Hi all,

I have just purchased a 97 magna exec, 3.0 v6 :clap:

The old girl has clocked 270,000k's, and seems to running pretty well considering. I'm a bit of a novice, but how long should these engines last for if they have been looked after?

Any info much appreciated.

Cheers

I f they are looked over time they are fairly reliable and very durable. I have a 1997 Diamante 3.5 DOCH with a good touch over 400,000ks. Im a serious driver and service my car every chance i get. i drive it fairly hard because im an Auto Tuner , i service the belts , water pump , spark leads , spark plugs fuel filter , transmission fluid , front and rear diff fluids before recommended with recommended or usually higher grade parts. Never once any kind of engine trouble or transmission or anything. Excellent service out of my car.

If yu properlly maintain everything as they should before time it pays in a big way. Every main part of my car is original , the alternator, a/c transmission etc. Its all about maintinance.

Wow, regardless of your mechanical knowledge, 400,000k's is VERY impressive! Just goes to show how long these machines can last with a bit of care, and we don't need to be buying new cars every three years! If only the rest of the population knew this.. :laughing:

A mechanic and I gave my car a good checking over earlier. All the important fluids are topped up, and we put some cleaner 'stuff' in the transmission fluid to keep that healthy. The car has new tyres and brakes, and runs very well, super smooth and starts first time from cold no bother, good auto change and, so far, good fuel economy - so all up it looks a sound purchase.

The only issue is... an oil leak. We had a good look around the engine and it points to the head casket, which will need to be changed and fixed. We are sure it hasn't blown, no air bubbles in the rad water, and the car runs fine...So, any advice on this? Are the head casket kits expensive for the Magna? Tricky to fit?

In the mean time, I won't be redlining the old girl and will be keeping the oil topped up! :gitara:

Is not the cam cover leaking the oil and not the cylinder head gasket? ive never had to replace my cam cover gasket , altho i did have to replace my oil filler cap because the rubber seal on it was leaking a little , i did tho replace the cam cover gasket on other models. Never ever saw an issue with the cylinder head gasket tho on these models or previos ones for oil.