Posted by Matt Wilson on Thursday, July 25, 2002 at 8:10PM :
I believe I read a posting of yours a while back, saying that you have 50,000 miles on your 230 cid engine. Is this correct, or am I remembering wrong? I've always thought that a person could get a reasonable number of miles out of one of these engines, with proper care and treatment. However, some folks, including some of the Power Wagon vendors regularly mentioned on this site think that these flatheads, especially in a heavy truck, will only get 20,000 to 25,000 miles before overhaul, at best.
I'm sure it depends on the kind of usage (i.e., cruising along empty on flat ground at 45 mph vs. climbing up hills with 3000 lbs payload in 2nd gear all day long), and the kind of maintenance. But to say that a person can never get more than 25,000 miles seems a bit pessimistic.
Have you done anything special to your engine to get this longevity? I remember a posting in which you said you did not even balance it.
How did you break it in? What kind of driving/hauling do you mostly do? How fast do you drive it on the highway? What kind of gearing do you have? What kind of oil do you use? How often do you change it and your oil filter? How often do you clean/change your air filter? What about tune-up schedules?
How does the engine operate now with this many miles on it (i.e., does it burn oil, knock, have low power, etc.)?
Sorry for the "20 Questions", but I'm curious and since I just finished rebuilding my engine, I want to do what I can to make it last.
Thanks a bunch!
Matt
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