Having attained the 600,000 mile milestone with my vehicle a
few months ago and additionally never having opened the engine for any
maintenance or repairs (and it still runs great), I figured this finally would
be a good time to replace some internal engine gaskets. Furthermore, over the last 50,000 miles, I occasionally
noticed a very small pool of coolant sometimes accumulating under the back-side
of the engine. After eliminating any
heater hoses or freeze-plugs as the source of the leaked coolant, a mechanic
friend verified that the rear of the intake manifold was in fact showing signs of
leaking (as the intake manifold on this engine maintains a water-jacket for
cooling or whatever). So, as I said, I figured
600,000 miles was long enough to wait to open the engine to replace some
gaskets.
The photos show some of the carbon build-up internal to the
top-side of the engine. What can I say? Often driving the vehicle off-road in the
sand when I first purchased it, I nevertheless probably only changed the motor oil
a handful of times during the first 100,000 miles – if that often. Regardless, knock on wood (and all), the
engine still runs fantastically well and even better than before the gasket change!
Here’s to the next 600,000 miles! :)
Adam Trotter, P.E.
(January, 2017)
