high mileage, rough driving

well i got a 95 jimmy vortec v6 4.3 liter. all stock motor. cat back exhaust. i own a mowing service and tow alot. i got a fresh rebuilt tranny. my motor is on 168g's. im worried that the way i drive plus the towing is gonna eventually blow this motor. im in good with the guy that owns the local machine shop. what should i do to my motor to throw in some more ponies and also make it so i know im not gonna blow this ***** anytime soon? plus of course i want it to be affordable

The best thing to do is start replaceing all your seals, that pretty mush what happens when you blow the engine, or you can always have it rebuilt but that can get expensive. OR just lighten up on the way you drive and only tow light loads.

or start saving for a newer vehicle...168 is getting up there...especially for a GM...

thats what i might be thinkin. just get a truck or a tahoe

Ha 168 is barely anything fo rmy car. It makes it old but dude a honda can last a long time and save you money in gas too.

yeah but who really wants a honda? hey man whatever tickles your fancy

well if you do the math, you will find out why.

everytime we mention american cars....

dbis, it's quite well known that modding engines usually decreases the life of it. I'd say just take good care of it, keep up with the maintenance, and it will work it's hardest to it's last dieing gasp. Once it does so, you can either get a new vehicle or replace the engine... Either way, I wouldn't dump any money into souping it's performance up. It will only lower the life expectancy of it.

If it's got 168k miles, it might be about time to replace your distro cap, cables, and spark plugs though, if you haven't done it already. That will probably give you a noticeable difference in performance alone, as well as gas mileage.

Sorry guy but I'm all Honda and I don't think i will every buy somehting else until i need it but by then, which is pobable when i get my own house and need to start hauling stuff, that will be when i will probably get something else other than an import.

i look at it this way, if i want to save money and get laughed at, i'll get a honda...

if i wanna comfortably fit my 6'6" frame into my vehicle, and not get laughed at, i'll get my american machine

Well if i had your heigth I would probably go for a big car but unfortunately I'm only 6ft and my Honda is plenty big enough for me. The sunroof makes it seem like it has more room, but i know it doesn't.

actually the sunroofs usually give an additional 1 inch or so headroom if you look at the specs.. =P The other reason it seems like plenty is a lot of the lower cars, the seats are setup to be tilted back while driving, so you aren't going straight up =P

Oh yeah I forgot about that, but hey Accords are pretty big cars and lots of interior room. Shoot i've been up under my dash some much in the past week that I figured i could install a crap load of stuff under there and still have room to make it hide. However under my passenger side i have very very little room to add anything cause my airbag and a/c fan and glove box that I have just installed a Cb radio into. My trunk is huge and empty cause i'm not too much into playing music loud unless the people around me can hear more than just the bass.

yeah my acura is doing FINE and its on 168 too (coincadence ). had some trouble with a radioter hose a while back but that was like 20 bucks to fix.

psh... hondas...


im in pretty much the same situtation as you... lawn mowing buisness... 4.3 V6... ecept mine isnt a vortec and its in a 92 sonoma.

just do some basic maintenance, like mav said, replace the plugs and wires, put in a new air filter (k&N) start using synthetic oil (most people dont know but using synthetic oil will give you 1-2 HP) plus it helps a hell of alot of engine wear because it leaves an oily film on the cylinder walls, and most of the engine wear occurs during the first few minutes the car is running because of the lack of oil flow, the oil film does alot to help that. an oil cooloer will go a really long ways too, i would highly suggest that.

another thing youll be concerned with is your brakes an transmission, if your going to be pulling trailers you might want to get drilled/slotted rotors to help with the stopping power and life of your brakes, i wish i did and now i have to replace my brakes on my truck (pulling loads wore them out, so did all the power braking.. ) and you might want to look into getting a transmission cooler, they add a few more extra years to the life of your transmission. my truck came with a towing package so it has an oil cooler and im not sure but i think it has a transmission cooler as well, both great ideas.

as far as mods for performance go, yah ill have to aggree with what was said earlier that most mods decrease engine life, but one that frees up a couple ponies and a couple ftlbs is getting an underdrive pulley set. one with a smaller crankshaft pully but a slightly larger alternator pulley so you still have all the volstage but your engine can rev a little faster and is under a bit less stress.

another mod that will give you horsepower without decreasing engine life is having your cylinder heads ported and polished, maybe a 3 way valve job. you cant go wrong, youll have a few etra HP (you will be able to notice it) and youll have better flow to the heads and you will probably get better gas mileage if you dont stomp on it everywhere you go.

i admit having that big v6 in a small truck is very fun and the tires spin very easily, but lately ive been driving it like an old grandma and im surprised how much gas ive saved, i used to go through a **** load of gas, now that ive been takin it easy, it feelswierd driving all the time and not putting gas in, almost like im being lied to by my gas guage.... but hey its better because i dont have to put 10 bucks in gas in every 1.5 days

hope this helps

heres a picture of my truck...




oh yah.. i was gonna ask ya... is yours 4 wheel drive? if it is, try putting it in 4 Low when your in a freshly paved parking lot and floor it.... my chirps all 4 tires at the launch and chirps all 4 again going into 2nd gear, boy o boy does it ever put me back into my seat

XSport99 wrote:

i look at it this way, if i want to save money and get laughed at, i'll get a honda... if i wanna comfortably fit my 6'6" frame into my vehicle, and not get laughed at, i'll get my american machine

bwam now thats what im talkin about, owning a honda vehicle is one thing i hope to never have on my resume, even if they do save gas, i'd rather get a toyota by far, honda just seems like such a chick brand.

yeah mine's a 4wd. i dont play with my 4w low that often. i go off roadin a good bit though. just got pulled out wiht a bulldozer on mon oh yeah plenty of powerbrakin. i smoke the hell out of my at's

dbismyname wrote:

yeah mine's a 4wd. i dont play with my 4w low that often. i go off roadin a good bit though. just got pulled out wiht a bulldozer on mon oh yeah plenty of powerbrakin. i smoke the hell out of my at's

Yah - your truck isn't gonna last till next month doing stupid **** like that...

My 95 Grand Prix just broke 241,000 miles.

DUETSCHLAND! HEIL!

OLD POST

every little bit counts.

only a month old...geeze....

he's been doing it all day

PhantomFE3 wrote:

start using synthetic oil (most people dont know but using synthetic oil will give you 1-2 HP) plus it helps a hell of alot of engine wear because it leaves an oily film on the cylinder walls, and most of the engine wear occurs during the first few minutes the car is running because of the lack of oil flow, the oil film does alot to help that. an oil cooloer will go a really long ways too, i would highly suggest that.

Do not do that. Their is chance you will end up with oil leaks everywhere.

already went to synthetic. dropped my engine temp about 16 degrees

dbismyname wrote:

already went to synthetic. dropped my engine temp about 16 degrees

What brand, and have you had an increase in oil leaks?

well the thing is, the only reason people say synthetic causes leaks is because it cleans the nasty unhealthy deposits the conventional left. if it starts leaking its because of an old problem you should have fixed. there is no excuse for having old, ****, worn gaskets and seals on a vehicle.

no i havent developed any leaks, and i went to valvoline