Danger Zone!?

Goddard-MarkVIII

Goddard-MarkVIII

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I'm about to take the plunge and buy my first Mark VIII. I want to at least be able to enjoy the car without the engine blowing up on me. Lets say the car is well taken care of and I take good care of it. With 140,000 miles how long do you think I have left in the engine with out replacing it?
 
Some people have reported over 200K on the odometer. I myself cannot document those findings. However, my '97 has close to 130K and purrs like a kitten and pulls hard. With the weather up there, you may get another 5-7 years up there with proper maintenance and not racing it. Heavy foot when entering freeway entrances not withstanding. After all, gotta blow out the carbon, right?

Enjoy your new ride.

:cool:
 
There is a guy at my work with one that has 425000+ km (264083 miles) on it. Looks and sounds like it runs strong still...
 
There are three mark 8 on ebay: 183,333.....194,216.....271,000
I have seen a town car with over 500,000 miles on and it still sound strong(livery took me to airport):cool:
 
Goddard-MarkVIII said:
I'm about to take the plunge and buy my first Mark VIII. I want to at least be able to enjoy the car without the engine blowing up on me. Lets say the car is well taken care of and I take good care of it. With 140,000 miles how long do you think I have left in the engine with out replacing it?
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Too high. Try under 100K.
 
I have near 160,000 on one of my 98 Collectors Editions, and the last thing I worry about is the engine. It doesnt even have tensioner rattle let alone a knock. Just standard maintenance, is well enough to extend the life of these very well engineered engines. Doesnt use oil either. Nothing like a 350 Chevy.
 
I have about 206,000 on mine right now. The engine has not blown up, nor does it threaten to blow up. So, if it's a well maintained car, you can buy one with 140k and have another easy 70k miles left.

With that said, even though the motor won't grenade, other systems do need attention at high mileage.

Expect to have to replace tie rods, ball joints, control arms, suspension, and other peripheral things like thermostat, oil filter adapter gasket, o2 sensors, maybe the IMRC, and stuff like that. But that's the case with any car.

It's high mileage, so it'll need parts. But you shouldn't expect to have to replace the engine.
 
whiplash15 said:
I have near 160,000 on one of my 98 Collectors Editions, and the last thing I worry about is the engine. It doesnt even have tensioner rattle let alone a knock. Just standard maintenance, is well enough to extend the life of these very well engineered engines. Doesnt use oil either. Nothing like a 350 Chevy.
Click to expand...

Doesn't use oil?

Appreciate the input. I wanted to change the engine eventually, but just wanted to make sure it was going to last me awhile before I had to put 3 4 grand into it.
 
no worries on the eng, i see lots crown vics, town cars, basically anything with a 4.6 with 300k+ miles and no major issues with the eng. i know the sohc and the dohc have differences but they are similar in durability.
i have a 98 LSC with 140 on her and before that had a 97 v8 tbird with 130, and my friends (dohc now) t-bird had 176 (i think) on the stock eng (his would burn 1 qt in 3k miles) and they all pull and/or pulled hard
 
Is'nt it amazing?? Some guys always suggest how things were better back in the old days (car wise). Everything was better ,less complex Yatta,yatta,yatta.

Personally I am thrilled with the leaps in technology that we now have to work with. There is no way some of the old cars would have drive trains that last as long as our's do, and with as little maintaince as ours do. I can also share with you that there is a bunch more effort put into the quality aspect as well than there was in years gone by (with the exception of a few of those things we all know about).
Advice to new prospective buyer would have to be not get too concerned about the milage, and try and adleast verify what prventive maintance has been done. Fluid changes, belt changes, etc as these if not done will tend to accumulate a bunch of problems that need to be addressed (poor shifting trannies, stalling, etc).
 
And also keep a lookout for the blend door thing, and the infamous 97/98 rear tail light ballest thing. The blend door is a biotch to replace.
 
All of the modular engines are pretty damn reliable. The 2v 4.6 leading the pack by far.



On a Mark VIII, it's not the engine I would be that worried about (as long as it was maintained that is).......
 
Scorpio1118_2000 said:
And also keep a lookout for the blend door thing, and the infamous 97/98 rear tail light ballest thing. The blend door is a biotch to replace.
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The what? Whats the blend door problem? ballest, is that some light problem?

Dude I love that body kit. I have a picture of your car on my desktop. :D
 
Goddard-MarkVIII said:
The what? Whats the blend door problem? ballest, is that some light problem?

Dude I love that body kit. I have a picture of your car on my desktop. :D
Click to expand...

Blend door is associated with the climate control. The Ballast has to do with the big trunk light on the back of Gen 2s.
 
My mechanic has 225,000 miles on his 93 Mark and has no problems. He is going to rebuild another engine, but only for performance reasons. I have a 96 w/100,000 and I drive the crap out of mine. I don't turn down any race.
 
Sorry bout that, I should have made myself more clear for the noobs.
I have had people come up to me and offer to buy my engine, apparently the teksid engine is popular among engine builders. As long as you take care of your Mark VIII, you could very well put 200k on the clock with little or no trouble. Now the stuff around the engine is a whole nother can of worms.
 
OK let's go to the Moon...

I have 155K on my 95, 156K on my 94, and 218K on my 93.

Not one of these car drive like they have miles on them. I am not afraid to take any on a long distance trip.

And all three would be race worthy.

Blow the engine:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: you might trash the tranny but blow the engine no way... you have to go out of your way to kill it. Or be named Mr. Wilson...

If you take care of these engines they will last you a very long time. Just don't use $hitty oil, and make sure your maintenance is regular and on time. Keep an ear open for worn or wearing parts and replace them before they get bad.
 
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