Today the odometer was reading 333000 km....
I bought this car (Pontiac Lemans 1.6 auto) 2 years ago as a designated winter car...it had then 240,00km... I did replace the engine because of the craked block (due to extremely cold temp in the winter and not enough coolant in the water it froze causing the block to crack) but:
- 'new engine' has now 250,000km - its not burning oil, starts everytime and apart from leaking headgasket it running just great! I only replaced the oil pan gasket and the valve cover gasket.
- ticking lifters problem was rectified by running a good engine cleaner thru twice
- I replaced the oil filter/oil in the auto gearbox...its running great.. The gearchanges are smooth, there are no problems whatsoever!
Overall, I say that the quality of the engine/gearbox is great! I belive that with proper maintenance the powerplant should do another 100,000km before it dies.
Problems I had:
- seized caliper sliders (I had to use press to get them out...they were cleaned up and re-greased
- tie-rod ends
- ball joints
- replaced all hoses
- replaced rear shocks
So overall, I have to give this car a thumb-up for mechanical reliabilty!
