[Rich69RS/SS]

This is the 305 I just pulled out of my 86 Chevy Pick up with 340,000+ miles on it . I changed oil and filter every 3500 miles. Look at those intake ports talk about clean and the lifter valley was clean too. When I changed oil I'd throw in a can of STP sometimes, old timers used to say pour STP in and dig it out later. The motor is in the shop now and I might get lucky and just need a re-ring and bearing job no bore if the taper is OK.

 

[LukeSkywalker]

340,000 miles.........that is down right impressive.

 

[travis]

Nice! Mine is just barely broke in at 200K miles ('86 chevy truck 305 also)

 

[67pat]

Those truck 305 are a trooper...just traded a 1/2 ton 97 model had 260k on it and ran like a top, working every day!

 

[pdq67]

I guess I have to ask why you pulled it??

I figure the little sucker was doing fine so you probably shoulda left it alone is all..

pdq67

 

[novaderrik]

if it made it that long without the cam going flat or the intake gasket blowing out, WHY did you tear it out?

 

[Rich69RS/SS]

I have a smog test coming up in June and she had a bad miss at idle for the last few months so I thought bad valve. But all the valves looked good so it looks like I lost a lobe on the cam. She always ran like a champ until then but she was getting tired. I almost sold the truck but my older brother bought the truck brand new off the dealer lot so she's a keeper.

 

[JOE58]

I believe there were two different 305 engines in 1986 trucks. The vin number will tell you which engine it has. One was called a "high compression" engine or somthing like that.
It has been awile since I looked it up but I read this in a 1986 shop manual

 

[Farm Boy]

My 86 Chevy pickup with a 305 is far and away the longest lasting and most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. I got it for a work truck in 1994 when it had 121,000 miles on it. During the first couple of years I had to make a few minor repairs like a water pump and alternator but nothing major. What really impressed me was from 200,000 to 300,000 miles it never broke down or required any repairs at all. Not even a brake job!


In 2002 it had 340,000 miles on it. Although it never burned oil it was leaking oil, had a pin hole in the radiator, and the paint was pealing. I bought another truck and non-opped the 86. I just drove it around on the farm for a couple of years.

Last year my son turned 16 and I figured the ‘86 would be a good first vehicle for him. We pulled out the old 305 and just like the engine in Rich69RS/SS truck it was in remarkably good shape inside. There was almost no wear on the cylinders. We freshened up the 305 up with new rings and bearings, a valve job, and a new cam and lifters, and a new timing chain.

It now has 349,000 miles on it and it just keeps on going. It’s like the Energizer Bunny.

Here is a recent photograph of how it looks today:

 

[67pat]

My 86 Chevy pickup with a 305 is far and away the longest lasting and most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. I got it for a work truck in 1994 when it had 121,000 miles on it. During the first couple of years I had to make a few minor repairs like a water pump and alternator but nothing major. What really impressed me was from 200,000 to 300,000 miles it never broke down or required any repairs at all. Not even a brake job!


In 2002 it had 340,000 miles on it. Although it never burned oil it was leaking oil, had a pin hole in the radiator, and the paint was pealing. I bought another truck and non-opped the 86. I just drove it around on the farm for a couple of years.

Last year my son turned 16 and I figured the ‘86 would be a good first vehicle for him. We pulled out the old 305 and just like the engine in Rich69RS/SS truck it was in remarkably good shape inside. There was almost no wear on the cylinders. We freshened up the 305 up with new rings and bearings, a valve job, and a new cam and lifters, and a new timing chain.

It now has 349,000 miles on it and it just keeps on going. It’s like the Energizer Bunny.

Here is a recent photograph of how it looks today:

Now...you do realize this is not a japanese vehicle...you know,because they were the only ones that were reliable and could go past 100k miles without problems, especially in the 80's...just had to add that Consumer reports and American Press myth in there:thumbsup:

 

[Rich69RS/SS]

If you go over to the truck board http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/index.php in the 73-87 forum there is a post about the high miles on these trucks.

 

[BonzoHansen]

Makes the 160k on my 4.3L seem like childs play.

 

[Brackneyc]

What really impressed me was from 200,000 to 300,000 miles it never broke down or required any repairs at all. Not even a brake job!

100,000 miles on a set of brakes??? I have never heard of such a thing as getting 100,000 miles out of a set of front or rear brake pads/shoes. I've put two sets on my Intrepid, and it only has 120,000 on it. Good job.

 

[novaderrik]

i just put front brakes on my brother's 2004 Cavalier this weekend. 100,700 miles on the oem stuff. hopefully the NAPA pads and rotors are half as good as the oem stuff was.
he put new tires on it last summer at 85,000 miles.

as for the older trucks, most Chev dealerships around here have a bunch of Polaroids of trucks that are in the "100,000 mile club" hanging in the service waiting room. there are a few late 70's/early 80's 1/2 tonners with well over 300,000 miles out there, and a whole bunch that are over 200,000.

 

[Brackneyc]

hopefully the NAPA pads and rotors are half as good as the oem stuff was.
he put new tires on it last summer at 85,000 miles.

.

The NAPA stuff will likely be about half as good. I suppose you can wait until the very last minute to change out these high wear items. I just don't recommend it is all. As an employee of one of these retail car parts places, I am always amazed to hear someone talking about how many miles they have in this part or that part, only to see that the useful life of said part expired thousands of miles ago.

 

[novaderrik]

hey, i looekd the brakes and tires over last summer, and told him to get new tires because the fronts were starting t go bald. but the brakes still looked brand new..
as for which 305 was in the truck theis thread is about, since it has the dished pistons, it is the low perfromance LG4 version. the "good" L69 305 had flat top pistons.