Never done this before just wondering if there’s anything I should do before I go?
Car has about 200k, b18b1.

 

Fresh oil, plugs, check all tires for good even tread. keep the revs low and dont beat on the engine hopefully you make it with no issues. Keep some basic tools in the trunk, a battery charger spare tire and jack. A emergency road kit will be helpful in the event you get stranded in the middle of no where Walmart sells them pretty cheap.

 

Thanks a lot!

 

Recently went on a long road trip myself.

After 8-10 hours of driving (600 miles) I had to add 1.5 quarts of oil the following morning; car holds 4 qt when full, this wasn't just one day. The B engines are notable for oil burning, instead of just leaks. I already had the crank/cam shaft seals, oil pan gaskets replaced. Check the oil after the engine has been off for 1 hour.

In places like Colorado, where the the elevation can reach as high as 11 thousand feat above sea level, the increased air pressure (e.g. balloon expanding) seems to result in coolant loss on some vehicles, you may hear a hissing sound from your engine bay even with the hood closed (sounds like tire is losing air). Be sure to keep an eye on your car's engine temperature gauge, and be ready to improvise by using water if the outside temperature will stay above 32F, or bring a 4 qt/5 qt bottle in your car. You won't find coolant being sold in 1 qt bottle, but you will for oil. I'd recommend having silicone tape on hand to fix damaged hoses.

I've had a distributor bearing go bad on a road trip, it was making a squeaking sound, that I was able to hear while sitting in the cabin with the windows down. Be sure to periodically open the hood, and keep your ears open for unusual sounds. The old distributor was less than 100 thousand miles old.

I've had the front axle nut try to come loose. If the car wants to go off the road under heavy braking that's a sign one of bolt/nuts/castle nuts, furthest form the suspension centerline is trying to come. Just drive at reduced speeds to the appropriate area like car parts shop and do a visual inspection. When it's tightened/torqued, there's a notch you have to hit with a hammer and a chisel/flat head screw driver all the way down, make sure that's touching the cv thread/"stud".

You can buy a portable tire pump on Amazon for like $40, it uses the 12v cigarette lighter for power. Your cigarette lighter may not have fuse on the dash fusebox, like mine, so try and get one for it, I believe it's 10 amps, don't use a higher amp fuse as it could melt wires.

If you get a flat, just pull over on the side of the highway, inflate your tire asap, then try to make your way to a gas station or appropriate parking lot. I've witnessed a sleepy 18 wheeler truck driver, veer off into the emergency lane, while I was driving 80 mph. I would also get an LED based flare as well, for night time driving, if you get stranded.

My OEM scissor jack had severe rust, due to water leakage sourced from the sun roof, not just tail light. So make sure yours is in good condition.

Don't put too much fate in the fuel gauge meter and instead set a mile limit for when to get fuel. This can help you spot leaking tires due to decreased fuel economy.

 

@k3ntegra
Thanks for all of the info I'll be sure to bring extra coolant and a floor jack, as well as oil and my air pig, my tires are brand new as well so hopefully I don't run into any issues there.

 

Let us know if you make it safe!