If the engine is still "tight", I see no reason to baby it within reason.. Abusing any engine is a concern for failure.
Is a high mileage engine more like to blow up if ridden hard?
- Thread starter The motor guy
- Start date
I've owned my '96 Maxima since around 200K. I never gave one thought to baby it due to high miles. My commute involved (back when I drove it daily) plenty of WOT acceleration to pass on rural 2-lane roads. Aside from that, it was always a fun car and a joy to to hear that engine sing at full throttle. In other words, I was never bashful with the right pedal. It's been handed down to my son and I'm sure he won't be either if he drives anything like I did as a teenager.
I see no reason why the head gasket would give up now or at any other time if I were to "abuse" it. What kills engines is neglect / letting a problem fester. The usual suspects are cooling system, timing belt breakage (if applicable), letting noises go, etc.
I see no reason why the head gasket would give up now or at any other time if I were to "abuse" it. What kills engines is neglect / letting a problem fester. The usual suspects are cooling system, timing belt breakage (if applicable), letting noises go, etc.
Let's just put the big, rod breaking, stuff to the side for now. "hot rodding" a high mileage auto puts strain on all the sensors, other oil, & coolant gaskets. They will start to leak. Who likes anymore leaks than what a 200k auto comes with anyways. Pedal to the floor all the time will not make any auto last "Longer" & most signs point to things starting to fail earlier rather than later. I'm easy on my vehicles to try & prevent these things from happening since I run older cars it's my habit. I rarely pass anyone but I do once in a while but I don't go pedal to the floor ever really.. That's just more money in wasted fuel out of my pocket anyways. The 200k auto's that survive this punishment were probably taken care of for the 200k but the habit will catch up to you. That's my position anyways. Treat your vehicle like a tool that you try to take care of for longevity not how hard you treat it. I swear some people out here that say "Italian tune ups every chance I get" don't understand what they are really doing & to me are asking for trouble but they'd never admit it & claim "it's the best thing for it".
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The older and more wear it has, the faster the wear will occur from pushing it hard.
As someone already asked, what is your goal? If it is to have fun, sure, push it hard instead of ragging out something worth a lot more money, accepting the trade off. If you instead want it to last as long as possible, reduce stress on it. That stated, at X # of miles, some engines are more worn out than others and it depends on how it was treated to get to that mileage.
As someone already asked, what is your goal? If it is to have fun, sure, push it hard instead of ragging out something worth a lot more money, accepting the trade off. If you instead want it to last as long as possible, reduce stress on it. That stated, at X # of miles, some engines are more worn out than others and it depends on how it was treated to get to that mileage.
If you drive it too slow you can get carbon buildup. Take your cars for a good highway run once in a while. But yes, slow will probably help it last longer.
Then again I see engines make it well over 200k with good maintenance even though they're driven hard and put away wet.
Indeed, the older engine will have more "wobble" and get more and more out of tolerance as it ages and wears. On the other hand, a brand new, unbroken in engine may be "too tight" and the parts not conditioned and stress relieved by many heating and cooling cycles.
Like the story of the Three Bears, you want one that is "just right".
If it's a Jeep 4.0 engine around 2001 you really don't want the wobble.
