Half a million KMS at long last

[LimoLS1]

Well as the title suggests I have finally done 500 000kms in my WH Caprice (updated avatar to come soon). It has taken just over 5 years to do it. The love affair began on the 19th of July 1999 when I picked the then new Caprice up from the dealership. Driving it out the doors with only 14kms on the clock. It has since spent it's life as Melbourne Limo driving people around mostly up and down the Tullamarine freeway in Melbourne.

The car is still running as well as the day I first bought it and if I may say so myself still looks the goods. Still running the original motor and diff and strictly serviced every 10 000kms the car manages to go between services using a less than half a litre of oil and the engine is still relatively rattle free. The original auto decided to go to auto heaven at 450 000kms, 2 power steering rebuilds, 2 water pumps 1 radiator and knock sensors and unfortunately just 10 000kms ago an A/C compressor have been the only victims of mileage. Tyres and brake pads have been changed many times and I have replaced countless bulbs.

As far as moans and groans from the body and interior. Well! it's nothing that turning up the radio won't fix. The Accelerator and Brake pedals don't look too worn however the steering wheel leather has seen better days.

Still managing 195 rwkw (after edit and cat back zorst) all I need to do is see if I can get another 500 000kms as trouble free out of it in the next 5 years.

And although it is nothing too extraordinary as Cabs whether Ford/Holden have been doing this sort of mileage for years I think that it has relevance to the members of this forum, LS1 enthusiasts and LS1 doubters especially with the issue of piston slap and oil consumption.

Hold your heads up high fellow LS1ers these motors can take a bit of punishment and last the test of time!!!!

[CV888]

Well Done Nick!

I will be booking you again next time I'm down. I can verify your comments on your car really holding its looks and feel.

Are you really going for 1,000,000 Km's?

Cheers

Michael
CV888

[divjak]

well done Nike
good to see these engine have a
good long life
great achievement


divjak
jim

[Drewie]

What brand of oil have you been using and what sort of service intervals,
great effort. Good to see some big numbers like that.

[XLR8 V8]

If it makes 1,000,000kms contact Holden to see if they want to buy it off you or give you a new one - would be a good promotion for them .... although in another 5 years we'll probably all have LS7's so they won't care :D

[jneil]

CONGRATULATIONS to you and to Daisy!!

That is a lot of time/km in that drivers seat and it does not show it's age AT ALL.

It must be time to retire Daisy to backup duties and get a spank'n newy, or you gonna wait unti the VE platform?

Well done mate! :thumbsup:

Jeff.

[Jphdg]

Nice effort and great to see that sort of distance travelled with only minor probs you would find with most cars which have travelled such a distance, just goes to show if you treat a car well, keep it serviced and look after it mechanically, it will look after you for a very long time :)

Well done mate, also helps us LS1 drivers feel more confident with that great power plant under our hoods :thumbsup:

Just one question LimoLS1, you quoted 195rwkw at 500,000km with zorst and edit, was wondering how many kms the car had done when you first got edit and what power it made earlier on in it's life if you have that data available to share?

[CALDIR]

Hi

Well done: 500,000k's is a massive acheivement and just shows to everyone how good these motors really are. Yep the car still looks very good and definetly up to the continual task of limo duties.

But if it were mine, I would add a 200hp shot of Nos and take it to Calder and send the beast to heaven!! :bash: "500,000 k's and an 11 second pass, what more could you want :lol:

regards,

Richard
CLUBVX

[LimoLS1]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I am happy to answer any questions. At the moment I am inclined to say that a Black WL Caprice is not too far away, I think I will probably update in about March/April next year so I don't think that I will hit the 1 million KM mark.

Caprices and LTD's can be used as Limos in Melbourne for 7 years from the date of manufacture. Statesmans and Fairlanes have a 6 year lifespan and the Euros BMW 7's and S class Benz have an 11 year lifespan. So although I can hold on to the Daisymobile for another 2 years I think that since I have had such a good run until now I will quit while I'm ahead. Either way I will be keeping the car and handing it to my wife as I don't imagine I will be able to get more than around $15 000 for it because of the high KMS.

For the first 100 000kms I used Mobil 1 and then changed to Mobil Super S and have used that mostly since then (tried Penrite and Castrol synthetics but it seemed a little noisy cold and warm), the oil and filter have been changed every 10 000kms, things like fuel filter, trans and brakes are serviced every 50 000kms and the cooling system gets flushed in October/November every year with plugs and leads changed at the 100 000km mark. I first had the car on the Dyno after it had done 140 000kms and it produced 167rwkw F1 Dyno I then had the edit done at 450 000kms :eek: :eek: It was dynoed before they did any work to it and it had 164rwkw Autotechnique Dyno after working that edit "magic" they got it to 197.8rwkw Autotechnique Dyno with a coservative tune keeping in mind I may need to run ULP at times and that the car will be driven in all sorts of different conditions A/C on stuck in traffic, hot days/cold days, mostly laden with luggage and passengers. The figure of 195rwkw (which I was about what I expected) was the figure at the latest Dyno Day in Melbourne Spank organised at Chevs.

P.S I have never had the fuel injectors cleaned. Only run additive through the fuel system every now and then. Only time I hear a rattle is at Start up mainly if the engine is Cold for about 3-5 seconds but it sounds like tappets more than anything else.

[Jphdg]

Loss of 3 rwkws for that distance is nothing, may only be aging transmission loss, not bad and shows the engine has stood up to travel very well :)

Pitty we probably will not see you ckick over the 1m km mark.

[spank]

not bad nick , i did some sums and it will take 83.3 years to rack up those klms in my wedding cars at my currant rate , but we'll see how the klm pile up in the grange that robs using and the wl grange im buying , will be interesting to see how the new 6.0 handles big klm's

[Speedy Gonzales]

Unbelievable it looks brand new still. Goes to show these motors are bulletproof if well maintained,

I was at Chevs when Nick was uming and ahing whether Daisy went onto the dyno, a slight risk running a 450 thou motor at 5500rpm but the result is consistent compared to before, I still reckon theres a few more horsies in there just waiting to be unleashed.

Well done cuz.

[Doug]

Appreciate your posts on your Car Nick. It certainly helps those of us with older cars on what and when we might need to be looking at issues. Considering all the concerns about the engine in the early years, it certainly now seems that with regular maintenance and reasonable care, the LS1 engine can go the distance.

Congrats on the 500K.

[dazza]

Congrats to you and daisy , was sitting here reading this and thinking man i wonder how much petrol that woukd be .
Do you know what sort of litres per 100 you average .
Say it was 12/100 that would work out to 60,000 litres and to put that in perspective that's a 30 tonne tri axle tanker load .

[BigFella]

thats fantastic and well done! dont u get a new car from holden for free when u reach 1,000,000 ks ? lol :lol:

[SASLS1]

60000 litres at an average of 90 cents a litre equates to, wait for it, $54000 in petrol money :cool:

[Shazza]

60000 litres at an average of 90 cents a litre equates to, wait for it, $54000 in petrol money :cool:

Thats bloody sad :(

[cossmo]

Well Done Nicko - a lesson for all of us in what you can get from something when it is well looked after.

I was only in it a few weeks ago and there is no way you would guess how many kns it has by the look of it.

It gives me some confidence that the ute will take a belting as there is no way I will keep it longer than 100,000kms.

[VZSS_Freak]

Congratulations mate, its still good to see cars holding up after some many kms with little problems

Cheers

[Ls1CorpCruiser]

Well done mate....

next up bang on 750,000. :D

To all those doubters this car is immaculate and original, well apart from the edit and zorst off course but it is a tribute to GM that they actually put a few together following the instructions. :bash:

I'm on my way into the big league now too with 25k clocked in 2.5 months....

Watch out Nick I'm on your tail!!!! ;)

No greek jokes please... :eek: :confused: :lol:

PS tell em about the tyre wear, brake wear etc etc Nick..... really rub everyones nose in it!!!!!

[powerd]

Makes my 125,000km look pretty feeble........!!!

[350boss]

Hi Nick (LimoLS1),

Sounds too good, I plan to keep my caprice for same length of time 10 yrs+, but don't know about ever reaching those sorts of KM. By the way I'm interested to know if you have been running a upgraded external Trans cooler and proper (small cooler) for the power steering.

Cheers Lou.

[LimoLS1]

Hi Nick (LimoLS1),

Sounds too good, I plan to keep my caprice for same length of time 10 yrs+, but don't know about ever reaching those sorts of KM. By the way I'm interested to know if you have been running a upgraded external Trans cooler and proper (small cooler) for the power steering.

Cheers Lou.

Hi Lou,

Treated well, but not necessarily babied all the time with regular servicing ie, fluids and filters there is no reason you can't get huge KMS out of these cars. Mine now has 532000+ on the clock and still goes well. I didn't have any trans or power steering coolers fitted and the original auto lasted for about 450000kms which could have lasted longer if I hadn't pushed more power through it after an edit. Keep in mind hwever I used to use my WH as a limo so it was running most of the day which makes a HUGE difference. It has since been retired and is now the family car however the current record holder is a mate of mine in a WH I Caprice with 620000kms on the clock original engine.

Not a bad workhorse

Nick

[OzJavelin]

Sweet! My wife managed 50,000km for a year and a half .. now it's tappered off to nothing. Great to see an LS1 at 500,000km .. inspires me for reliability. However I have to restart my reliability test as my engine was replaced at 82,000km :)

[Oldmonroman]

thats fantastic and well done! dont u get a new car from holden for free when u reach 1,000,000 ks ? lol :lol:
Not a bad idea! This is the first case of anyone getting that sort of mileage on a LS1 as far as I know. good on you, I hope Holden are reading this.

[Swordie]

LimoLS1,

How often did you change tyres?

[LimoLS1]

LimoLS1,

How often did you change tyres?

between 100 000 and 110 000kms first wheel alignment was at 330 000kms and never scrubbed the inside of the rear tyres. Not bad considering as a workhorse it carried a bootful of luggage and passengers in the back seat