Will my car loose preformance when it gets older?

[MingisDew31186]

I have a 96 with about 41,000 miles on it. Still runs great! But will it loose any preformance? Is there anything I can do to help turn back the clock?

[jmorgan]

lets put it this way

if you have a problem with your engin it wont get better only worse. dosnt matter what it is it wont fix itself.


make sure you change the fluids regularly and regular maintance like plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter, change the trans fluid and rear end fluid it never hurts to put some new fuld in


you cant turn back the time but regualr maintance can slow the clock

[ July 29, 2002: Message edited by: Jason Morgan ]</p>

[bu-bye]

Very true Jason. Good post [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[CARdiac]

I agree good post. My Camaro has 117K and I am sure it has dropped a little in power (no matter how often you cange the oil you will still get some damage)...My wife's Honda (130K) is the same, she loses a little oil but still has kick...but I am sure it is a little less than when it was first bought.

There are a lot of products out there that claim to turn back the clock.... [img]graemlins/bs.gif[/img]

[black98V6]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by CARdiac:

There are a lot of products out there that claim to turn back the clock.... [img]graemlins/bs.gif[/img] <hr></blockquote>

soooooo true.. not only are they bs.. but they aren't cheap either.. next time you are at the autoparts store look at the price of a can of "restore".. that oil additive in a silver can.. that stuff is like 9 bucks and you are supposed to use it EVERY time you change your oil... umm no thank you..

[3pointFour]

BAHHAHAHAHAHAHA MINGUSDEW!

Watch sealab?

[MingisDew31186]

Ahh yes MingisDew, and BeeBobCola. Classic ;)

[Pewter2K1]

The 3.8 is a strong motor, My dad had a boneville and we bought it new, could've melted the tires right off of it, the day we got rid of it and traded it in, my dad did melt the tires off of it and it had 240,000 miles!!! unbelieveable! Dont worry about your motor becomning considerably less powerful unless you do not take care of it! thats my personal experience. hope it helps

[pgriffith]

41k for a '96 is very low miles. I dont think you will have to worry too much. Just do what they say in the above post.. Change fluids and maintane on a regular basis and do things when you are supposed too.

[CamaroBill]

During break-in, the car gets quicker (parts get "wear matched". When does the wear actually hurt performance? I dunno, but probably once you start using oil it's getting a little "loose".

Something really interesting regarding the 3.8 liter engine: One of the most memorable Car & Driver Long Term Report articles that sticks in my mind is one that features a Pontiac Boneville of 90ish vintage. At 1,000 miles it took like 35 seconds to do 0-100 mph. At something like 25,000 miles it took only 25 seconds. That's a full 10 seconds!! 0-60 went, I think, from around 9.5 seconds to around 8.5.

[Speed Freak]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>soooooo true.. not only are they bs.. but they aren't cheap either.. next time you are at the autoparts store look at the price of a can of "restore".. that oil additive in a silver can.. that stuff is like 9 bucks and you are supposed to use it EVERY time you change your oil... umm no thank you..

--------------------
<hr></blockquote>
not true i drove my mothers station wagon frome main to RI. It had a bit over 200k miles on it,
not fun couldent get it over 60 the hole way.
But I put a can of "restore".. in it and did a bit over 75 on the return trip. I swear by it now.
brought som low end back to my farthers 89'300zto [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[ravenp]

Also keep in mind the older it gets, the more parts get replaced/rebuilt, and often with performance parts, so eventually it will start to gain performance that way [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Dan M]

Sometimes performance parts = performance problems. Of course, if you have the know-how then you can deal with those kind of problems.

[93v6firebird]

well, you shouldnt lose performance at 41k miles, that engine is relatively young. When you start burning oil, or you have an oil leak somewhere, then you should replace the gaskets from teh heads up, get everything clean, and you will restore some of the compression you may have lost... but again at41k miles its hardly anything to worry about.

[99Camaro99]

well having 41K on a 99 kinda scares me right now. Summer driving is putting me at 100mi/day :(

BTW, I'm with stock plugs/wires. When should I change them and how much does this cost?