Getting maximum life out of a Mirage

[Christopher_B]

I am not 100% sure if this topic has been discussed but I plan on getting 300K+ miles on my Mirage and want some thoughts.

The car was bought 2/01/2021 and currently has 41K on it. It is driven 75% (or more) of the time at 50-70mph.

I will most likely run 0W20 all year although I have considered 5w20 in summer months.
Oil Changes every 7500 miles along with tire rotations.
I also started using Lucas low viscosity oil stabilizer #11097. 1/2 bottle per oil change plus 3 quarts of oil.

Magnetic drain plugs in the engine and trans.

Manual trans fluid changes twice by 60K and whatever the normal schedule from there (although I cannot verify recommended intervals currently on Mitsu's website for some reason - ALLDATA shows every 30K) Probably will continue with redline.

Cleaning the K&N every spring.

Rustproofing. I am looking at Ziebart and Krown thus far.

I have a block heater installed and run it for a few hours before starting if the temps dip below freezing overnight.

I am considering installing a thermostatically controlled oil cooler either with or without a filter relocation kit.
The cooler could mount on the passenger side radiator area as the manual trans car seems to have a large unused area there. A relocation kit may be needed if the block heater was in the way for the sandwich adapter needed for the cooler. A relocation kit would also allow a larger filter and more capacity and perhaps cleaner oil.

Any thoughts or suggestions on getting the maximum life out of the drivetrain?

[Dirk Diggler]

The golden rule here is if you got a 5 speed, 300k miles should be you're goal. If you got the CVT, 200k miles is more realistic with diligent maintenance.

[Fummins]

We have a few cars with close to 300k miles. They all run 0w20 changed about once a month at 4000miles. Could stretch it further but 90% of these cars are beat to hell daily. You do you. They all have cartridge style block heaters and are plugged in when temps get down to -15c or colder.

I wouldn't bother with a filter relocation or any other extra thing to fail. Change oil frequently, keep the air filter clean and fix what breaks. If you have a problem, chances are it has already happened and is posted somewhere around here.

One of our cars still has the original cvt at 285,000miles.
Clutch cables seem to break once in a while so you might want to have one of those for when that happens.

[Johnny Mullet]

My 2017 ES is at 130K. Three sets of pads & rotors and three sets of tires. Maint is 7500 oil & filter & rotations, 60K 5 speed oil swap, and filter swaps. Love this Mirage!

[Mark]

I am not 100% sure if this topic has been discussed but I plan on getting 300K+ miles on my Mirage and want some thoughts.

The car was bought 2/01/2021 and currently has 41K on it. It is driven 75% (or more) of the time at 50-70mph.

I will most likely run 0W20 all year although I have considered 5w20 in summer months.
Oil Changes every 7500 miles along with tire rotations.
I also started using Lucas low viscosity oil stabilizer #11097. 1/2 bottle per oil change plus 3 quarts of oil.

Magnetic drain plugs in the engine and trans.

Manual trans fluid changes twice by 60K and whatever the normal schedule from there (although I cannot verify recommended intervals currently on Mitsu's website for some reason - ALLDATA shows every 30K) Probably will continue with redline.

Cleaning the K&N every spring.

Rustproofing. I am looking at Ziebart and Krown thus far.

I have a block heater installed and run it for a few hours before starting if the temps dip below freezing overnight.

I am considering installing a thermostatically controlled oil cooler either with or without a filter relocation kit.
The cooler could mount on the passenger side radiator area as the manual trans car seems to have a large unused area there. A relocation kit may be needed if the block heater was in the way for the sandwich adapter needed for the cooler. A relocation kit would also allow a larger filter and more capacity and perhaps cleaner oil.

Any thoughts or suggestions on getting the maximum life out of the drivetrain?

Steve's Plastic Car (Mirage 5 speed manual) received 5,000 mile oil/filter changes, but the first 55+ of them were done free by the dealership. The dealership gave him 5W-30 conventional oil each time, & his Mirage made it to 300,000+ miles without any engine issues. Steve's Mirage had some transmission issues @ 300,000 miles, but I don't know if he changed his transmission fluid that frequently. Outside of a failed A/C compressor at some point, his Mirage served him quite well!

[dspace9]

I think rust will get ya before anything mechanical fails, presuming you drive fairly reasonably etc. People think I'm a broken record about this but I have found Krown rust control yearly application has basically saved my Mirage after 9 winters in Ontario. Car still looks pretty much new.

Watch out for the rear wheel wells developing surface rust, as well as the housing for the rear license plate light. Mine is bad, as in a pinky finger would go through the metal there. But I sprayed some oil there. My doors etc are mint so my Mirage still looks really good for a July 2013 build car. Underneath is pretty good too.

I have seen 1980s LeBarons parked at Krown that look brand new so the stuff does work.

[Cobrajet]

I just passed 200k miles and did a compression test on my car. The results were...unusual. When I did the same test at 100k, the results were about 190 psi all the way across all three cylinders.

https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...g-replacement!

That is pretty good. But now, the results are 200 psi across all three cylinders.



Factory compression on a new engine is 205 psi. But it is still weird. I was expecting to see 165-175 psi. I assume these results are wrong somehow, but my point is these engines are very tough.

Keep your oil clean and you should make 300k pretty easily. My car got by-the-book maintenance. Oil changes every 7500 miles...nothing more, nothing less. No major faults have been found with these engines, even on engines with high miles. I changed the gear oil at 60k and figured I would do it again whenever the clutch needed to be done. I am still on the original clutch.

Mirages with CVTs are very reliable. Mirages with manuals are practically indestructible.

[Jibles]

I'd skip the oil additives all together and put back in a factory air filter. These "upgrades" do nothing for you.

[Pimp_Daddy_Patty]

I'd skip the oil additives all together and put back in a factory air filter. These "upgrades" do nothing for you.

I agree with this. Proper oil changes on time based on your driving/climate conditions will do more than any additive.

[7milesout]

My opinions, starting from the better ideas and degrading from there:

• 7,500 mile OCI: Should be adequate for MLFTDT (Max Life from the Drivetrain).
• Block heater and run it for a few hours before starting: Increase in MLFTDT.
• Magnetic drain plugs in the engine and trans: No difference or some unknown increase of MLFTDT.
• Manual trans fluid changes twice by 60K and whatever the normal schedule from there: No difference or some unknown increase of MLFTDT.
• 0W-20 or 5W-20: The weight difference between these 2 will make no difference in longevity.
• Tire rotations: Will have no effect on your MLFTDT. Only max life from the tires.
• Rustproofing. I am looking at Ziebart and Krown thus far: No difference to the MLFTDT. (But not a bad idea).
• Probably will continue with redline: No difference or some unknown reduction of MLFTDT.
• Lucas low viscosity oil stabilizer #11097: No difference or some unknown reduction of MLFTDT.
• Thermostatically controlled oil cooler: No difference or some unknown reduction of MLFTDT (due to failures of complexity).
• Use of K&N engine air filter: Likely a reduction in the MLFTDT.