[swifty_ano]

How many km's on an engine is too many?

What factors should be taken into account?
Rule of thumb?

NOWW!!
There is supposably a check engine light that stays on.
Says it runs and idles fine just light won't turn out

Mechanic said he'll take the fuse out and see if that resets it?

Anyone know where the engine codes are? Can't find the page anymore?

Any ideas what it could be?

[losfer]

Every K over is a killer

[swifty_ano]

Hahaha

[Rusho]

Unless you know it's complete service history it's very hard to put a number on it. The odometer could say 250000 km's but the head could be reconditioned, the engine could have been rebuilt, the diffs rebuilt, gearbox overhauled....you get the picture

[SierraDan]

Depends on millions of factors. If this is about a purchase. It should be reflected in the price. For example 10grand for a Sierra with 400k on the clock is too many. 10grand for a Sierra with 10k on the clock, 2" lift, some muddies, ZERO rust, no oil leaks, everything shiny new. Awesome.

Just the way I look at it.

[lump_a_charcoal]

Do a compression test, check for visual signs of old age - then cross your fingers!

[alien]

when i bought mine it had high KM - but the previous owner lived 2hrs south of the city and drove it to NSW and back... so most of the high KM were country ones.

when i was buying i had a choice between the one i bought and another which had lower KM but already had 28" tyres and a roll cage - ie: it was used offroad.

i took the chance that the higher KM stock zuk would be in better condition and i feel i was right - the engine lasted AGES before i fucked up and overheated it, cooking the head - but until that point it was trouble free and not blowing any smoke or doing anything odd.

I did the same years later buying a mazda 323 as a runabout - got it for a steal cos it had high KM, but the owner lived in port hedland so it was all country km... again the thing was just brilliant - even got 650km to 35L once in it on a long drive. never gave me any hassle and i sold it 2 years later for only $600 less than i paid for it even though the clearcoat had started to flake.

[buzbox]

It really depends on how well maintained or neglected the engine has been. You can have a motor with over 300,000km in better condition than one with 100,000km.

If your buying a 2nd hand car, It is very helpful if the log books are up to date. If your buying a 2nd hand engine from a wrecker, It's a bit of a lucky dip.

[MacDaddy]

swifty_ano wrote:

How many km's on an engine is too many?

What factors should be taken into account?
Rule of thumb?

As a very general rule... 200,000kms is ok, but getting there, 250,000kms is closer, 300,00kms is definite cause for concern, and over 350,000kms, is new engine time...

My 2001 GV had 195,000kms on the clock when i bought it in 2010... it had done some offroad work, but the engine bay, interior, and under body, even though cleaned up by the caryard, showed that it was mainly a h'way cruiser, it even had the Handbook, which showed only 1 owner from new, and had been serviced regularly... i was lucky...

But yeah... all the others have explained facors that need to be taken into account, other than just Km's on the clock...

[weaves]

it all depends on service history and driver.

the magna i had, i bought with 205000km on it, The back of the wagon was full of dog hair, the car was full of kids style stains (car seat marks, and glitter stuff on the floor). But it had a FULL logbook service history, it had not only been serviced every 10 k, but it had been serviced in 6 monthly intervals when it hadn't done the 10k. Plus it had receipts for all serviced and for the clutch that was recently done.

i passed over one with 120k purely because it looked like it had been flogged into the ground and looked like it hadn't been serviced for a good 50k.

[Scrawny]

If it's diesel and looked after then I'd expect over 500,000kms. If you are looking at any car with high kms then previous service records are a must, and an expectation that it will need repairs eventually

[BlueSuzy]

Engines should be measured by hours running, not kms.

Running gear can be measured by kms.

[JrZook]

BlueSuzy wrote:

Engines should be measured by hours running, not kms.

Running gear can be measured by kms.

Correct tho how do you measure this in vehicles for sale?..........

Number of k's is about as close to the total of hours your gonna get.

[lump_a_charcoal]

Fit an hour meter.

[Scrawny]

BlueSuzy wrote:

Engines should be measured by hours running, not kms.

Running gear can be measured by kms.

But what do hours mean to anyone? Is 5,000hours a lot? 20,000? How would you compare that? I deal with equipment that have hour meters and I think that they are a good idea, but how would the average person know what is a lot?
It all depends on what work the vehicle has done with previous owners. Your best bet is to find out as much as you can and then take a gamble.

[BlueSuzy]

The general public wouldnt know. They should of been made like this from the very beginning of cars in late 1800's.

Km's has been burnt into our brains, like riding a bike.

If people adapted from miles to kms, im sure they can adapt to hrs. But the general interest doesnt seem to go that way for cars.

The rta roadworks, they idle trucks all day every day. They are not counted by hours. Only kms. But every other vehicle is counted by hours.. boats,forks,ride on mowers, tractors etc.

Just weird thats all.

So really, for any suzuki sierra, It will have worn/broken things. They are all the same. As it wears, replace/fix the part to newer.


My suzsierra had 5 different sets of kms... higher k vit vss odometer, actual original car body and gbox kms, new diffs kms, new transfer kms, and 2000 baleno motor with lower k's.. Now thats confusing for a 2nd hand buyer.

[buzbox]

lump_a_charcoal wrote:

Fit an hour meter.

Like they do on boats

[Scrawny]

We have 3 new gen Isuzu trucks operating as emergency response for the Clem7 tunnel here in Brisbane. One truck only has 10,000 klms on it in just over a year. But I know it has done a lot of idle time. Apparently you can get that data out of the computer with the Tech 2 tool.

[BlueSuzy]

buzbox wrote:

lump_a_charcoal wrote:

Fit an hour meter.

Like they do on boats

This would be very interesting. Can you imagine calculating how many hours you have sat in your drivers seat for?

[Vash]

hour meter isnt accurate either, since it counts when idling in traffic, and that wears the engine next to nothing. The big wear is high revs at slow speed, and that can't be measured. Just have to have a good look around the car to get an idea on how it was driven.

[Scrawny]

Vash wrote:

The big wear is high revs at slow speed, and that can't be measured

How do you figure this? Wear in an engine is more to do with load than revs

[royce]

Cold starts do more wear than anything

I would rather a car with higher than normal km and signs of driveline maintainence than one with lower and only logbook servicing.

[swifty_ano]

So 300,000 km's is cause for concern?
If it doesn't blow smoke or drive tired then is it worth the risk?

Is a compression test the only way to tell?

[Vash]

ScrawnC wrote:

Vash wrote:

The big wear is high revs at slow speed, and that can't be measured

How do you figure this? Wear in an engine is more to do with load than revs

I mean in the sense of, you can't measure that wear because it wont show up on the clock, or hour meter. A car that is driven offroad only with 100,000km on the clock would have the same wear as say a car with 200-300,000km on the clock.
Same with hour meters, the hours would be high on both and you'd only be able to tell how it was driven by looking at the components

[whincup]

royce wrote:

I would rather a car with higher than normal km and signs of driveline maintainence than one with lower and only logbook servicing.

x2. when i was buying a second car for a daily drive i was deciding between a 5 year old car with 40,000km (mostly stop-start town driving from a young couple), and a 3 year old car with 90,000km, (first owner lived half an hour out of town so safe to assume mostly highway driving). both had full service history, but the first had it every 10,000km so only 4 services in 5 years ... i chose the second.

point of the story, kilometres shouldnt be the only thing you base your decision on... you can have a car reach 500,000 without too many issues, where another can shit itself after 200,000.

[dogbox]

agree with royce cold starts
most engine wear occurs in the first 5 min after starting or till the engine is up to operating temp
an engine that has low city klm has more wear than one that has done the same klms on the hwy

[4x4ish]

swifty_ano wrote:

So 300,000 km's is cause for concern?
If it doesn't blow smoke or drive tired then is it worth the risk?

Is a compression test the only way to tell?

yes.
no and yes, the above give good indication but comression test will give you a precise answer. if its looks well and goes well, chances are it is well.

honestly if all cars were missing the Km's, then signs of the engine, driveline etc would indicate its condition. People see high k's and instantly think, its stuffed without looking at the actual car.

[swifty_ano]

Update!
Engine code??

[atari4x4]

what sort of suzuki?

[4x4ish]

swifty_ano wrote:

Update!
Engine code??

?