Pellet heads!! What's up today?

I got both going on in my yard right now. Or more aptly, ice and mud.

 

All I can say is the both Fords I currently have, have already outlasted the last two vehicles I bought new; the Xterra died at 120k (5 years old) and the Jeep at 110k (not quite 6 years). And between the two Fords, I didn't pay as much as the cheapest of any new vehicles I've bought (even the 1987 4-Runner - but, that one went 307k and 13 years and still ran when I sold it).

Just remembered today I have had a Ford before - in 1982 or '83 I got a '72 Starsky and Hutch Ford Gran Torino in white with a green blaze. That 357 Cleveland would freaking go (took no time at all to drive between Wichita, KS and Albuquerque, NM - several times).

 

http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/gran_torino/1975

12.4 mpg.

 

You have bad luck. What happened to these cars that they died so young? Jeep was the tranny correct?? What about Xterra?

 

MotorCraft for the Taurus, Wix XP for everything else.
* 5k OCI, or May/November (2x/yr), whichever comes first.

 

This is a $40K+, 900 HP, 410 dirt sprint car engine. Please note the brand of oil filter (just to the left of the red-colored oil pump:

 

Yes, at least once every Blue Moon.

 

I stick to Wix or AC Delco for the truck and the Javelin.

I used to have a 99 Alero with the 2.4 twin can/quad 4. I bought it with 30K on the clock. I ran Fram filters almost exclusively in that car for the 168,000 miles I drove it. Everything on that engine was original, minus plugs, coil cover housing and belts. I sold it to my FIL, who ran it to about 215K, and he sold it to my wife's cousin who ran it to 240K. Road salt finally took out the rear strut towers.

It wasn't until after I'd got rid of that car that I started hearing the Fram filter stories. I either had good luck, the filters are OK for that application, or that engine was built in the middle of the week during a good UAW contract. If it wasn't for salt, that thing would probably still be going.

Years ago I had an 89 Olds Calais with the 2.3 quad 4 and I swear that car rolled off the assembly line on Friday, July 3 at 4:59 PM. That car hated me, and I hated it equally in return.

 

I buy 3 or 6 of them at a time from Rock Auto Parts. The Honda needs an oil change every 5k the farm truck every 3k. Normal price works out to less than $5 I got AC deco last time. I use NAPA Gold on the tractor x4

 

Wix is available at Rock Auto for $3.94, I'll, give them a run.

 

I have to respectfully disagree with the dirt sensor comment.

 

Replacing water pumps on the quadriplegic sucked azz. Hanging off the back of the front cover driven by the timing chain and the exhaust manifold had to come off.

 

I'd read this a while back about the OLM in GM vehicles, specifically the Cruze. Rumor was people were cooking the turbos with the 10000 mile OLM change intervals that could occur, and GM couldn't deny a warranty claim as the OLM said there was life left in the oil.

Oil Life Monitoring System | Markquart Motors | Eau Claire

 

They tried that too with the 3.6L VVT engine. They recalibrated the OLM because the cam chains were stretching, setting cam correlation codes. The recalibration usually didn't work long term, and the chains got replaced anyway.

 

A bunch of little stuff, and a couple of big things all went at the same time - I don't remember exactly what. Technically it still ran, but need $6k of work to get inspected (in 2009). That didn't even include the 4wd that skipped out on me (which the didn't know about), or the $550 I had to pay to put a starter in it when it stranded me the day before Christmas. Naturally, it was a proprietary part that could only be gotten thru Nissan (I know, I tried to have it fixed elsewhere). The Nissan dealer that I bought it from and had all work done wouldn't even give me $2k for a trade - it had fallen apart so badly. And that doesn't count the thousands of dollars I put into it every year (besides the $300/month car payment). It stranded me on 12/24/09, got a starter in it on 12/27/09 and traded it in 12/28/09. Hey, but the tires lasted good on that thing

Heck, at 1.5 years the paint on the back door bubbled up so badly that I had to bully them into having it fixed (complete sand, paint and coat). I had just over the 32k miles that was the warrantee, so they thought I was paying for it - even though it was a known issue on the forums. I told them if I had to put in that kind of work and money on a 1.5 y/o vehicle, then I was taking it straight to a Toyota dealer and trading it in on the spot. Finally got a regional manager to agree to have it fixed.

The Jeep's tranny went and my mechanic still hasn't called to say his contacts/distributors found one (I have neglected to tell him that I dumped it, guess I need to rectify that). That particular year, and my particular configureation, can't be found. If it had been a 2007,-2009, would have been easy, but oh no, I picked a 2010

 

I remember being proud that I got around 16 mpg (mostly highway travel). I was young, had nothing better to spend money on besides rent (heat & hw included), laundry (1 load per week) and phone (no tv) and had 2 full time fast-food jobs, with no life. Wait, that last part is still true

 

That's not true, you've got us!

 

What a string of bad luck vehicles! I had taught the kids to find a mechanic where ever they lived who worked on the side and had a great rep. Take a perspective vehicle to the mechanic or trusted shop for a pre purchase inspection. The cost is worth it.

We had a brand new Chevy when we first got married, remember the lemon law? The first year the dealer took the vehicle back, after 24 service appointments( they couldn't find a hole in the engine block, the tranny went, etc) and we ended up with a new station wagon. Ever since then I became very critical of any vehicle being considered for purchase. I have heard the horror stories of folks that are literally being held up at an inspection station here in New York because the car won't pass the emissions tests. Thus one of the reasons for keeping the pre emissions test pickup on the road. All the children know how to work on their vehicles. My daughter changes her own brakes! It came in handy when she took the vehicle in for service and the unscrupulous dealer tried to tell her she needed new brakes to pass inspection. Boy, was he shocked when he showed her the "trouble". The vehicle suddenly passed inspection.

 

I stand corrected......thanks Smoke. That was told to me by a Chevy service person.....guess I won't ask him anything in the future.