My "New" 240

Mechanicals will last a looooong time, which leaves electrical problems as the biggest worry, by default. Chafing insulation, that kind of thing. The worst problem would seem to be the heater/AC blower motor, first getting noisy, then seizing; apparently they are not very easy to access. Next thing, as I discovered, is if you don't maintain the flame trap, all your seals and gaskets will blow out. You don't want that. Look it up.

I use one of those oils for older engines, No particular hard evidence or reason, it just seems appropriate. I forget the brand? probably either castrol or valvoline, i would be unlikely to use quaker state or some other brand. Change every three months, mostly because that's easy to remember rather than trying to keep track of the mileage to save a few bucks per month.

Thanks, I never would have know about the flame trap. I've read that it may not even be necessary, but I'll ask a mechanic.

There's a FAQ on this. Clean/replace the flame trap, check all the vacuum hoses, change the coolant, transmission fluid, rear end lube, and power steering fluid if you want to get fancy.

Use quality ordinary 10W30 motor oil and more importantly, a *good* filter such as Volvo or Mann. Change the oil every 4,000-5,000 miles and you'll be fine. If you drive it very hard or in dusty conditions you might wish to do 3,000 mile intervals but even if you changed it at

Don't chance it, it takes 10 minutes to clean the flame trap or 10 bucks to replace it and you don't even need any tools. Do it yearly and rest easy. If it clogs it will cost you anywhere from $300-$2,500 to have a mechanic replace the oil seals, depending on how many blow out, the rear main requires removal of the transmission to get at. When the seals blow you lose oil so fast you'll think the drain plug fell out.

I appreciate all the info and will definitely keep it clean.

If you're lucky. Cost me a cool grand; not including the rear main seal.

Things to keep an eye on:

Wiring harness in engine compartment. If it begins to fail, wierd symptoms can develop.

Water pumps seem to go out more frequently than I would expect.

Alternator: if it is original, prepare for issues.

Also, the power steering pump runs off the A/C compressor pulley, so if you intend to keep your power steering, you will be needing to fix the compressor if it ever goes.

Well if the AC clutch fails you lose power steering, of course you can get a bracket to relocate the pump and not use the AC but it's nice to have working AC anyway.

Almost every alternator failure I've ever seen has been the replaceable regulator/brushpack on the back of it.