About to go look at a 97 GT with 100k miles on it in a few days. I read in a sticky that valve seals and timing chains can fail at 120k+ miles but I was wondering how common is it for them to fail? Is it a given that at that mileage I’ll run into the issue, is it 50/50 chance, etc. Besides rattling/smoking, what should I look for to make sure they aren’t on their way out?
How common are these
- Thread starter FLMINY
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07GtS197
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It’ll rattle on cold startup if the guides are bad. The valve stem seals are easy because it’ll smoke like a freight train out the tail pipes. I wouldn’t let either deter you though unless you are tight on cash.
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Silver95bird
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pre 98 valve seals were junk from day one, in my experience.
timing chain guides wear out and need to be replaced by 150k (imo).
but timing chains fail? probably 500k i figure. Never seen one fail unless maybe the guides wore completely through first.
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timing chain guides wear out and need to be replaced by 150k (imo).
but timing chains fail? probably 500k i figure. Never seen one fail unless maybe the guides wore completely through first.
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BigBore96
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This pretty much sums up the timing situation.
What's the person asking for the gt? And how nice is it?
Take a stethoscope or a bar to listen to various parts of the engine and be sure to fully warm it up to not let any cooling issues stay hidden until you shell out cash.
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Interior is good, no problems with the motor/trans, new clutch, on coil overs, aftermarket 17” staggered wheels. Only real issue is some pretty oxidized spots on the hood and roof. Guy has it listed for $4,200 but has had it posted for close to a month so I’m gonna offer $2,900 and see what happens.
(Color is Aztec gold if that matters, gonna probably have to get it resprayed at some point)
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BigBore96
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I bet the owner takes that offer. Or settles close to that.
It's been a while since I've seen another true Aztec gold car. Pretty rare color. I think there were only like 1000 or so made in 97.
Gfs brother has one but a previous owner sprayed it yellow.
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It's been a while since I've seen another true Aztec gold car. Pretty rare color. I think there were only like 1000 or so made in 97.
Gfs brother has one but a previous owner sprayed it yellow.
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Wade_GT
New Member
I hadn't heard about the valve seals, but here are my chains after 138k. Also plan for the heater "nipple" to fail on the intake manifold if it hasn't been replaced already. You can "jerry-rig" a fix with JB Weld or put a new intake manifold on like I did. It was a fun job.
Attachments
While not the same exact motor, still similar.
My timing chains ate through the guides at roughly 90K miles. Found metal shavings in the oil pan because when the K was dropped to do longtubes I replaced the oil pan gasket as it was leaking. Replaced.
My valve stem seals were leaking pretty bad at 65K miles. I'd be at a stop light idling and when I took off it was a nice large cloud of smoke that billowed out the pipes and embarrassing as hell. I fixed that by going to Mobil 1 Full Syn 5w-30 high mileage oil and using a bottle of AT205 reseal at ever oil change. That was almost 8 years ago and still good to go.
In fact I used AT205 reseal to fix an old harbor freight racing jack I have and still to this day it's good to go. The pump took a crap and started leaking. But in AT205 reseal and jack fluid and good to go. I'm not an attitive guy usually but this is the only one I've ever used except for Techron in the gas tank.
My timing chains ate through the guides at roughly 90K miles. Found metal shavings in the oil pan because when the K was dropped to do longtubes I replaced the oil pan gasket as it was leaking. Replaced.
My valve stem seals were leaking pretty bad at 65K miles. I'd be at a stop light idling and when I took off it was a nice large cloud of smoke that billowed out the pipes and embarrassing as hell. I fixed that by going to Mobil 1 Full Syn 5w-30 high mileage oil and using a bottle of AT205 reseal at ever oil change. That was almost 8 years ago and still good to go.
In fact I used AT205 reseal to fix an old harbor freight racing jack I have and still to this day it's good to go. The pump took a crap and started leaking. But in AT205 reseal and jack fluid and good to go. I'm not an attitive guy usually but this is the only one I've ever used except for Techron in the gas tank.
I have seen many a 4.6 2V go 200K plus in trucks, Crown Vics and yes Mustangs. I would bet that this is seen more on sticks and Mustangs in general, you guess why. I have owned 3 vehicles with 200K or close to it still running fine. I have also talked to a city mechanic for the police dept. and he said they were practically bullet proof if proper maintenance is performed.
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