3L V6 Life Expectancy

[madmanmapper]

Hi guys! As you may know, I have a 1993 LeBaron convertible with the Mitsubishi 3.0L V6. My Red Baron has 176,000 miles on it, and I changed the head gaskets, did a valve job, tune up, timing belt, oil change, and bunch of other work on it at 170,000 miles, immediately after it started leaking antifreeze into the cylinders. Despite having 176k on the clock, she starts right up and purrs. Doesn't shake or anything. Being a mechanic, I've kept up on the maintenance. After she started burning antifreeze, she started blue smoking as well, so after the head gaskets I swore I would change the oil every 2000 miles. But honestly, I have no clue how my car was treated before I got it only a couple of years ago.

So my question is: How long do you think the Mitsu V6 will last?

How many miles have you seen them (running or in the junk yard) or how long do you think mine will last?

[GTiRcr07]

I've heard they can practically last forever. I have a v6 conv't 5 speed and so far i've had no problems with the engine. it only has 17,000 on it but it starts up as if it were just built yesterday. people have said the only thing that goes bad is seals like valve cover gasket, head gasket, etc. i recommend swapping plugs with bosch iridium spark plugs they smooth out the engine an give a little more throttle response. besides that just keep up with your maintenance an you should be gold

[madmanmapper]

17,000? I've got 177,000 on mine. Lucky bastard you got the V6 with the 5 speed :P And yes, the valve seals, in fact all the seals go bad. In my case I've replaced every seal on my engine, as well as the head gaskets, except for the rear main seal. Funny thing though. It seems common for these engines to burn oil ( = leaky valve guide seals) but mine only started burning oil when the head gasket cracked and let antifreeze into the oil. Either way, yea I guess you're right, practically forever.

That's the great thing about cars, unlike people, you can make them live as long as you want.

[danman1453]

A good friend of mine has a 92 LeBaron 4dr 3.0V6 with 312,000 miles on it. The only thing other than seals he said to watch is the timing. He had the valve seals machined and replaced a few seals, so far with it being an in town daily driver, it runs great. Wish mine did... Good luck madmanmapper.