Question about overall longevity

[Workn2fish]

He folks, I'm new to this forum and have a question about how much longer I should expect this truck to run. I bought this 96 XLT in 1999 with 66k miles on it. It's been an absolutly reliable rig and now has over 225k on it - in spite of the kind of maintenance I give it. I've had no engine issues and no transmission issues (knock on wood) to date. The only problems I've had are a bad rear axle bearing that destroyed an axle, a bad front pinion seal, and a failed fuel pump. My wife and I live in a rural area which means most of our driving is at highway speed and we're almost never caught up in traffic.

It still runs strong and doesn't leak a drop of oil. It has started showing a puff of blue smoke at cold start up (worn valve guide seals - expected with this kind of mileage) but only seems to consume about 1/2 qt of oil between changes.

I've personally not seen a FORD go beyond 200k w/o a rebuilt engine or tranny so I'm in new territory here. If this sounds like an anomoly, my parents have a 96 XLT with the same drivetrain (different trim package) and they have 205k on theirs with the same reliability.

Am I living on borrowed time? What kind of life expectency do these have?

Thanks in advance,
~Aaron

BTW, my other rigs are:
1986 F250 4x4 SC 6.9l diesel tow rig (very custom engine)
1964.5 Mustang Coupe 289 4V

 

[99ex22]

Amazing! No actually if im not mistaking a few members on here have 300K + on there trucks. The 4.0L OHV is a reliable motor. I will say it is rare the transmissions in these things last over 200K though. As for your blue smoke at start up I would run a QT of lucas heavy duty oil stabalizer every oil change....That will probably take care of that. What kind of oil do you run?

 

[Workn2fish]

That's good news. With the current economy, my options to replace it have dwindled with my savings.

I run Valvoline high mileage semi synthetic in it. Like I said, it's running just to spite me. I have reasonable mechanical abilities but like so many others, I get buried in other stuff and my vehicles are the first to get neglected.

With a bit of TLC (and some much needed interior work) I think I can keep her running another 50k... That's only another 2-3 years given the number of miles we drive.

Now to start searching this forum for answers to the minor annoyances I need to fix...

Thanks

 

[carlover]

Mine just hit 180k with no real problems at all. Im hoping it will hit 200k without problem.

 

[biggs92EB]

230K of total abuse on my 92 and still going strong.....255K on my wifes 95 and it runs great too.....just keep doing your regular maintenence and you should be fine for a while