Generally speaking, head gasket failures are caused by another issue. They do not fail on their own without another reason. Unless of course, you drive an engine such as ours where the head gasket is just under-engineered/problematic in the design.
Any engine running 200K plus miles is not under-engineered. At some point in the life of any piece of mechanical equipment, some component will fail, and it will typically be the same component in a large number of samples. That doesn't imply that component is poorly designed, it's just the limiting item.
True. But head gaskets are coated metal gaskets (MLS). You generally do not see other metal-type gaskets (exhaust gaskets, for instance) fail without another reason. Metal gaskets do not deteriorate in the same way as rubber gaskets do.
My vote is to make the trip if you have the time. Stop and see the sights while you are already there. Sleep at Chateau Walmart (the 24/7 properties) or truck stops where you can buy a shower. Unless Dad is really out to screw you the car should last more than 3000 miles.
ha ha ha -- after a week of cross country and if it craps out, relationship may go sour - chances are Dad knows better than to chance the drive since the car is on it's last legs ... my experience is dads dont slike to be stranded and the chance of being stranded will likely not make the roadtrip in the car with dad something he will go for, but it all depends on the dad ...
if u got 2 people driving, 16 hr days, takeing turns every 2 hours , (both sleeping for 8) that's probably something that isnt gonna stay kept up for long - as the site seeing, breaks, rest areas mount up ... if people are taking vacation and flying back yeah, it makes sense -- if u have backup parts and tools -- i really wouldnt want to be digging into the HV bat pack to swap out a module pair on the lowest V block, but that's something i would (if i were doing the trip) have is a pair of modules , a 12V battery to swap out the aux if it fails, and an RC charger to bring the module pair up to the level of the others if the need arises -- sense of adventure ... it's a rush .. ha ....
Really? Your Dad offers you a free car and you don't want to go get it because of the mileage? Man, oh, man. What is the world coming to? I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Expletive deleted.
