240 How far will you take your daily driver 240 from home?

I'm currently in Colorado with my 1985 245. It's sitting pretty with 250,000 or so miles. Once I return to VT this month it will be the third 4,000-mile round trip I've done in the past two years of ownership. I've also done two 1,000 mile round trips as well. One of which was 32 hours of driving with a three hour nap down to Texas, and then 29 straight hours back. Alternating with a buddy of mine

On my second trip, my passenger side windshield wiper arm sheared its teeth in the middle of a thunderstorm in Tennesse which is the only trouble it's ever given me. I wish my AC worked, but that's about my only real complaint about the car. 'Tis the life of a broke college student I suppose.

I'd take it anywhere at any given time. I've been dailying my girlfriends Subaru lately. An automatic transmission and AC in the city make driving a little less tiresome. I'm excited to get on the road with the wagon soon though!

Been a while since I took a long trip in a 240, not because of reliability concerns but because of comfort/noise factors. I worry more about me being able to withstand a long trip in those, less about the car. No room in the front of a 245 with the rear seat folded down, lame A/C, etc. But in terms of reliability, if I'm willing to rely on a car to get to work then I better be able to rely on it for vacation... I took my diesel-swapped '92 245 5-speed on a tour of the Olympic Peninsula back around 2011, think that was the last time I did an extended trip in a 240, and doubt I will ever do another one.

7/9 series cars, OTOH, are excellent long distance rigs. I used to drive my '86 745 TD all over the western US, many trips from WA to Colorado, California, Montana, etc. Finally started to discover enough wiring insulation failures all over the car that that wagon stays local now, awaiting a decision of whether to rewire the whole car or ditch the tired 350k mile shell finally (gonna be hard to do for sentimental reasons) and swap the drivetrain to an '88+ gas shell. Until the wiring problems got to a critical mass I never thought twice about getting in it and driving a few thousand miles in a week. Probably still could do it.

I still drive my '83 764 TD on a 500 mile per week highway commute, and wherever else I want to go, regardless of the distance. I just set the cruise at 90 (or somewhere around 90, it's off the scale of the '83-only 85mph speedo), crank up the A/C, and relax. Still gets 28 mpg at 90 mph, or 36 mpg when I hit the lower speed limits and drop it down to 75. Went out to Seattle last February in it from Bozeman for this year's XXX Meet, and will be going out there again in a couple weeks, this time towing a 14' boat. 1700 mile round trip, I expect no problems, knock wood.

These old cars are definitely not immune to failures but the fundamental design is simple and tough, the only reason one would have a problem on a long trip would be due to neglect of old consumables that are simply past the end of their service life. Hoses, brake components, plastic cooling system parts, gaskets, U-joints, etc. It's hard to bring all of it up to date on a car that has had decades of neglect, but once you get it there and continue to stay on top of it, an old car can be reliable. After they are sorted there's no reason they should be more prone to problems than a couple year old Accord. I'd rather tackle a long trip in a simple 30 year old car that's been carefully cared for than a complex 5 year old car that's gotten the bare minimum...

Just made 800+ mile round trip.
Had an issue with the neutral safety switch, but it was more a fluke than anything & learned that it's not difficult to bypass.

Always carry tools, alum floor jack, extra FPR, bulbs, fuses, fluids

Daily driver

?68 144 goes with me every day every where in town. Don?t want to waste a day !

JohnMc said:

It's not like we're road tripping through Antarctica here.

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5000 km (did it 4 times)

This summer, I drove my 245 turbo ~1700mi from NC to New Mexico. Worked there over the summer, and traveled often (4+ hours away, forest service roads etc.) At the end of the summer, I spent another 10 days driving around the western USA, then drove back to NC. Total summer mileage was about 10k miles.

I did a bit of maintenance before leaving, and didn't really have any issues with the car. The single time it 'broke' down was when a ground wire for wasted spark broke, which was 100% my fault for reinstalling the air filter in the wrong position. The mount flexed, and the wire broke. Did some troubleshooting, verified no spark, found the ground, reconnected the ground to the chassis....and we were rolling once more.

Your car is as reliable as you make it. I wouldn't hesitate to drive this 245 cross country again. All it currently needs is some new seats up front, and FCA bushings replaced.

I take my 312K 89 245 on trips to Appalachia frequently. Handles the mountains and hills slowly, but like a boss. I'd drive the car anywhere, though highway travel is boring and with no cruise and stock HP isn't very entertaining.

JohnMc said:

The only other issue that I can think of was the alternator dying in the PV a couple of years ago on the way back from Mountain Meet. Something went wrong inside it and it started pumping out 18, 19 volts. I assumed that would fry things, so I turned on all the electrical items the car has (admittedly, not much in a PV) and kept driving. After an hour or so, the alternator died from cranking out continuous max amps, so I turned everything off and kept watching the voltmeter slooooowly drop. It clearly wasn't going to make it the whole remaining 6 - 7 hours back to St. Louis. So I stopped by a Wal Mart outside of Nashville (parked pointing downhill) and bought the cheapest battery they had ($60-ish), bump started it still using the old battery, and just kept driving. I was curious how far it would make it. The voltmeter dropped down, down. 11, 10, 9, 8. Car kept on running great. Somewhere below 7 volts (about as low as the gauge reads) the OD kicked off. Then, finally, with the gauge bottomed out the gs gauge finally started to act wonky. I didn't want to fix it on the shoulder, so I pulled off on a rural exit somewhere in Illinois and stuck the new battery in. Made it back to St. Louis with 12 volts still showing.

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Good one. One of the rare situations where a carb has a functional advantage over EFI.

Had a couple of similar situations over the years, neither turned out as smoothly as yours. One long ago driving my '81 Rabbit Diesel from Denver to LA. Alternator quit as I pulled into Kanab, Utah just outside of Zion Park sometime in the late afternoon. Those old cars only needed a few volts to the fuel pump cutoff solenoid to run so I knew keeping the engine going wouldn't be a problem, but night was approaching and I was going to need lights. Parts store in town didn't have an alternator for it and I wasn't going to make it to St George or Vegas before stores there closed. I should have bought a battery but unfortunately didn't think it through they way you did, just blasted out of there as fast as I could figuring I'd make the most of the remaining daylight. Probably made the best average speed I ever got in that car that afternoon, trying to chase the sun westward. I ended up making it to Victorville as night fell and called it quits at a hotel, got an alternator the next morning.

Then just last fall, alternator quit in my Ford pickup outside Kaycee, Wyoming in a November blizzard on a Saturday evening. Could not have been a worse situation, needed defroster, wipers, and lights to keep moving safely in the snow and dark, was pulling a flatbed trailer so was running lights on that as well, and of course needed electrical power to keep the motor and trans working.... Perfect conditions to drain the battery as fast as possible. Every hotel room in every town along the way was full from everyone else clearing off the road to wait out the weather. Parts stores all many miles away and shut down for the day anyway of course. Limped it along as fast as the icy roads allowed, lights got dimmer and eventually warning lights popped on, I called it quits when the instrument cluster shut down. Got towed into Casper. If it had been daylight or roads had been dry and faster I would have made it. That one cost me.

Kestrel said:

This summer, I drove my 245 turbo ~1700mi from NC to New Mexico. Worked there over the summer, and traveled often (4+ hours away, forest service roads etc.) At the end of the summer, I spent another 10 days driving around the western USA, then drove back to NC. Total summer mileage was about 10k miles.

I did a bit of maintenance before leaving, and didn't really have any issues with the car. The single time it 'broke' down was when a ground wire for wasted spark broke, which was 100% my fault for reinstalling the air filter in the wrong position. The mount flexed, and the wire broke. Did some troubleshooting, verified no spark, found the ground, reconnected the ground to the chassis....and we were rolling once more.

Your car is as reliable as you make it. I wouldn't hesitate to drive this 245 cross country again. All it currently needs is some new seats up front, and FCA bushings replaced.

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My old 89, still making me proud! LONG may you run.........

I drug my 90 244 from the mud behind a tiny little euro dealership in Ocean City, Maryland, threw tires and a battery in it, changed the oil and drove it to Houston, Texas in 2 days. Since then I've replaced pretty much every maintenance item on the car, so I'd still have no qualms with driving it anywhere at any time.

My "daily driven" 240 seems to sit on stands as long as it runs. Last stint was 9 months. That has more to do with my inability to leave it alone and than anything else.

The NA 16v does pretty solid countless 400+ miles trips under its belt. WOOT

Just finished a 7,232 miles trip in the wagon. Fully loaded. Leaving on a 1,700 mile trip to Cincinnati and Louisville this Sunday in the sedan. Meticulous maintenance gives me the confidence to drive them daily and on long distance trips. I believe they run better and more reliably because I drive them daily.

sjulier said:

Just finished a 7,232 miles trip in the wagon. Fully loaded. Leaving on a 1,700 mile trip to Cincinnati and Louisville this Sunday in the sedan. Meticulous maintenance gives me the confidence to drive them daily and on long distance trips. I believe they run better and more reliably because I drive them daily.

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Cwazywazy said:

I usually put at least 1000mi a month on my '82 turbo. I've been stranded by it like three times this year, but every time was close to home. I drove it 600mi a couple months ago and, other than the overdrive committing suicide again, it was fine.

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Drove 600 miles, blew up OD, bought two more m46's mid-trip.

Driving

I have to hade my 1985 244ti for 19 yrs. rebuilt just about everything. My longest trip was from Elgin S.C. to Pennsylvania around 1,250 mi. round trip and had no problems. The only breakdown was about 5 yrs. ago, it was the cross over hose from the main fuel pump to the accumulator that broke but luckily I had a spare in the trunk.
I have been quite lucky, but monthly maintenance is probably the best thing in your toolbox.

My 164 got 250 000 miles on the clock. It made 4000 mi trip without any issues.

Just drove it 90 miles to the coast. Lots of high gear boostage. Needs better crankcase ventilation.

We?re near 400,000 miles on our original B230F, second M47 and second Diff. Take it 500+ miles ok round trips regularly (not as much anymore), but only because I?m a platinum AAA member.

I keep making the mistake of doing half ass hack mods before driving 100 miles at 2am. Its always a sketchy ride but it makes it.
No AAA and I don't carry a jack so its all finger crossing and trying to remind myself I don't have to be in boost all the time