How much longer can I expect the engine to last on my 96 Ram with 218,000 miles on the 5.9 gasser? It runs great and leaks no oil (I added some stop leak and the front seal no longer drips oil).

As far as I know, it has never had any major work done.

Will it give any warning signs, or will something sudden and catastophic happen?

Is there an additive I can add to the gas or oil that will extend its life?

 

If your using stop leaks and such as your remedies, your engine is doomed. Regular proper maintenance will aid in a longer engine life.

 

you probably took about 50K miles off your engine life with that stop leak. The way it stops leaks is not what you want. It is meant to stop leaks before you sell a vehicle to some poor schmo then causes problems later on that he will have to deal with. Do not add any oil additives to your oil unless it is lucas oil stabilizer. Also, don't add ANYTHING to your tranny.

I would say that you have 50K left on the vehicle. You can have an engine that "works" for a million miles. But, with most vehicles, the rest of the vehicle will deteriorate (Trans, electrical, steering....).


Also, never use "Engine Restore." It will ruin your engine and you will never know it.
Sudden catastrophic:
1. Oil pressure goes to 0. Your engine will be done.
2. Overheating. Your engine will never be the same.
3. Hydrolock: Don't go offroading in high water.
4. Water/mud in transmission: See #3.

 

ok.. I'll add what I know from using both and from reasearching the "restore" before using it...
first off stop leak will not necessarily "Doom" your engine...I have used it before and as long as you dont add too much of it (one dose is enough if it doesnt work your leak should be addressed right.) it doesnt do anything great for your engine but it wont really hurt it and since usually older motors already have plenty of sludge deposits on thier own plugging leaks..
as far as the restore it does restore lost compression and can help engines with worn walls and rings.... the thing is it basically fills in small imperfections and hardens and also resurfaces the walls a bit so its best to add it and take it for a nice long drive (its heat activated I believe) and THEN change the oil and remove it.... I saw where they tested the effects on some pretty beat engines and tried it on both my vette about 5 years ago and my truck befor its first oil change... the truck doesnt really burn any oil with 150k on it and the vette needs a valve job from long periods of sitting but it seemed to help and I've put like 25,000 miles on the vette since without issues...

 

By "doomed" I meant that, if that's his way off fixing things, then that engine won't last long. I didn't necessarily mean that stop leaks will harm your engine. Rather that neglect from depending on that as your solution. Fix it right or do it twice...

 

Yes, it is heat activated. It also fills in any other small scratches and imperfections. Imperfections like:
1. Timing chain: Hence why people get the burnt toast look.
2. valvesprings: Hence why you see a coating of black on them. Mine were spotless when i did my 1.7s.
3. Rocker arms
4. anything else that is not a smooth surface

This gets very bad when people don;t change their oil after a good 50 miles of continuous driving. It is just not really good stuff. It is something you use when selling a vehicle to help restore compression while robbing the life of your engine in the long run. it is a short term fix with long term side effects.

 

NOTHING in a can is going to "restore" your engine. Stop leak is like molasses, it makes the oil far too thick to properly lubricate vital components. Mask problems temporarily? YES!

Please listen when we say, DO NOT use additives... ANYWHERE!

 

I think the manual states not to use additives and makes sense. Engines are designed to run with OIL.

As far as the Lucas treatments, pure SNAKE OIL.

 

I see your point but sometimes its the best real world solution for a leak. It doesn't always make sense to tear into something especially if corrosion and heavy wear is a factor or you may have to sink big bucks into something only to find it was a wasted investment a short time later.... Just saying...
case in point was a small softplug leak I had about three years ago...I used some stopleak instead of egg and pepper as others suggested.... well yesterday when I had the shop rebuild the transmission I paid them to replace the softplugs while I had it out. which they did and it likely saved me hundreds.. Seeing how my truck doesnt fit in my garage and I dont have experience removing transmissions, it would have honestly been silly for me to pay to have the transmission pulled out just to fix a small leak. especially if something else got damaged in the process.

 

well if your gonna go that way then all the advice to strictly use atf+4 in dodge transmissions is bull too...my manual says dextron 2 is fine....atf is atf right?
Theres no benefit in synthetics because if their was that would mean that some additives can boost conventional oil performance right?...