Shake down voyage

Well, I just got back from a 3000 mile road trip in my new wagon. Parts acquired on the road were a new fuel pump and sending unit, ignition control module, fuel pressure regulator valve, EGR valve, air pump check valves (it still throws a code), front shocks, and tires. My wife is displeased. Luckily the friends that I was visiting have a shop and like to work on cars so not all of it was done at a repair shop.

Are these cars trip worthy or best kept as museum pieces?

Russ

My wagon always breaks before the trip so i never find out if they are good for trips (well at least half of them) . Jeff

i just jump in mine and drive them everywhere,..

Looking at the list of parts installed...I would say that 95% of them are wear/maintenance items. Things like new tires and shocks should have been inspected and replaced prior to the trip. Given the age of the car (regardless of mileage) fuel pump/sending unit and tune up items are due for replacement.

These cars have a great track record, the drive lines are virtually bullet proof. I certainly would not consider them museum pieces. I drive the heck out of mine and they have always brought me home without incident. Of course I ensure that they are properly maintained, and that any of the known "trouble" spots are inspected and/replaced before I load up and hit the road.

It's a 20+ year old car. You bought a couple of cheap parts, and should have done the shocks and tires before you took it 3,000 miles from home in the first place.

Future lessons:

Delete the AIR pump and EGR valve with a tune. Problem solved forever.
ICM is 30 minutes in a parking lot, and maybe a trip to Radio Shack for some thermal compound.
Fuel pump is a couple of hours, but, again, it lasted 20 years - I'd say it did pretty well.

Museum pieces? Meh. Road trip in a rental next time.

I would say trip worthy.
I have now done 3 100+ mile trips in my car in under a year and it drives better than most of the other vehicles i have owned. Not the fastest through the mountains, but by far the most comfortable.

Hopefully this is just you working out the jitters in the car.

Maybe a pretrip check list should be in order next time? As for the museum quip,I remember a trip to Las Wages and every Caprice cab I was in had over 500K. Every one. I bought my first one as soon as I got home.

A pre-trip check list is a great idea. What should be on it?

Used mine as a daily to the tune of 35000 miles per year for the past 6 + years. Very few issues. As much as 1400 miles per week. Keep the maintanence up and drive the crap out of it.

BigBlackBeaSSt wrote:

 Keep the maintanence up and drive the crap out of it.

yeah definitely,. crap in it is a bad thing,..

Thought about quoting Phantom but too much of 'that' just tends to stop things up.

Once you do the basic checkup, it should drive for a 100K without incident. Sometimes you get one that is on the verge of a few repairs. I have 2 TBI cars, and once I got the bugs worked out, they will go anywhere, anytime.

Trip worthy. Longest trip so far was to upstate NY last year, car did great. The week after returning the water pump erupted, $20 for a replacement and I've on 6k miles since, and have only changed the oil in that time.

Sh!t happens,.
i pulled into WF last year and the top rad hose split,..

thanks to jay ss another hose it was good to go,.

in perspective,.

Friends of mine bought a merc E350,last year it has about 10,000 miles on it,.its in the shop right now for transmission problems,.yes its warranty work,. but they are still without the car,. they could have been anywhere with the problem,..
they payed quite a bit more for it than i payed for all my wagons collectively,..

Thanks for the encouragement. My RMS has 176,000 miles on it and it hasn't needed anything other than routine maintenance. I didn't need the wagon but I love the sedan so much that it made sense to grab a wagon while good ones are still available.

Russ

i had a wagon sit in my driveway for a year and a half, got a hair, and replaced leaky axle seals, put it together and drove 3500 miles in 9 days....not one problem. you just never know

I'd take mine anywhere. I drove it down to FL from CT a couple years ago and didn't check anything but the oil. The shocks were blown, tires were under inflated and the brakes were shot. Made it there and back no problem.