I posted this on the Olds forum, but I'm not getting any responses. I hope I'm not breaking the rules. I have a 2001 van (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/#) with over 260K miles on it (mostly highway, obviously). The thing is in great shape; paint, body, interior, exhaust, engine accessories, trans, tires, A/C, and all the power goodies. There are four issues which I consider minor and intend to fix. The Park-Aid is inop, the fuel gage is inop, it uses about a quart of oil every 1500 miles, and the LIM gasket just started leaking externally. It has been weeping for a while now, but now it's bad enough that I have to do something about it. This is our around town daily driver, never goes more than 50 miles from home any more. My wife and I have owned this car from new and have never had to do anything with it except replace wear items. We want to keep it if it's practical. My range of options run from replacing the LIM gasket only and buttoning it up and hope for the best to a complete engine change. I am leaning toward the minimum. I would like some feedback on what some of you experts would do if this was your car. For example, as a minimum, should I also pull the heads? If so, as long as it's torn down, should I do the timing set, have heads rebuilt, replace the cam bearings, etc? I haven't checked the compression lately, but I think most of the oil consumption is leaks around the valve guides and external.

At 260K, you have gotten your monies worth out of the van. But by the same token, it's essentially worthless in the market; and the probability that something major will fail due to wear is very high. I would do the minimum to keep it running & quasi-reliable, nothing more. When something major goes, call it a day & move on.

Thanks for your input, Kornjulio. Your thinking is pretty much the same as mine. You are right, I have gotten my $ worth several time over. For that I am thankful. The thing that complicates it for me is this vehicle is in such good shape otherwise, and it's never had any other problems whatsoever, I have owned it from new and know it very well. I think it could be reliable transportatin for several more years before something major breaks, and then I can probably sell a lt of good parts. Of course, my opinion may change when I open it up and inspect the damage, but as fa as I can tell so far, there has been no coolant in the oil. We'll see how gunked up the valve train is.

I would pull an oil sample and send it in for analysis. They will tell you if you have coolant in the oil. Believe me, it can be very bad and you cannot tell by looking or feel. If you have been driving with coolant in the oil then you may have to be concerned about the cam bearings and at that point a different engine may be the best route.

If it is not showing any signs of overheating you probably do not have headgaskets going bad yet. Some of us (including me) did the intake manifold gaskets only to have to go back in again shortly later to do the headgaskets. (~136,000 miles on mine)

It is a big job to do pull the heads but with that many miles I think I'd go ahead and pull them and have them gone over by a machine shop and replace the valve stem seals.

I'd also have the alternator rebuilt and do the plugs and wires if they haven't been changed in 100,000 miles.

Are you still on the original transmission?

I'd do a valve job and the LIM on it.

Thanks for your ideas. Where do I get an oil sample analyzed and how much does it cost? I gues I'll know more when I get it torn down to the LIM gasket. If I need head gaskets I'll probably go with a valve job, too.

I am still on the original everything except belts, tires, coolant and brakes. I've always used Castrol synthetic blend and changed it religiously every 5K miles. It's never overheated and I got 7 years out of the original battery. I got 100K miles on each of two sets of Michilen Hydroedge tires. But 80% of my driving is cross-country, and even when I'm home there's no stop and go. All miles are not equal. I'm convinced it's town driving that kills cars.

What year is your rig?

I would do the LIM, it isnt that hard, just a little time consuming (weekend project).

Have you ever seafoamed the intake of the van? If an oil control ring is stuck it will consume oil, also if the PCV valve is stuck it will use oil - my uncle rebuilt a 3.1l because of the consumption, still did it and sold it to my grandfather who put a pair of vicegrips on the PCV line and no more consumption - replaced the valve and it was better.

Its just my personal opinion, but I don't see any other vans out there that I want to own. That being the case, at 260k + miles and all the gizmos, body, leather, all in good shape, I'd not bother fixing the engine at all. I'd run until the time is up and then change out the engine for a rebuilt. Same thing for the tranny. Its not like the engine just needs a head job or lim job to be GAN (good as new). Its got 260k...dump it and by another engine. They cost about 2k for a rebuilt plus labor.

I love the vans, but they quit making them, so what the heck, I'll keep mine until the seats wear out or the rust kills it. I'm at 240k now on the 2nd engine. The tranny may get replaced soon, I'm tired of the rough shifts.

I appreciate you folks' opinion and ideas. I'll check the PCV valve, but I probably won't do anything about the oil consuption if the LIM gasket doesn't fix it. I'm not ready for an engine change just yet, but was considerring it when this was my primary transportation. It's an '01 Olds. I bought a Honda Odyssey last year, so there's no pressure to keep the Olds running except it's nice to have 2 cars.