Hello all,

My fiance and I are discussing possibly heading to Maine for our honeymoon. We are thinking about taking our 89 Club Wagon. We would like to take our 2 german shepherds with us and be able to take our time and enjoy the sights.


I'm nervous about taking a 25 year old vehicle with an estimated over 200k miles on a trip that long. If theres any sort of catastropic failure I will be up you-know-what creek without a paddle.


We've only had the van for a couple months and so far she seems to be pretty good. I've checked the suspension, changed the diff fluid, performed an oil change, and plan on doing cooling hoses (and probably a t-stat) and a trans fluid and filter change.



Is there anything I can do to ease my mind of taking a vehicle with high miles on a long trip? Driving 30 or so miles to work and operating it on the weekends has been enjoyable. She wanders a little bit, which I expect to probably be a loose steering gear box, but is more than manageable even at highway speeds.

I may put a pair of new tires on the rear since they are getting low and the wrong load rating. I will probably put new high pressure valve stems in as well since the rears are in poor condition, and if I'm going to do 2 I should do 4.


Anyones thoughts?

 

Rent a car, fly out and drive back, a bicycle built for two, anything but ruin (Her) honeymoon because you will pay for it the rest of your life........LOL

 

She is all about taking the van lol. If anything I will rent a van to take the dogs along. No way in heck am I letting the air lines responsible for the well being of our pups, I've seen and heard too many stories of DOA dogs that were supposed to be in climate controlled areas that never made it

 

How long do you have before you go and how much time are you wanting to spend working on the van prior to leaving? With these 2 things in mind we would be able to come up with a prioritized list for you. At the very least you should flush all the fluids and change all the filters. Verify brakes are gonna last the trip. Do the Diesel Kleen treatment on your IP/Injectors (the one where you fill the fuel filter, run it for 15 seconds and then let it sit overnight).

I am in the process of preparing mine for a trip to Florida and back (36 hours) pulling a travel trailer.......but my wife isn't enthusiastic about it. Accourding to her it will break because it's old, even though there is only 140k on it.

 

We are looking at going on the trip in October shortly after the weddding (set for Oct 4th). The fuel filter appears newer (1 year and about 5k miles according to the PO markings) and I plan on having new fluids in the drivetrain.

Mechanically, other than what I have listed, the van appears in great shape for the age and mileage (over 200k). I think I'd feel a little better if mine has as "low" miles as yours jayro lol



My biggest worry is just that its an older vehicle that we have not had for very long. Everything seems to be functional (minus the radio, will have to fix that lol) and I will be sure all the maintenance is up to date

 

Not sure about the mpg of your regular dd, but I would start driving the van every day. That way you will find out any issues prior to the trip. Then flush and fill ALL the fluids. Time the ip. Check all the belts. You could always get a roadside assistance plan just in case. My insurance company provided me with one extremely cheap.

 

Definitely replace the tires with the right ones.

 

Mileage is the deal breaker on the Van, 200k = Oil Pump, Trans, Axle bearings, Ring and Pinion, dropping a Valve, blowing out seals here and there, so if any of the above hasn't been replaced or repaired yet it's coming very soon! All Rubber anything is dry rotted by now, Bushings, engine parts, all Sensors and Senders need to be replaced and crumbling rusted connectors checked. Don't forget that part of the US might be around freezing at night in October.........

 

It is a good idea to go over the engine to check for leaks. Maybe one of those seal conditioners additives. Driving it everyday will give you a good idea on these things.

With it being an IDI Diesel I wouldn't be very concerned about the mileage if it has been fairly well maintained.

 

What is a "long trip"? How many miles have you put on the van recently.

Frankly, long distance driving is fairly easy on a vehicle, so if you think you can trust the cooling system to work, are willing to check the oil frequently, and don't have puddles on the ground from trans fluid leaking, etc, you may very well be OK.

I have taken junk vehicles on long trips many times. When I was 18, my ex wife (then 16) and I drove a Sunbeam Alpine (1400 miles each way--and yes, I was 18 and she was 16--I'd kill a kid of mine if they tried to do this) to Colorado. I was adding a quart of oil every 200 miles (and running it on 40 weight racing oil). The stakes can get higher.

On a 1973 trip to Denver (I was 21), I broke off the clutch pedal pivot on my '66 Vette. I had to drive it to a downtown Denver dealer about 12 miles thru rush hour traffic with no clutch. No sweat. I learned to drive a stick with no clutch 2 weeks after I bought the Sunbeam (my first car) when the slave cylinder blew up. I learned how to fix hydraulics. Hit the starter in 1st gear and know how to match rpms and shift.

Oh, and I blew a half inch hole in the radiator of my '71 Olds 98 in Boston on vacation (I have always been a Detroiter) and my ex and I had to spend a Sun night in a motel waiting for the car svc place to open up. (I put a couple bottles of Bars Leaks in it but no suck luck.)

I blew up a Chevy 305 in my old 1986 G2500 Vandura with 42k miles on it on I-75 at Middletown, Ohio, 230 miles from home. Freak timing chain failure that took out everything. With a 2 year old son who was not really happy but he got a ride in the tow truck. We were on our way home from my wife's cousins' homes in Cincinnati. We managed to get my wife's cousins to pick us up with the most valuable of our stuff, rented a car, and drove the rental car back down in 2 weeks to fetch the van, new engine and all. The svc manager of the GMC dealer (a TRUCK dealer who worked on fire engines, school buses, etc) managed to find my OCD svc records in the glovebox and have GM pay half the cost of a new Targetmaster 305 long block. Warranty on the van had been 12/12 in those days, so 4 years and 42k were way out of warranty. In other words, you might want some kind of Plan B. I dunno if AAA or any other road svc plan has trip protection coverage where they might buy you a room, or a rental car, if something happens.

If you have till October, drive the van a LOT and see how it works. Keep checking the fluids, etc.

It's funny, but I actually remember the vacations with catastrophic vehicle failures the best.

I have a 1991 BMW that has the ORIGINAL hoses and radiator on it and would change those before a long trip. Otherwise it's good to go to California and with the Michigan winter weather, I'm about ready to leave tomorrow...

Oh yeah, I flew down to North Carolina and drove up a BMW 318ti that I bought for my son back in 2006, it had 136k miles on it at that point, and drove him to Pennsylvania to pick up another '95 318ti with 160k on it. He drove that one back. So even recently I have been a bit white-knuckled with driving high mile vehicles. Leave yourself a bit of extra time on your vacation, and bring a Visa or MC with you

George

 

Bring some spare fuel filters and the tools you need to change them. If you have until October you should be able to find any weak spots before then. Just because its older doesn't mean it can't be dependable.

 

With just you and a new bride, experience tells me that breakdowns are manageable. Add two of mans best friends and it could be near catastrophic.

Either get a much, Much newer vehicle ... or plan on leaving your faithful friends behind.

My 4 year old (1974 Buick Regal) newlywed vehicle suffered numerous faults while on our two week honeymoon (several of which I still remember: tranny rebuilt/Boston, wiper on/off switch replaced/ Hartford Conn.), burst cabin heater, bypassed on the road/ NY?, followed by a failed water pump replaced/ side of the road, Canada).

She stayed with me thru all that ... and is still here today.

 

I can't help you with whether or not to take the van, but I can say that some of the best memories in my marriage came when well-laid plans went totally sideways.
A simple drive to Maine can quickly turn into an unplanned adventure. You'll be on a road trip.....with your new bride.....in a van....... Things could be worse 'wink wink'

 

who cares how many miles are on it. go get yerselves an adventure...but be prepared(tools, basic parts-filters, hoses, belts, jack, etc)

I would replace belts and hoses now, keep the old ones to have along as spares....

 

Jayro,
I think I will have to start driving it daily, just to make sure that all is well. I will most likely be replacing the tires so I don't have to worry about overloading them.

YoGeorge,
A long distance will be about 600 miles one way, we've had the van for a couple months now I believe and I've only put on probably about 500 miles total, but that was only operating for an hour max at a time.

Econolinemanor,
Theres been a lot of documentation of the IDI lasting well over 300k miles, but its the rest of the vehicle that has me nervous

Katoranger,
good idea for the spare parts, I have a couple I haven't installed on the dumptruck yet so I can toss them in the van for now.

ArmyRET,
New vehicle is out of the question, we got this as our "adventure/camping/road tripping" vehicle, just haven't had a chance to take her out on a good voyage yet

Rtlang,
I think you got the idea ;-)

Mohoneywell,
I think I will do that, will save money over carrying "new" spares. The old aren't in horribly shape but new is usually better right?



Anyone think there are any mandatory upgrades? Already have a big cooler plumbed in series with the factory trans cooler, but I'm thinking I might want some good gauges (oil pressure, coolant temp, trans temp)