1992 1.9L Escort 135,000 miles

[MReric]

Hey, I have a 1992 ford escort LX with 135000 miles on it. I just replaced the head gasket along with other various gaskets like oil pan, and valve cover. I also just replaced the water pump, timing belt, clutch disc, had flywheel resurfaced, and clutch master cylinder. All of this has been done in the past 2 months. Do you guys know if my car will be super reliable for a long time after all this work or should i be worried about other stuff going wrong? Let me know thanks.

[91 bird]

as long as you keep up the maintenance, and keep the oil changed, it should have a lot of miles left in it.

[AzTumbleweed]

My '93 runs perfect at 317,000 miles

[denisond3]

Still, anytime you use a car, you are in a sense "using it up". I try to imagine what might go bad with old age or miles, and plan on replacing it ahead of time. We drive our 94 5 speed in some really empty rural areas, and I like reliability. I also take my tools with me.

[ctwright]

also check your tie rod ends, and ball joints as well. Check all of your boots around everything, including around the cv joints.

[zzyzzx2]

Did you do a valev job while you had the head off? These cars drop valve seats like mad, and it would really suck if you did all that and then had it drop a valve seat.

[FordMan59]

Depends on whether the car has been taken proper care of. If the car has been maintained properly you'll occasionally have things to do to, but should last a long time yet. My '88 Escort Pony has 513K+ miles and counting. If you can do your own work you'll be able to keep driving it probably much cheaper than you could go out and buy something else and if you buy something else used you may just be buying someone elses problems.

[Intuit]

>250k here. '94 Sedan, manual shift model. Still quite a lot of original parts. Just replaced the original alternator a few months ago; original IAC ~245. Never left me on the side of the road in well over a decade of daily driving; have no doubts about driving it to California if so desired. (Ohio resident) There are almost always warning signs well prior to catastrophic failure. Most people just make the mistake of ignoring them, or causing additional problems by modding, jury-rigging, not doing simple things like maintaining fluid levels and change schedules. I've been guilty of some of this on occasion, (currently "ignoring" sounds from the NEW $180 alternator I put in,) but don't make a way-of-life out of it. For the rust belt areas, the major threat to the longevity of these vehicles are the rear strut tower, tower caps. Recently had replacement reinforcement plates welded in this past Summer or Fall; better than the factory originals.

[Intuit]

By the way, I could swear that's a Mercury Tracer, versus Ford Escort. (big difference - yeah, I know...)

[MReric]

Thanks for the info guys....and yes, it is an Escort, not a Tracer haha.

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