Date:         Thu, 17 Jul 1997 08:45:02 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         s_j_wacker@juno.com (STEVEN G WACKER)
Subject:      Engine life

To all:  I have been on the list for two or three months now and the
subject of leaking heads comes up every day. Always looking for rebuilt
engines or replacements such as Subaru or other engines to put in. What
is the life expectancy of an engine?  I have always felt that if I got
100k from a vehicle that it didn't "owe" me anything. Now I have heard
that in the last few years the quality of vehicles has improved greatly
and we can expect more, but my Syncro is 11 years old, original engine,
184k. I owned an '84 GL, purchased new. I begin experiencing head
problems at around 80k, but I had not followed the manufactures
recommendation that phosphate free coolant be used. When I traded that
car in for my '90 Carat, it had 127k and I had only pulled the heads once
and tried to fix the problem with a liquid gasket material. I have used
only phosphate free coolant in my Carat and after 138k miles I have no
engine problems. I see many listees post their milage and most are well
over 100k, so my question, again, is how many miles should we expect? And
how much maintenance/repair is normal. I know there are lots of
exceptions to rules and I don't want to include diesels.

" I still have the cheby pickup my daddy bought new, got over 200 hundred
thousand miles on 'er, I only had to replace the engine 3 times and the
body twice...Bubba"

Steve and Jo Ann Wacker
San Marcos, Ca
90 Carat
86 Syncro