safely modifying older engine

[kturner]

i have been told that it is not good to modify older (100,000+miles) engines. they believe that if you modify "well worn engines" that lots of other things begin to fail. in other words, by upgrading headers, intake, horse power, whatever, you stress the rest of the engine and it begins breaking down.

is this true?

if it is, this will have a big impact on what bronco project i get into.

thanks,

 

[Big Country]

i can't say for sure that it is true but it sounds pretty logical to me. usually with engines that have the many miles it's hard to get the best out of those mods anyway.

 

[rebelyelltex]

that seems logical. minor mods i dont think will harm the engine such as an air intake or an exhaust, if you were to replace the heads or something i can maybe see an effect happening.

 

[Broncosaurus!]

yeah it might not be the greates starting point for a blower, but if youre just doing the economical bolt ons it wont shorten the life. Intake and exhaust just makes it easier on the engine. (although I tend to rev engines with loud exhausts higher just for fun /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[mbtech2003]

i just added a cam and headers and intake in my truck when it had 119,000 miles on the clock. no engine problems yet to account for. just a good idear is if your gonna do major upgrades like a blower or cam ect. it is worth it to replace all the gaskets like head gaskets rear main ect... thats what i did. no more oil leaks too because we all know how the oil pans leak )

 

[Seabronc]

If you really want a performance engine, then a rebuild is the way to go.

Good luck,

>-

 

[Justshootme84]

Many engines (not just Ford) begin to wear out on average at 150K miles. Some will go over 250K, and I've had a couple never make it to 50K. IF the motor is in good running condition, burns little to no oil, and has no major signs of impending doom (leaks, knocking, etc.), small mods like intake or exhaust parts may be O.K. I just wouldn't spend hundreds of dollars on accessories when the engine can't benefit from them due to poor performance from worn internals liek the camshaft or main bearings. Granted, you can often re-install the new mods on a rebuilt motor when it decides to die one morning at start-up, but when it does keel over, you may decide you want a bigger motor to start with. JSM84