car mileages - whats average engine lifespan capability

Jan 28, 2005 25 Replies

I've always drove Volvos until very recently (fiscal problems) I had a C reg. 740 estate that I used as a daily driver, also had a 740SE saloon and a nice 740 GL auto with loads of extras I put in. The C reg one had 100,000 on the clock when I bought it. It was a 2.3 manual GLT. I decided to use it as an experiment in abuse. I thrashed it everywhere for another 200,000 miles. I scrapped it at 320,000 miles because of rust in the floor pan. I never changed it's oil or serviced it, just kept everything topped up. The parts I replaced were: front disks, brake pads, water pump, distributer (Hall effect wiring went), clutch, tyres, windscreen wipers. Nothing else in 200,000 abusive miles. At 320,000 miles it failed it's MOT for the first time with the afore-mentioned floor pan rust. I treated my other Volvos properly, but this one was an experiment as I said. I was very impressed with the way it held up with no servicing for so long and the thing that killed it had nothing to do with the engine, which was the most abused part of the car.

Thought they ran on petrol?

In news: snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk, Dave Plowman (News) decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

It's all a big con. The big lump under the bonnet with spark plugs is just for the heater.

TV commentators for car races in the USA describe a tight string of race cars as being "nose to tail". I would assume that in the UK they should say the sting is "boot to bonnet".

Regarding the thread, I never saw a Volvo that had engine failure. I had a timing belt fail on a 240 and replaced a couple fuel pumps over the years, but after putting 1,260,000 miles on 10 Volvos in 38 years I have never had an engine fail.

I've seen a few redblock Volvo motors with holes knocked in the block due to a broken con rod, to their credit though one had probably been run out of oil, the other two were turbo motors where the wastegate hose had rotted out. These are easily the most robust engines I've ever dealt with.

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