kenteth

Thanks Trent. I can't remember exactly the miles in texas, I remember though that the longest part of the trip felt like it was in texas. Probably because it was during hte day though.

totallimmortal

i'd check that o2 sensor maybe TPS? 12mpg seem very low for an NA I get 20 in mine in regular driveing (aboutr half city half highway and i get on it alot) Over long highway trips i can get near 25 mpg. I would think that if your getting 12 you've got some kinda problem that you should fix before you leave

Kenteth

I was getting consistent 16-18mpg. Then I finished the ehxaust so it exits at the bumper. Quieted it down alot. Interestingly enough, it also dropped my mpg by about 6miles.

jon88se

Swap the O2 and check the TPS...clean the air filter and AFM...

If the O2 isn't cycling normally that would KILL mileage...the ECU relies on the O2 for closed loop operation.

Kenteth

MPG is back good. I had a leak in the gas tank and its been repaired.

Planning on changing plugs and o2 sensor.

JamesBong

I'd have to add heater hoses to the list of stuff to check, especially the one beolw the oil filter. That one is known to explode unexpectedly and empty all of your coolant. That happened to me on the freeway once, and I was glad I was close to home. AAA sent me a letter saying "Only one more tow for you!"

Kenteth

Damn... yeah I already had that hose blow on me. Its about 3 years old now. Too bad no one around here just carries it, always special order bs.

xtremeskier97

Yeah...I had a heck of a time getting that hose replaced. I actually went through 2 back when my car was overheating a lot. I got the system flushed, radiator removed and flushed and cleaned up, thermostat replaced and that hose replaced. The second one went quickly because the clamp that I was using was not all the way past the bump on the nipple, so it continuously was digging into it and made it rip.