Pre-emptive Maintenance Tips - And How To Keep Your Older Car Alive Longer
Older cars don't have to be unreliable cars - if you understand the concept of pre-emptive maintenance.This isn't the same thing as regular service - oil and filter changes, tire rotations and stuff like that (though those things are important, too).
With older vehicles, the issues most apt to leave you broken down by the side of the road someplace (or facing an unexpected bill at an inopportune moment) are things not listed in the service schedule but which are almost inevitable as the vehicle gets up there in age and mileage - just like bad knees and wrinkles after 40.
The upside is that unlike crow's feet and brittle joints, it's easy to toss the aging components in an older vehicle and replace them with brand new ones - and to do it when it's convenient for you.
Once done, the rehabbed systems will be good as new (unlike your knees) and, assuming the car's fundamentals are ok (no rust on the frame, the engine and transmission are ok), the car itself should be functionally close to new condition, too and good to go for another 50,000-plus trouble-free miles - no matter what the odometer reading happens to be.
So what, exactly, are we talking about here?
Let's review some of the biggies:
* Cooling system - and specifically, the water pump and radiator
Even if you have the recommended "flush n' fills" performed at the recommended intervals, eventually, the water pump (an engine driven device that circulates coolant through the engine) is going to fail. Pumps last 50,000 miles or so; some more (and some less). But after about 75,000 miles, the clock's definitely ticking.
You can save yourself a future headache by having the pump pre-emptively replaced if your vehicle has more than 100,000 miles on it (and the part's original to the car). This is also a good time to replace the thermostat, all hoses and drive belts - and to have the radiator thoroughly inspected, It should be replaced if it shows signs of internal clogging. Do all this, and one of your vehicle's major systems will have been returned to "as new" condition - and should be absolutely trouble free for at least another 3-5 years and 50,000 miles.
* Clutch job
if you have a vehicle with a manual transmission and high-mileage, a clutch job is probably in your future. But rather than waiting for it to fail, pre-emptive replacement - on your terms and at your convenience - eliminates another potential old car hassle and restores drivetrain reliability. You can now feel confident about taking a long trip - or letting someone who isn't a "car person" mentally equipped to deal with an unreliable old car use the thing, too. This is also a good time to flush/replace the hydraulic fluid (on vehicles with hydraulic-assist clutches) and have U-joints and CV joints checked, serviced and replaced as necessary. It's also smart to have the transmission's lube drained and re-filled; ditto the rear axle and (on 4WD vehicles) the transfer case.
With automatic-equipped cars, the transmission can be made to last almost indefinitely by regularly having the fluid and filter changed. Go to a shop that has a flush machine, however. Simply dropping the pan only removes about a third of the fluid inside the transmission - which means the remaining two thirds is still dirty and will contaminate the fresh fluid/filter.
* Emissions/exhaust
One of the things that tends to go south on an older car with 100k-plus miles (or which tends to make it feel "tired") is a partially clogged catalytic converter (the big one) and "small things" like a plugged-up EGR circuit and bad oxygen (O2) sensors. Most major emissions system parts are designed to be effective for 10 years or 100,000 miles; after that, they can begin to degrade pretty quickly - taking down mileage and power as they go.
A properly equipped shop can test catalytic converter function as well as check/clean/replace as necessary related components of the emissions system such as the EGR valve and 02 sensor(s). But if you have significantly more than 100,000 miles on the clock and plan to drive the car another 100,000 miles, pre-emptively replacing the catalytic converter and giving a thorough once-over to all smog-related parts can pay off in down-the-road longevity and unexpected breakdowns avoided.
It's true pre-emptive service involves some cost. But this should be viewed with two things in mind:
One, most of the things discussed above are inevitabilities - if you keep the vehicle long enough. The question isn't whether you'll have to pay. It's when you'll have to pay. Why not do the work (or have it done) when its convenient for you - as opposed to dealing with a sudden/unforeseen expense that you've got to deal with right now?
Two, though the repairs we're discussing can involve several hundred dollars (or more) in parts and labor, if the result is a vehicle that runs reliably for another three to five years or longer, thats a small investment compared with the cost of a new car payment - and the higher insurance fees, taxes and so on that come with the purchase of a new vehicle.
From zero to 100k, a vehicle loses value - and costs you big bucks. But once it's paid off and past 100k, its value pretty much stabilizes. Why throw it away - and start all over - when for a relatively small additional investment, you can get a real return on your "investment" - and avoid helping to finance braces for the car dealer's kid?
