454 engine life questioin

[iluvmy72]

OK.......I posted this question in the 1988-99 board but they still give no response....so I'm trusting my old pals here at the 67-72 site for info or help or whatever it is I'm asking.....
OK.....I'm a new burb owner....okok I bought it used but it's still my first burb.....it's a 94 2500....clean vehicle.....no leaks....oil change every 1,500 miles(bought from a friend and insists on it being changed every 1,500 miles and with valvoline synthetic nontheless)......and power flush done with the transmission system every 50 thousand miles.....all miles are highway with not much mountains or hills(he's that boring considering it's a 4X4 and he lives in Utah).....the 4X4 was just a image thing for him.....he even washed the under side everyday during winter to get the salt off from the road......LOL....anyway with all that being said, how long would I expect the engine to go if it has 135,000 miles on it? It's a 7.4 Liter 454. Someone told me it should go at least 250,000 miles before it even begines to get tired if it's kept in good condition. If that's the case, then I'm stoked!!!.....I only paid $3,800 for it. Only 3 things seem to be wrong with it and they are not engine or drive train issues. One is the brake light is still lit even though I released the ebrake, dome lights dont come on when the door is opened.....the indicatoer linkage is not working but I know which gear I'm shifted into anyway. But that's it. I will be using this beast in 3 months to bring back my 72 GMC from Cali......So I want to get it in shape for that. Should I do the K&N filter thing as well as Lucas for the trans mission and engine? Any advice for a high milage engine like this is usefull to me. Thanks.

[Longhorn Man]

First, NO K&N filter. that will shorten your engine life.
The K&N filter lets more dirt in than any paper filter on the market, as our oil lab says, the K&N will stop bricks and birds.
Second, if the tranny is good, NO ADDITIVES. Lucus is good stuff, but, you don't want to add friction modifiers into a good tranny. Again, straight from the oil experts.
Draining synthetic oil every 1500 miles is way beyond being anal... that's just a waste of money. I DO recomend synthetic... mobile one is what I would recomend. It is the best of the normal synthetics out there. Sure, red line and royal purple are great brands, but that is above and beyond what your truck will need. Those are for raceing. Mobile one, and I would say every 5000 miles. I've seen data proving that mobile one will drain out cleaner at 30,000 miles, than normal standard oil will at 3000 miles. That's not a typo... thirty thousand miles. But in reality, there is no reason to do that, 5 to 10 thousand is plenty, and you'll be treating your engine better than GM ever expected it to be treated. A mobile one dextron is a great idea too, but honestly, I would wait. Your tranny is probably 50k from death. Treat them good, and they'll hold up 150k to 200k, but I would NEVER expect more. Service it at 150k with normal oil, and then wait for it to die. THEN go to the mobile one.
If it has dex cool, flush the hell out of it and put in green stuff. Take a REAL close look at the corners of the intake manifold, see if it is leaking.


250k before the engine begines to get tired.... I wouldn't hold my breath on that. It could happen, but, it probably won't.

[iluvmy72]

Sorry Longhorn......but I'm a Valvoline fan. Pennzoil ruinded one of my cars with sludge a few years back. Ever since then, my eingines have run much cleaner. I have found out there is a difference between the two. I'l admit I havn't tried mobile. But right now I have the Valvoline Maxlife sythetic in it along with Lucas synthetic additive. (I could have chosen prolong....lol....I always wanted to remove my valve covers the throw dirt on my valves)....I think my tranny might last longer than you are saying....it has been power flushed 3 times meaning each time it had a new filter and 100% of the fluid removed from the whole tranny including torque converter. http://www.tannertransmissions.com/
Had the compression test done...each cylinder read 168 pounds of compression.....I'm told this is really good for the age. Now about the K&N thing.....do you have more info on this? Everyone tells me it's by far the best.

[bryanw1968]

Great response. I have a couple of questions for you Longhorn Man.
I talked to a guy who tested all of the high oils for use in a multi-million $$ piece of equipment at UT here in Austin. He said pretty much what you said.
The only thing he mentioned different was that Mobile One and Royal Purple both being excellent oils both contained paraffin wax which leaves a residue in the motor. He said that Red Line was also as good or better than these two and didn't contain the wax. Can you comment?

Also, what filter do you recommend if not a K&N or K&N style filter?
Thanks!
B

[Longhorn Man]

Valvoline is good stuff, and in all reality, mobile one is only one or two steps better. and they are small steps.
Pennzoil used to be crap... they aren't so bad anymore...but in compaison to synthetic, it's like an old single poins electronic system compaired to a new hi powered distributorless ignition system. Apples to oranges.
Your tranny may well last longer, and in allhoesty, i hope I am wrong, however, I rarely see a tranny come through our shop...esp a GM one, that has 200k on it. It happens, but not often. You could put synthetic in it, but you might be throwing away money.
It isn't so much that old fluid kills the tranny. Miles and the way the truck is driven is what does it. Fluid flush IS an awsome thing to do to the tranny, and one of the only things other than never tow, never floor the throttle, and drive it like Miss Daisy.
I can't comment on the compression test number... however, if every cylinder read the exact same PSI...THAT is what is impressive. You are looking for the numbers to all be as close as possible to each other.
K&N... everyone is sold on it becouse the dyno doesn't lie... and they make more power.
Well, how is it going to make more power?
By letting more air in.
how can it let more air in?
By being less restrictive.
Less restrictive... .more dirt gets in.
No one even asks how it can "filter better when it gets dirty" as they claim. It's simple, the more clogged it is, the less stuff can get in becouse there is less of an opening.
Any independant oil lab will tell you K&N sucks.
People want to believe advertising. This is more true in automotive circles. Just like the whole Fram oil filters. Millions are sold, and most of those people thing fram makes the best oil filter.
That can't be further from the truth, it is by far the WORST oil filter on the market today. Many dealers were denying blown engine claims under warranty if there was a fram filter installed. Fram took it to court, and sad enough, Fram won. Now, under federal law, if your auto dealer/maker says you can't use fram filters, they are required to GIVE you a filter at no cost, and also a signed paper stating that you can not use fram fliters.

[Longhorn Man]

bryanw1968, I took so long typing out my last responce, that you slipped in there unseen.
I can not comment on the wax. our oil lab gets so technical when you ask a simple question, that my head ends up spinning.
As for air filters, any quality paper filter is better, and personally, I like the NAPA line, but, that is an uneducated thing there. Our lab always says ANY paper filter is way better. They have never spoken a specific brand.
Maybe I'll have to see what they say.

[bryanw1968]

Longhorn Man,

What oil fiter do you recommend? I've heard good things about Wix but most of my local parts houses don't carry them.

As far as oil, I burn and leak it so there's no way I'm putting Redline in at $9 a quart I use Valvoline Racing. Should I consider synthetic?

[71/454]

Longhorn man just curious why you say to drain the dex cool? You mention the intake gaskets right after, is this the cause of the common intake gasket failure?

[Longhorn Man]

IMO, if you leak, fix the leaks before going to synthetic. That stuff is too expensive to dump onto the driveway.
As for oil filters, the best of the 'normal' oile filters would be NAPA gold, which is nothing more than a rebadged Wix. 1060 IIRC for a small block. You have to specify gold, the silver is a lesser product.

Now, in a carburated engine, esp one that is not tunes 100% perfect (read, 99% of the carbed engines) you can't run the oil 10,000 miles. Carbs simply polute the oil too much. 5 or 6 thousand is all you'd really want to do.

Redline, again, is a very good product, but it's added benifits will never be seen on a street car. (or truck) It's main advantage over the lesser synthetics is resistance to heat. Onless you are spinning 7000 or 8000 RPMs, and holding it at 5000 or 6000 RPMs, the need for the redline is not there. Same with the Royal Purple.
Synthetic blends are obviously going to be better than normal conventional oils, but not worth the added cost. Minimal improvement, for maximum mark up. They only add 20 - 30% synthetic... it's more of a marketing ploy than anything.

[Longhorn Man]

71454... I can't prove it, but I suspect it. I would say 75% of the intake gaskets we replace have dexcool in the rad... I wouldn't be suprised if it is more like 90%...I'm trying to be conservitive on it.
Also, the stuff cloggs up rads and heater cores. If you feel you must use it, drain it, and flush it real good every 2 or 3 years, and refill with the red crap again.
I don't know a single mechanic who runs dex cool in there cars. Even the guys at work with brand new cars... as soon as they pull in for there first oil chainge, they drain the red stuff right down the drain. (proper drain... not into the river type drain)

[bryanw1968]

The deal with Dex Cool is that if you happen to mix even a little bit of the green stuff in it, it will coagulate even faster. I agree stick with the green.

[Longhorn Man]

very true. But it'll go to crap with zero green coolant installed.

[iluvmy72]

what do you guys think about AC Delco filters.....that's what I normally use!!!!

[Longhorn Man]

I'm not sure how to tell them apoart... other than price. There cheap ones are OK, there expensive ones, are right up there just below WIX.

[Yukon Jack]

I have a 95 GMC Yukon with a 350 tbi and auto tranny. I'm sitting at just over 160k and while the engine is a dog, the tranny seems to be holding up and I must admit I have not changed the tranny fluid as often as I should.

As for the K&N, I must agree that I am getting converted away from using them. I used one on the 95 for alot of those miles and must admit the tbi sure gets dirty. I stopped using the K&N about 20,000 miles ago.

With oil changes as often as your engine has had in it's life, and the way it sounds like this guy drove it, I would expect it to last for many more miles.

[mac]

Longhorn - I agree with everything you've commented on. Give me your take on the miraculous benefits of SEA FOAM. Lots of people swear by it.

I have always used a little two stroke oil in my B/blk gas for additional top end lube and have never had any guide problems. We know guides are a B/blk achilles' heel. The bit of smoke isn't a problem and is only noticeable on hard go peddle application. I've done this with B/Blk Corvettes, Chevelle's, an SS El Camino along with my '97 Sub 2500. Am I nut's or what? Mac

[CMars45000]

I have a rebuilt and pepped up TBI 454 out of a 1992 K3500 in my Blazer...

I run 10w30 Valvoline with a Napa 1060 oil flter all day long....