How many miles is too many miles (diesel)? (MPG, truck, engines)

[echo7tango]

Originally Posted by Electrician4you

Keep up on the oil and filter changes and make sure you drain the water separator (if it has one). You’ll most likely be replacing transmissions/clutches over time. And probably a few interiors. Most Diesel engines if mainta8ned outlast the vehicke they are surrounded by.
One thing my uncle told me is torque converters do break up internally and need to be replaced. Mine was starting to do that. He replaced it. The transmission stilll works great at 180,000.
I see these 7.3s being sold with 300-350,000 miles for average of 13,000

Yes, thanks, that is my plan.

[StealthRabbit]

as mentioned...
Diesel is not needed UNLESS your service requires (heavy towing / lots of miles / HD work situation / brew your own fuel or use any of the MANY free feedstocks / waste oils (including waste engine oil and discarded heating oil and Jet A)

Diesels like...
good Maint. (annual / 10k oil and filter changes (synthetic)
DRY and fresh fuel (if fuel is getting low / after a long trip...ALWAYS refill before you park it (condensation likely due to heated 'return' fuel in tank))

[kwong7]

I've got 300K miles on a 17 year old VW Golf TDI and the only issues I've had were two broken fingers on the clutch pressure plate at 250K miles (disc actually still have 40% of friction material left) and a leaky fuel injection pump that needed new gaskets.

I also have 200K mile on a 10 year old Duramax diesel. Only issue was two bad glow plugs.

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

as mentioned...
Diesel is not needed UNLESS your service requires (heavy towing / lots of miles / HD work situation / brew your own fuel or use any of the MANY free feedstocks / waste oils (including waste engine oil and discarded heating oil and Jet A)

Diesels like...
good Maint. (annual / 10k oil and filter changes (synthetic)
DRY and fresh fuel (if fuel is getting low / after a long trip...ALWAYS refill before you park it (condensation likely due to heated 'return' fuel in tank))

I can tell you right now you aren’t getting a owner of a new diesel to dump in waste enginevoil heating oil or jet A.

These new injectors and fuel systems are not going to like those fuels.

At all.

Maybe in a old 70/80s diesel but in anything built today? You’re dreaming. I wouldn’t run that in my diesel. Even my injectors aren’t exactly cheap

[Nlambert]

Originally Posted by Electrician4you

I can tell you right now you aren’t getting a owner of a new diesel to dump in waste enginevoil heating oil or jet A.

These new injectors and fuel systems are not going to like those fuels.

At all.

Maybe in a old 70/80s diesel but in anything built today? You’re dreaming. I wouldn’t run that in my diesel. Even my injectors aren’t exactly cheap

Agreed. I won't be dumping any kind of waste oil in my tank. A set of injectors for my Cummins is around $3k so it isn't worth the risk. Good fuel with a cetane additive is all you need.

I don't get why people try to scare others away from diesels by talking about the added cost of operation. I did the math for a long time prior to making the leap and the expense isn't much more than my gas burner. There is a potential for added cost if a catastrophic event occurs (injectors, injection pump, etc..) were to fail but a strict preventative maintenance schedule keeps most of those events from occurring. Or if they do, it's once in a few hundred thousand miles.

[NY_refugee87]

Ditch the emissions crap and they'll all go 1 million or more

[LarsMac]

Maintenance is the key, no matter what the vehicle.
But 200K miles is a good median for the engine. after around 100K, a lot of ancillary items will begin to wear down, but a properly maintained Engine (Gas or Diesel) and Tranny should last for 200-350K with no problem.

[MillerThyme]

A diesel truck in good condition with roughly 200k miles is between 10-20k (sometimes more!) depending on options and year. I would like something that is able to tow and get decent mileage, but refuse to pay big money a new truck costs. Especially since truck will actually be used for truck purposes.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by MillerThyme

A diesel truck in good condition with roughly 200k miles is between 10-20k (sometimes more!) depending on options and year. I would like something that is able to tow and get decent mileage, but refuse to pay big money a new truck costs. Especially since truck will actually be used for truck purposes.

Please provide some data:
1) how much weight are you gonna tow? (I tow 30,000# daily (gcvw) with my <$5k used 4x4 dually diesels, all purchased with under 150k miles)
2) what is decent mileage? I get 18-20 empty and 12mpg at 30k gcvw. That may not be ‘decent’ in you requirements.
3) what is ‘big money’? Wide range of prices and available options under $20k
4) consider a Truck... for ‘truck purposes’, you can buy ‘real’ trucks for under $10k - $100k, and they will haul 80,000# gcvw every day, all day.
5) how many miles / yr will you be utilizing ‘truck working mode’?

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Electrician4you

I can tell you right now you aren’t getting a owner of a new diesel to dump in waste enginevoil heating oil or jet A.

As always, please use your brain. (And a superior commercial filter pre treatment, and drier)

1) some people will never consider this
2) many will / and have been successful doing this.

With the correct pretreatment, Jet A and heating oil is not gonna harm your new fragile diesels.

You can always brew your own fuels to the necessary specs, and use the correct feedstocks (which would not include the crappy USA standard of soybean oil

Be sure to pay road tax