Anyone else have nearly 425,000 miles on their Dodge without a rebuild or restoration? I do. -Chris

 

WOW, that's hard to believe, congratlations. Hope I can say that.

 

My Dad has a 94 Caravan with 325,000. He drove it 75 miles each way to work at the St. Louis North Assembly Plant. He finally retired after 37 years, but its still a daily driver for small chores around the house. Only had the tranny rebuilt at 220,000, other than that just faithful 3000 mile oil changes.

 

Hey jasonwyo and 85B250. What engines do they have in them. Great going on 425,000 miles on the engine. And they say domestics won't last, I beg to differ. I have heard many people get that kind of miles out of a Cummins, but a gas engine is another story. Good job!

 

Yeah, its been just keeping up on scheduled maint.
3000 mile oil changes...
slick 50
I have recently run across a few things, like the ac head unit problem...needing new ball joints, the seals in my steering gear box are starting to leak, just changed out the fan belts & fixin to change the hoses. I also put a new radiator in it tonight. Other than that it has been a rather long time since any work has been needed. Infact I believe the last work other than oil changes that had to be done was over 100,000 miles ago. I'm coming up on needing new tires soon too. Gonna try & squeeze a few more months out of the ones I have though.
As far as gas mileage...its not bad but not great either...its good for what it is...
the engine is a 318
I have a 69 Mustang that I took on a trip to Laredo from Fort Worth...it got me 29 miles to the gallon, & it has a 302 2v in it so that blows the bad gas mileage theory out of the water about domestics.
Anyhow, gotta work in the morning so see ya.
-Chris

 

I don't doubt it one bit. Those 318s must have been one of the most reliable engines ever made. I have heard many mechanics say that was a great engine. My father had two Dodge Coronets with 318s and he swears by those engines reliability. You are right about the old pushrod engines. In my experience, if a person drives a pushrod engine correctly, they can get outstanding gas mileage out of them. Good luck at work!

 

My dads van has the 3.3L.

 

That's what I thought but I wanted to ask just to be sure. That is a new record on my list. My aunt had a 1991 model with a 3.3 V6 and she retired it at 270,000 miles because a fuel injector was going out (a first and second year problem I've heard). That was the first problem she had with the engine. 220,000 miles is good for a A604/41TE ultradrive transmission. It sounds like your father knows how to take care of his vehicles, unlike so many other people who neglect their cars then blame it on the domestic manufacturers for things that were their own fault. I tend to think that the 3.3 V6 is also one of the most reliable engines ever made. Thanks for the information jasonwyo.