Turned 300,000 kms Today!

Frankie X

Registered
On the way into work the Mark VIII crossed the 300,000 km point completely trouble free. What a great car this is!

Here's a brief history:
I bought it as a trade-in (towards a '98 MarkVIII) at my dealership 3 1/2 years ago at 165,000. All this mileage has been racked up due to my 150 km a day commute (12 months of the year), a road trip to New Brunswick 2 summers ago, and numerous trips up north to Algonquin and Killarney Parks.

It's been a relatively problem free vehicle, just suffering from the usual MarkVIII maladies--
-both front struts shortly after I got it
-an alternator
-a leaking water pump
-a broken rear anti-sway bar
-clunking rear shock mounts and leaking shocks
-blew the intermediate clutch out of the transmission last year; rebuilt it with updated '97 and'98 parts
-noisey suspension compressor; replaced it with one of Eddie's AmericanAirSuspension.com units
-5 brake jobs, until I switched to cross-drilled rotors
...and that's really all!

The car has never seen paint or bodywork except for one small boo-boo-- don'tcha just hate it when you go shopping at the mall and come out to find your passenger door caved in with no-one around to claim responsibility?
Of course the paint is no longer flawless; there's a hundred tiny stonechips in the hood and the bumper clearcoat from all my highway driving and a few dime-sized parking lot dings here and there, but with a good wash and buff, my car still looks younger than it is!

I've only done a few mods:
-removed the air intake silencers
-Diablo Delta Chip
-TRW cross-drilled rotors with semi-ceramic pads
-AmericanAirSuspension.com Spider Valve when I replaced the compressor
-I've got a set of 3.55s and a limited slip carrier sitting in my tool box I've been too lazy to put in yet. After working on other people's cars for 8-10 hrs a day, sometimes I have no ambition to blow the weekend working on my own...

I've always loved the long-nose-short-tail looks of Marks, going all the way back to the '70s MarkV. My first Mark was an '88 MarkVII, which had a different appeal altogether, and was loads of fun to drive, but the MarkVIII is the best. Looks, comfort, class, and tons of power-- always a pleasure to drive.
 
RE: Turned 300,000 kms Today!

So that is around 180k miles. I hope your engine is going to last for a while. Since they seem to go out around 150-200k. :eek: I wouldn't really call your ownership trouble free, sounds more like the average troubles on the mk8.... Alternator and Tranny are kind of a given, same thing happened to my car. I wouldn't call any car trouble free if it required engine or transmission replacement/rebuilt under ownership. But I hope that your car will last for another 300k kilometers, good luck.
 
RE: Turned 300,000 kms Today!

Congrats! It does look great. I think these cars are fantastic. When you consider how cheap they were used, and how long they hold up (and hold up well), and what a great ride they give, I just can't imagine a better deal.

And yes, my right front quarter has taken a couple parking lot hits. It's so sad....
 
RE: Turned 300,000 kms Today!

Frankie knows a good car via trial by fire, being a Ford tech. Congrats. :)

I'm always suprised at the accolades my '93 receives. It's no where near that mileage but it 'wears it well', even with the clear coat fading in a couple places. And I've never had a vehicle I recall with over 100K on the odometer be so reliable.
 
RE: Turned 300,000 kms Today!

Max, I meant it was trouble-free that day!!

I knew going into both my Marks exactly what to expect, and I think I've gotten away pretty lightly so far.

The other techs and I joke,
"Every day in which I wake up, go out to find the car still sitting level, and make it to work without the fuel pump or alternator crapping out, I must say, 'Thank you, Lord, for this good day'".
 
RE: Turned 300,000 kms Today!

Geez, I hope I could be so fortunate as to get that good of a run out of my Mark. I'm at about 147K Km and I did wind up driving it this winter. Seems as though the '98 tranny is a good thing. The car is running really well and at its age, it too could use a paint job.

I put new Ford rotors and Ford pads on last year. They really seem to be putting out a lot of dust so I'd be interested to know what cross-drills and pads you went to.

Would love to chip my Mark if I knew someone local who does this sort of thing.

While it is a more expensive ride than most, especially seeing we can't run regular gas or diesel, I love driving my Mark and hope it keeps on tickin'...
 
RE: Turned 300,000 kms Today!

I used TRW PowerStop rotors, which were ~ $140.00CDN each. I balked at the price but finally went for them out of pure frustration with the Ford rotors. In retrospect, I should have switched 2 or 3 brake jobs ago.
I got them from AUP (Automotive Underbody Parts) in Markham. I've got their cards at work. I'll post back with the phone number and address.

Neil, when it comes to getting your PCM dynotuned, you have a distinct advantage because of your OBDII. Your PCM is rewriteable, but I had no choice but to add a programmable "chip" to achieve any software modifications.
I chose a Diablo Deltachip because a lot of our dealership light truck customers use them and I've felt firsthand how awesomely effective they are.
It also allows me a certain amount of versatility with the 3 switchable programs:
1.Stock Ford Programming
2.Preset Diablo 94 octane Performance Program
3.Custom Dynotuned Program
The only place around that dynotunes Diablo is already one of your links from the Ontario website: BR Powersource in Oakville.

On your OBDII system, I really believe SCT Superchip Tuning is the way to go. If you follow quite a few threads in LOD, you'll see that's also common consensus here.
When you do decide to make your PCM "all it can be", I advise you to talk to Joe Dasilva, who runs Dasilva Racing on Kingston Rd. I've dealt with him personally (for my car) and professionally (to satisy the performance demands of my dealership customers) and am absolutely impressed by his knowledge and professionalism.
I repeat, his shop is Dasilva Racing, but you can get more information from his website-- www.mustangtoystore.com .
 
RE: Turned 300,000 kms Today!

SCT makes chips for the gen 1 (EEC IV) cars also. Not quite as versatile as the EEC V stuff, but still good. What it comes down to, though, is the skill of the tuner, more than the type of software used.
 
RE: Turned 300,000 kms Today!

Thanks for the info... I just love getting good news for a change!!!
 
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