jonas's RX

Gang,

How common is the rear front cover gasket and power steering pump to be leaking
at 122K ? I just recently bought a 97 ES300 with pretty low mileage for its age( avg 4.5K a year) and love the car but had to replace
the gaskets and power steering pump recently due to leaks . Does age still trump mileage?

I always wondered about the age old question of the age of a car vs mileage?
You always hear car enthusiast not wanting to change the T/B and water pump
because the mileage is low but the car is say 15 years old .

What do you guys think?

LeX2K

Timing belt IMO is 90% mileage not age. Water pump is strictly mileage unless the car is almost never driven then the shaft seal goes bad. Valve cover gasket leak is the most common of all the seals and gaskets. Power steering pump will never go bad if the fluid is refreshed every few years but hardly anyone does that.

I've bought and sold many cars over the years in general I find engine seals and gaskets hold up well on a low mileage car, anything rubber in the suspension tends to dry rot. If a car is never driven the struts leak. The most important thing is maintenance regardless of mileage.

Couple other things, transmission oil goes bad just by sitting motor oil as well but slower. Brake fluid 100% goes bad whether the car is driven or not.

hawaiiusmc

Hi all,
I too am experiencing a p/s pump leak and a leak in the rack. My 2002 300 has 144K and I purchased it from the 2nd owner who stayed up on engine and transmission maintenance. I saw a several brake repairs and one routine trans service at 80K. When I purchased the car 2 months ago I did a trans fluid replacement, oil change. The low pressure p/s line was in bad shape as was the high pressure so I flushed the system and replaced the low line which was really in worse shape. I have only driven it about 300 miles because I put it on a lift to inspect the suspension, diagnose the leak(s). I plan on replacing everything including shocks since this will be my primary trip and long-distance car in retirement. ( My other is an 87 Porsche 928 that has been absolutely stone cold reliable because of my strict maintenance schedule).
I do 90 percent of the routine stuff myself, but with 5 cars I do have a great friend who is one of the best mechanics on the planet that assist me when I need it. He will be doing the suspension/steering rack refresh/replacement with me next week. The car was driven a lot it's first 12 years but sat in the garage and saw limited use by their son who attended college and grad school here in 2010.
I'll keep everyone posted on the progress and will post pic's as well.

Lon
Kingwood, TX