High Mileage. How high 4.6 !

QuickCapri83

QuickCapri83

New Member
Sep 5, 2004
80
0
0
North East, PA
#1
High mileage people, post up mileage on stock motors, or on past stock motors. I'm interested in how high these motors go if you baby them.

Mine has 114k and seems like it will last another ten years...everything is just perfect, nothing breaks.

Anyways I'm interested in seeing how high people go, or have gone.

Also, is it bad to commute 60 miles per day on a car like mine? I might have to for three months. Engine and tranny seem perfect, although the engine does have a slight tick, it's pretty quiet, only noticeable at idle and between two objects, to reflect the sound. However I seem to have this kind of sound in all 3 fords I have...and they're all perfectly maintained. My Capri's original 5.0 engine had 197k when it blew, it had a similar sounding sound, more of a knock to it tho, and it got worse over the years and eventually had nothing to do with the engine blowing when it did.

Also, what's a good safe highway cruise RPM for a 4.6? Like what RPM is the engine basically like, not even working, like, no worse than idling the car heh. I'm figuring 2000 or below is practically nothing on the motor, even 2500, right? I mean, so many ppl have gears (I dont) and they must sit up there above 2k on the highway in 5th, some even near 3k. Basically at what RPM is the engine really working, like making lots of pressure, or, thermal issues, I dunno, fill me in, someone smart and well informed, I know we have plenty here!

I fealt this belongs in Talk, it's not really a tech, and I think most everyone will have a comment to spend.

Thanks in advance for any and all input, especially on that of my problem. I dont wanna, but gonna have to drive around 60-80mi per day for 3-4 months with the stang. Only thing i'm truly concerned with is the rear whines bad, it leaked when I first got it, I replaced the fluid and fixed the leak, teath were sharp, not worn, and very little play, maybe 1/4 inch at most.

Thanks again.


:SNSign:
 
#3
CobraRed_96_GT said:
before my gears and TB+Plenum i went to tahoe and back including driving around in the city for two days and got an average of 23.5 mpg.
With: SLP X w/cats, custom side exhaust, U/D pullies, steeda CAI, 275/35/18's, PI intake, and springs.
Click to expand...

I think he was referring to mileage as in engine life, not fuel mileage.

About 88k on my 2000, runs like a champ. I have frequently done long trips (with stock gears), running in the 2300 - 2500 range, and it doesnt seem to affect it. And if it matters, most of the highway driving in my old mazda was done around 3500 rpm, and that thing has over 100k on it.
 
#5
166K on my 96 and I have about 50 time slips in my desk drawer. I drive 140 miles a day to work with 4.10's and cruise around 3 grand at 80. Just had a shift fork fixed in the tranny and other than a radiator and fan have had no issues in the engine dept.
 
#9
a girl i knew in highschool had a boyfriend with a stock 97 gt auto that had a little over 211,000 miles on it. it was his older brother's car before he got it


i asked him if anything major had been done and he told me "nothing big enough to remember" biggest thing i think he told me was the alternator and the struts/shocks

says alot about the car itself, not just the engine
 
#11
Wow, you guys have really made me feel a lot better. I thought that cruising at anything over 2krpm was bad, but, I guess it's mostly cause I drove my Capri with a bad barring for like a year, and was always soooo nervous, and it like...wont go away, the nervousness. It's still there, I just can't feel comfortable driving my stang unless I let it sit a week and then just take it for a short fun spin ya know.

But given that sooo many of you, a very high percentage, have gears, there must be a lot of you that are cruising on the highway at well above 2000rpm. Heh, and I'm concerned at about the 2k, seems like I have nothing to worry about. I'm at 75mph at 2200 rpm, but spend most of the time at exactly 2k, which is exactly 69 mph. All stock gears/trans.

However, I have to do something I don't want to do, I have to use the Stang to commute about....now that I looked it up, 80 miles round trip per day, but it's virtually ALL highway, seriously, I'm 3 miles from the highway, and it's a fast road, like 55mph to get to the highway, and where I'm going is right off it, so, 99.9% of the trip is highway, which is good, but here's the problem. My rear has been whining since I bought the car last year, in February. I've put 9k on it, it has gotten no worse at all. I noticed a leak from the rear the moment I put my exhaust on, bout a month after gettin' the car. Serviced it and now it's good not leaking. But this is what's strange, for you techy's that can give me some insight as to what's the issue. When we took off the rear cover, the teeth looked brand new, sharp, and very little play in the gears, the main one, and the other on the side...or each side, whatever. Anyways, they were good looking, very much so, and the play was maybe at the most, 1/4 of an inch, like, maybe half the distance between one tooth to another. Ok, now here is what it does, simple really. When on the throttle like 50% or more, no whine at all, ever, when entirely off the throttle, no whine, when in neutral, no whine period either, the "ONLY" time it whines, is when I'm only slightly on the throttle, like, just enough to maintain speed, and gently accelerate, any more gas than that, the sound go's away.

So I dunno what's wrong, cause in my Capri when I first got it, it whined a little, at all times, no matter whether in gear or not, no matter how much throttle applied, etc etc. That thing lasted me 4 years without eventually failing, and it only failed cause I let it run empty, and when I finally noticed, it was too late, noisy as hell, and, I forgot to put in the stinky as $ possi additive, so it failed about 6 months thereafter.

Is it safe to do this commute? I don't beat the car at all, seriously, it never see's more than 2500 rpm, and that's only in first and second gear, after that I let the torque take over from the headers and exhaust, and it just pulls really nice up to speed.

Only other thing I can think to mention, oh, yeah, it's got 114k on it, car is in absolute mint, and I mean that, inside and out, so whoever had it, cared. Tranny shifts like a mercedes, beautiful. Anyways, one thing I noticed now that it's winter, and windows are up more often, well all the time, and so, I noticed, at about, 60-65 mph, only, when slightly on the gas, when I get my normal whine, I can kind of hear a shattering time of sound, very quiet, and not all the time, only noticable when stereo is off and windows up and just very quiet, sounds like it's coming from the back of the car....maybe I should jack up the rear and just run it up to speed and have someone listen or me listen while someone else does it. As for the sound, to better explain, it's like...if someone was standing 20 feet from you, and they took a bread knife, and rubbed it gently up and down something, hard, heavy metal. That's kinda how it sounds, but high pitched. When I first heard it, I thought "Heat shield", cause of my VR6 GTI, it sounds exactly like a loose heat shield on an import engine. Please, any help, soooo much appreciated, I don't want to wind up stuck with my car down where I have to travel, to newark NJ. Just a bad spot, any info at all and I'm in debt to you, and will make good on it.

Very sorry for long post, but I just seem to have a problem making a point with text, so I have to sssssppppeeelllll lllll it out, heh, again, ThAnkS

Dave, 1999 Limited Edition, BBK O/R X-pipe, Magnaflow Magnapac (Cylinder shape muffler, not normal lookin' one), Roush CAI. That's all that I can imagine can have any impact...maybe.... Okay, so hit me up with tha infinite Stangage wisdom, danke!! :hail2:


:SNSign:
 
#12
Have about 155k on my 98 with the mods in Sig.. No major problems yet.

And since my 5th gear has went poo poo 3 months ago,There are times I have be running around 3800/3900 rpm on the Highways in 4th ( it sounds terrible i know ) just to stay the speed limit. But mainly I stay on back roads so I don't have to be running that high rpms.But Soon I will be pulling the motor and having it built, along with the Tranny.
 
#14
I think a lot has to do with if you took care of maintenance or not. I switched to synthetic oil at 15,000 miles. I switched to synthetic tranny fluid at 40,000 miles. I do my fluid changes religeously. Doesn't mean I don't get on it but I do baby it too.
 
#15
COramprat said:
166K on my 96 and I have about 50 time slips in my desk drawer. I drive 140 miles a day to work with 4.10's and cruise around 3 grand at 80. Just had a shift fork fixed in the tranny and other than a radiator and fan have had no issues in the engine dept.
Click to expand...


awesome! I love hearing stuff like this and hate it at the same time...love it cause I drive 32 miles to and 32 miles back from work and I have 3.73s crusing over 2200.....and I want 4.10's or 4.30's.....but I have to say I hate it cause I always said I wouldnt do any engine mods until my motor needed rebuilt....at that rate....I might never get cams/heads, etc. :lol:
 
#16
QuickCapri83 said:
However, I have to do something I don't want to do, I have to use the Stang to commute about....now that I looked it up, 80 miles round trip per day, but it's virtually ALL highway, seriously, I'm 3 miles from the highway, and it's a fast road, like 55mph to get to the highway, and where I'm going is right off it, so, 99.9% of the trip is highway, which is good, but here's the problem. My rear has been whining since I bought the car last year, in February. I've put 9k on it, it has gotten no worse at all. I noticed a leak from the rear the moment I put my exhaust on, bout a month after gettin' the car. Serviced it and now it's good not leaking. But this is what's strange, for you techy's that can give me some insight as to what's the issue. When we took off the rear cover, the teeth looked brand new, sharp, and very little play in the gears, the main one, and the other on the side...or each side, whatever. Anyways, they were good looking, very much so, and the play was maybe at the most, 1/4 of an inch, like, maybe half the distance between one tooth to another. Ok, now here is what it does, simple really. When on the throttle like 50% or more, no whine at all, ever, when entirely off the throttle, no whine, when in neutral, no whine period either, the "ONLY" time it whines, is when I'm only slightly on the throttle, like, just enough to maintain speed, and gently accelerate, any more gas than that, the sound go's away.


Is it safe to do this commute? I don't beat the car at all, seriously, it never see's more than 2500 rpm, and that's only in first and second gear, after that I let the torque take over from the headers and exhaust, and it just pulls really nice up to speed.

:SNSign:
Click to expand...

I baught my car in May of this year with 44k miles...as of right now it has 57k on the clock....Im not worried about putting miles on the car becuase its alwyas had mobil 1 in it and I take care of the car, and it see's its daily share of redline runs :hail2: Thats the one reason I got a modular car for the commuting reasons
 
#17
Dave..you own a Stang and claim to have never gone above 2500 RPM's? You are dangerously close to having your license as a dude revoked. :D

The tick you described originally could be injectors. They tend to be kind of noisy. A knock I would worry...

The rear end noise...describe it better. Is it consistent or does is change with speed? Jacking it up and just turning the wheels by hand with the car in neutral may reveal any problems. Could be dragging a brake pad or they could be worn. Take a look at the easy stuff first.
 
#19
58k on my '03 with over a year total of not driving it (Thanks Iraq)... If I can ever get a me a GF closer than 80 miles away the mileage will go down greatly.
 
#20
I've got 38,000 miles on my 02 V6 Mustang and 2,6xx on my 2001 Mustang GT.

I knew a guy who owned a 1992 Mustang LX 4 cylinder hatchback which he purchased used with only 30,000 miles on it and he put a total of 368,000 miles on the car. It still had the original engine and the original transmission in it when it reached 368,000 miles. He only changed stuff like the oil, oil filter, transmission fluid, radiator, clutch, battery, alternator, brakes, tires and muffler on it all the years that he owned the car.

His Mustang had 368,000 miles on it when he traded it in because the engine was burning 1 quart of oil every 500-600 miles.
 
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