High Mileage Escorts

[chrisanthony]

Originally Posted by CrapaTaurusWrecks

I have a 1995 Wagon with 150k on it. I am the original owner, paid $9000 for her new with the idea of having a realiable beater. I beat and abused the car and it never caused me much trouble.
I replaced the head after cracking it due to ignoring the dashboard "check coolant" light long enough. I figured out why they call them idiot lights!
One of the stranger facts of my car... I have the original brake shoes on the rear and they still work great.
I have been very happy with the car and hope to be driving it at 300k.

I'm sure it would last..mine is about 280 rite now with 6 previous owners...

[RL2000]

Originally Posted by chrisanthony

I'm sure it would last..mine is about 280 rite now with 6 previous owners...

These Escorts seem to be really good long lasting cars for dirt cheap prices.

Mine has had the tranny go almost bone dry, and that was 40,000 miles ago... it's still going nice and strong!

On Michigan roads, mine has a lot of sheet metal and pop rivets though...

[FordMan59]

I've got 4 Escorts, but my pride and joy is my '88 Pony just went over 495,000 miles today and should hit a 1/2 million miles about September of 2009. Still going on the original engine and transmission, neither of them have ever been rebuilt. The Pony still gets about 50 miles a day. I bought it in '93 with 146,000 miles for $500. I also have an '88 GL that I just bought for $800. about 4 weeks ago with 78,000 miles on it, a 97 LX wagon that I bought new and now has 24,000 miles on it and an '02 SE that I bought for $2000. with 80,000 for my son to drive about a year ago, it now has 90,000 miles.

[RL2000]

Originally Posted by FordMan59

I've got 4 Escorts, but my pride and joy is my '88 Pony just went over 495,000 miles today and should hit a 1/2 million miles about September of 2009. Still going on the original engine and transmission, neither of them have ever been rebuilt. The Pony still gets about 50 miles a day. I bought it in '93 with 146,000 miles for $500. I also have an '88 GL that I just bought for $800. about 4 weeks ago with 78,000 miles on it, a 97 LX wagon that I bought new and now has 24,000 miles on it and an '02 SE that I bought for $2000. with 80,000 for my son to drive about a year ago, it now has 90,000 miles.

WOW! 495,000 miles?? Come back when she crosses 500,000... that is incredible!!

[chrisanthony]

Originally Posted by FordMan59

I've got 4 Escorts, but my pride and joy is my '88 Pony just went over 495,000 miles today and should hit a 1/2 million miles about September of 2009. Still going on the original engine and transmission, neither of them have ever been rebuilt. The Pony still gets about 50 miles a day. I bought it in '93 with 146,000 miles for $500. I also have an '88 GL that I just bought for $800. about 4 weeks ago with 78,000 miles on it, a 97 LX wagon that I bought new and now has 24,000 miles on it and an '02 SE that I bought for $2000. with 80,000 for my son to drive about a year ago, it now has 90,000 miles.

Wow all four of them seems to be going strong..and the 88 pony almost 500,000 clicks with original parts..thats amazing...

[chrisanthony]

the escorts seem to have a bad reputation, but there really good cars and last long..

[FordMan59]

I'll be keeping everyone informed of the progress toward 500K miles. Even with that number of miles it is only using a quart of oil about every 1000-1200 miles. I checked the compression on the cylinders about a year ago and if I remember right the compression was 120-110-110-105. Sometime when I have the time I'm going to recheck it. If I drive it about 50 MPH and try to drive efficiently I can usually get over 45 MPG on it too. I recently took it on a short highway trip. I drove about 55-60 MPH for approximately 150-200 miles and got over 54 MPG.

[Intuit]

Sister vehicles are the Mercury Tracer and I've been told the Mazda 323. (to answer a question)

'94 LX (four-door sedan) Manual shfit 5-speed transmission P185/65R14 Kelly Navigator Gold tires. (Yokohamas, still quite meaty, had a tread seperation. ) Over 230,000 miles, great mileage, squares the tires, still has a finish with a bit of rust below the fuel door and spare wheel well. Virtually cleans itself after a good rain or long highway trip. Never ever garaged or buffed & waxed it.

Never needed an alternator, PS pump, etcetera and as far as AC service, *only* a $2 relay was needed a several years ago. Let it run long enough and my glasses fog up when getting out of the vehicle. (the condensor/radiator for the A/C on these scorts is almost as large as the engine's radiator -- very very large) Never babied the thing, take hard turns with no squeal, run it hard all the time and regularly do 80+mph on the highway. No drivetrain, wheel, etc vibrations runs smooth at 100+mph. I've hit pot-holes the size of craters and have not lost a single cap or dented a wheel; no alignment problems either. It's withstood the saltiest of winter roads and is not (yet) a rust-bucket though some city workers are very much trying to make that a reality.

Only complaint, the things that have worn out prematurely are the speedometer, rack&pinion and one hydraulic roller-lifter. Could use a timing chain as opposed to belt. (at least for manual shifts) It has an aluminum head and iron block + header so like most cars of that era, has had a head gasket and head repaired. But considering early Saturns, Neons, etcetera, all with catastrphic non-repairable gasket, head + bottom failures, the experience has been stellar. Little or no heat for the first 20 minutes during the Winter but I've not replaced the prophylactic thermostat bypass valve on purpose to delay or prevent future HGasket issues. Like all cars with the lateral caliper slide mount design, it may warp rotors until you hone-out the build-up and debris from the slide mounts. This can present some dangers during slippery winter weather as there are no models with ABS. To clean the mounts, attach a stiff wire-brush pipe cleaner to a high-speed plug-in drill. (no battery-operated BS) I simply hack-sawed the handle off of some obtained at Home Depot or Lowes. Chronically warped rotors go bye-bye.

Everything else has been just plain old expected maintenance. The parts that are designed to wear out at given intervals like the waterpump, tie-rod ends, serpentine belt, etcetera, are intelligently designed to give you audible warning as much as 10, 15, 20k before leak or catastrophic failure. Serpentine belts are easy to check and should be replaced. Timing belts should be checked and regularly replaced who's wear may coincide with waterpump replacement.

So in essence, this Ford should never leave you on the side of the road. It has been and continues to be a quality vehicle. Unfortunately there are a ton of junk replacement parts out there though. Quality replacement parts can be tough to find.

[Intuit]

Oh, the person who says they have a ton of miles on the original rear drum brake pads, that may be because they're seizing or/and need to be reseated. TO seat them, simply throw it in reverse, ramp to a high speed then brake until the front locks up. You should notice more even braking after doing this a few times. The only way to tell whether or not their seizing... whether buildup and debris is preventing them from moving like they should, is to disassemble them. The last a long time indeed, but not THAT long!

[12Ounce]

Another attribute of the Escort is how easy the engine is to rebuild. I have rebuilt several Escort engines ... and one several times ... all for family drivers. I like to "freshen up" an engine when it gets close to 200k miles ... just to get the compression back up to snuff. A valve job, a decarbonizing, new rings and we're good to go for another 200k.

I like the belt driven cam. Simple. No metal engine "front cover" to deal with, with all its seals. Yeah, there is a plastic belt cover ... that can be reworked for easier removal. The crank driven oil pump is superb ... a workaholic!

The front upper mount can be removed ... and the engine just "hangs" there on the tranny ... for easy front of engine access.

[exciter97]

we ran a 94 escort gt in the demo last year that had 675,000 miles on it. i got it from my niece who bought it with 60,000. heres the kicker,the spedo quit working two years before i got it. original motor and trans. Never did blow up during demo!

[Noodles_90EscortLX]

183k :P yesterday

[racerxpl]

I have owned escorts since 1993. There are two in my driveway right now. I drive paper routes in town and in the mountains here in NW Oregon. They are the best. I wear them out though. Not the engines but the suspension. I went to the auto auction a couple years ago to buy an escort for my stepson who was graduating high school. While there I spied an '88 mazda 323. I liked the sound of the engine and the lack of add ons so I bought it for 500. It sat for the most part for over a year. Last winter I used it because it sat high enough to plow thru the snow. I kept thinking about how it reminded me of a 90 pony I sold when my husband died. I am now restoring it to better running condition and I find that although it is not identical it sure has a lot of interchangable parts.
So to answer the question better... Mazda 323 is ford Escort.

[AzTumbleweed]

UPdate: I'm at 303,000 miles now

[12Ounce]

The '88 Mazda 323 and Mercury Tracer (which was almost the same in body size/shape) were both assembled on the same line in Ford's Hermesillo (sp?) Mexico auto complex. Had the same motor and tranny. Not sure about any Escort model being similar.... don't think so.