Best way to "recondition" ok engine with high ks?

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Batman

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# 173805 7-Jun-2015 09:06

Hi, we just bought our second car, a Toyota with 160,000ks for half retail price. Seems to be in good nick. [And if I were to sell it the private list price is around 30% more ... (just as a rhetorical response to the "why buy such a car with such high ks" camp)]

Anyway, is there any thing you can do to try to recondition the engine without a rebuild -
Eg - pouring detergent into fuel? which one?
- using premium fuel that apparently has "better" detergents than regular fuel? which brand?
- engine flush?
- transmission flush?

Anyway, will take to a dealer to change all the fluids and oils on Tuesday. Will probably just follow their advice if none here.

Swype on iOS is detrimental to accurate typing. Apologies in advance.

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# 1318559 7-Jun-2015 09:16

Back in the day, 100,000 miles was it, done, these days engines are far better. A flush of everything is a nice way to level the maintenance playing field. Some here may offer guidelines on synthetic oil. Full tune by a Toyota dealer would be a good idea too.

timmmay

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# 1318564 7-Jun-2015 09:31

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My Corolla has 180,000km on the clock, ten years old or so, still goes really super well. I expect it'll hit 300K no problems.

I can't help with your actual question sorry.

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# 1318566 7-Jun-2015 09:33

That's reassuring :)

Swype on iOS is detrimental to accurate typing. Apologies in advance.

Jase2985

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# 1318567 7-Jun-2015 09:35

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just change the engine oil and transmission fluid, change the spark plugs, check its had a cambelt change if applicable. and go from there

you havent said what the car is, this has an impact on what kind of advice people give

nor said if its exhibiting any symptoms of worn out components like, its it blowing blue smoke at all? if so is it under acceleration or deceleration? is it burning oil? is it using water? are there any leaks of any description?

many many things we need to know before we can even begin to diagnose any issues it may have

ubergeeknz

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# 1318572 7-Jun-2015 09:45

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joker97: Hi, we just bought our second car, a Toyota with 160,000ks for half retail price. Seems to be in good nick. [And if I were to sell it the private list price is around 30% more ... (just as a rhetorical response to the "why buy such a car with such high ks" camp)]

Anyway, is there any thing you can do to try to recondition the engine without a rebuild -
Eg - pouring detergent into fuel? which one?
- using premium fuel that apparently has "better" detergents than regular fuel? which brand?
- engine flush?
- transmission flush?

Anyway, will take to a dealer to change all the fluids and oils on Tuesday. Will probably just follow their advice if none here.

Just service it as normal, up to you if you want to get a transmission flush done. If the coolant looks grotty get that flushed out too. Ignore the snake oil and don't buy any kind of additive products, they're not needed and can cause harm (especially "flush" or "no leak" type products).

160 thou is nothing for a somewhat well maintained (or even poorly maintained, unless it's a Honda) Japanese engine. Many go to 270,000 and beyond without needing anything more than servicing/repairs as needed.\

How old is the vehicle? If it's getting on (15+ years) it would pay to closely inspect all the hoses and rubber parts (eg. mounts) as they tend to break down with age.

Don't neglect the braking and power steering systems, good chance the fluid has never been changed, so get that done while it's at the mechanic. You may also want to get the airconditioning system serviced if you want that to last.

andrewNZ

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# 1318601 7-Jun-2015 10:14

The Toyota engine is pretty hard to kill, my fathers last Camry wagon did @450,000km before the body rusted out (minial servicing, and 250,000km on one cambelt). Unless you treat it bad, I'd expect to reach 300,000km no worries.

Location: Dunedin

ludez

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# 1318623 7-Jun-2015 10:58

My passat has done 250ks but its had nearly 40k of maintenence in the last 10 years

mdooher

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# 1318654 7-Jun-2015 12:22

Having made this mistake many years ago I can say this. Don't use some super detergent oil. All that will do is dislodge the carbon buildup arounds the valves and rings and you will end up having it blow smoke.

Basically just service it as per normal using basic oil etc. Obviously making sure the cam belt is not in need of replacement is pretty important, as it is for the water and oil pump. But in the end, servicing normally and driving it is probably the best bet.

Matthew

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# 1318664 7-Jun-2015 12:22

Ok then it sounds like change what ever the dealer recommends and no flushing and detergents. Thanks

Swype on iOS is detrimental to accurate typing. Apologies in advance.

blackjack17

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# 1318670 7-Jun-2015 12:37

My Corona has done 280K and the engine still runs like a dream (the body is falling off but the engine is fine). I have spent almost nothing on it in the past 14 years, cv boots, couple of exhausts, engine mounts and a cam belt.

I do an oil change when I remember and plugs when I can be bothered

JWR

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# 1318715 7-Jun-2015 15:15

joker97: Hi, we just bought our second car, a Toyota with 160,000ks for half retail price. Seems to be in good nick. [And if I were to sell it the private list price is around 30% more ... (just as a rhetorical response to the "why buy such a car with such high ks" camp)]

Anyway, is there any thing you can do to try to recondition the engine without a rebuild -
Eg - pouring detergent into fuel? which one?
- using premium fuel that apparently has "better" detergents than regular fuel? which brand?
- engine flush?
- transmission flush?

Anyway, will take to a dealer to change all the fluids and oils on Tuesday. Will probably just follow their advice if none here.

160,00Km isn't very high mileage for a modern (Japanese) car.

Maintain it as usual and use the recommended oil etc..

It would worth checking the cam belt is OK.

It can fail in a disastrous manner if you don't maintain it.

blackjack17

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# 1318718 7-Jun-2015 15:22

JWR:
joker97: Hi, we just bought our second car, a Toyota with 160,000ks for half retail price. Seems to be in good nick. [And if I were to sell it the private list price is around 30% more ... (just as a rhetorical response to the "why buy such a car with such high ks" camp)]

Anyway, is there any thing you can do to try to recondition the engine without a rebuild -
Eg - pouring detergent into fuel? which one?
- using premium fuel that apparently has "better" detergents than regular fuel? which brand?
- engine flush?
- transmission flush?

Anyway, will take to a dealer to change all the fluids and oils on Tuesday. Will probably just follow their advice if none here.

160,00Km isn't very high mileage for a modern (Japanese) car.

Maintain it as usual and use the recommended oil etc..

It would worth checking the cam belt is OK.

It can fail in a disastrous manner if you don't maintain it.

First make sure you have a cam belt to worry about :)

Also some toyotas have recessed valves which means in the event of a cambelt break no damage is done. (mine snapped at 70Km/hr on the way up to the remarkable's ski field and the engine received no damage and simply cost $300 to replace).

JWR

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# 1318727 7-Jun-2015 15:55

blackjack17:
JWR:
joker97: Hi, we just bought our second car, a Toyota with 160,000ks for half retail price. Seems to be in good nick. [And if I were to sell it the private list price is around 30% more ... (just as a rhetorical response to the "why buy such a car with such high ks" camp)]

Anyway, is there any thing you can do to try to recondition the engine without a rebuild -
Eg - pouring detergent into fuel? which one?
- using premium fuel that apparently has "better" detergents than regular fuel? which brand?
- engine flush?
- transmission flush?

Anyway, will take to a dealer to change all the fluids and oils on Tuesday. Will probably just follow their advice if none here.

160,00Km isn't very high mileage for a modern (Japanese) car.

Maintain it as usual and use the recommended oil etc..

It would worth checking the cam belt is OK.

It can fail in a disastrous manner if you don't maintain it.

First make sure you have a cam belt to worry about :)

Also some toyotas have recessed valves which means in the event of a cambelt break no damage is done. (mine snapped at 70Km/hr on the way up to the remarkable's ski field and the engine received no damage and simply cost $300 to replace).

Yes. If it doesn't have a cam belt then don't check it.

nakedmolerat

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# 1318728 7-Jun-2015 16:01

There isn't much you can do to recondition 180k car on the clock. Just hope that it has not been abused with acceleration, idling etc.

The best you can do is just regular service and fix whatever the issue that comes up.

One reason why rental car is sold after 60k is just to avoid the risk of high maintenance.

mudguard

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# 1318781 7-Jun-2015 17:17

ubergeeknz:
160 thou is nothing for a somewhat well maintained (or even poorly maintained, unless it's a Honda) Japanese engine. Many go to 270,000 and beyond without needing anything more than servicing/repairs as needed.\

Any Honda's in particular?

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