Topic: Road trip from Toronto to Chicago

[carcrazed]

My family is going to drive to Chicago this weekend. First road trip since having kids.. it's scary!
I haven't driven the MDX for such a long distance.. should I pay a visit to a mechanic before we leave?

[tortoise]

As long as the fluids are at the right level, the tire pressures good and all needed maintenance done I wouldn't worry about it. 

Focus your concerns on dealing with the kids!

[Fobroader]

X2 on what Tortoise said. Fluids and tire pressures. How many kms on the thing??

[Ex-airbalancer]

That is a pretty easy drive

[Triple Bob]

should I pay a visit to a mechanic before we leave?

Really?  Just check fluids and tire pressures.

[carcrazed]

X2 on what Tortoise said. Fluids and tire pressures. How many kms on the thing??

She's got 250K on her.  Oil change was done about a month ago along with transfer & differential fluid for SHAWD.

I'll just skip the visit to the shop and save time and money.

Maybe I'll check for the coolant level and top it off if necessary.

[Fobroader]

X2 on what Tortoise said. Fluids and tire pressures. How many kms on the thing??

She's got 250K on her.  Oil change was done about a month ago along with transfer & differential fluid for SHAWD.

I'll just skip the visit to the shop and save time and money.

Maybe I'll check for the coolant level and top it off if necessary.

Might wanna do the timing belt while you are down there......cheap as borscht 

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Modern cars are ridiculously reliable on a daily basis.  More than capable of handling many thousand km road trips.

[bridgecity]

About 850km one way?  Check the fluids and tire pressures and head out, as others have said.

[wing]

If you had a tesla you wouldn't even have to check fluids.   But then again it would take you an extra 2 hours to get there.

[Allen]

Damn Wing don't get the whacko's started   

[rrocket]

CarCrazed...if you want my number to say "hello" as you're passing thru (way there or way back) just PM me.

[ArticSteve]

X2 on what Tortoise said. Fluids and tire pressures. How many kms on the thing??

She's got 250K on her.  Oil change was done about a month ago along with transfer & differential fluid for SHAWD.

I'll just skip the visit to the shop and save time and money.

Maybe I'll check for the coolant level and top it off if necessary.

Buy a bottle of Bars Leak and a Premier level CAA.

[Firm]

As long as you keep up with your maintenance (and it sounds like you do) I wouldn't be worried, even with the higher kms. I usually look at trips this way....I do about 700kms a week commuting, and I'll jump in any of my cars to commute for a week without a second thought, so I have a similar approach to trips.

I have a 3000km run planned for the 85 T/A in August, I'll probably just do some basic checks (fluid and tires as mentioned), and pack some tools and emergency items.

[rrocket]

As long as you keep up with your maintenance (and it sounds like you do) I wouldn't be worried, even with the higher kms. I usually look at trips this way....I do about 700kms a week commuting, and I'll jump in any of my cars to commute for a week without a second thought, so I have a similar approach to trips.

I have a 3000km run planned for the 85 T/A in August, I'll probably just do some basic checks (fluid and tires as mentioned), and pack some tools and emergency items.

So is driving an 85 T/A like a Tesla then?  Stop every few hundreds KMs for a couple of hours to get things going again??   

[Firm]

As long as you keep up with your maintenance (and it sounds like you do) I wouldn't be worried, even with the higher kms. I usually look at trips this way....I do about 700kms a week commuting, and I'll jump in any of my cars to commute for a week without a second thought, so I have a similar approach to trips.

I have a 3000km run planned for the 85 T/A in August, I'll probably just do some basic checks (fluid and tires as mentioned), and pack some tools and emergency items.

So is driving an 85 T/A like a Tesla then?  Stop every few hundreds KMs for a couple of hours to get things going again??   

Hopefully not
It's been astoundingly reliable, but it's 31 years old, it would be silly to go on a trip without some basic tools in the trunk. Frequent fuel stops though, 45L(ish) tank and 10L/100km on the highway means an annoying amount of stops.

[OliverD]

Hopefully not
It's been astoundingly reliable, but it's 31 years old, it would be silly to go on a trip without some basic tools in the trunk. Frequent fuel stops though, 45L(ish) tank and 10L/100km on the highway means an annoying amount of stops.

No way it has a 45 L tank. This page says 61 L: http://www.carfolio.com/specifications/models/car/?car=99165

[carcrazed]

I was mistaken.. the MDX ONLY has 235K on the odometer.

I have two more tows left on my CAA corporate membership and haven't seen any leaks lately so I think I'm good.

A few year year ago, my brother and I drove from Edmonton to Toronto in his 2001 Century via Minneapolis-Chicago-Toronto, it broke down somewhere in Indiana and we had to stay overnight while it was getting fixed.  It made the trip interesting and more memorable lol.. but I wouldn't want to do that with the kids, especially since we plan on driving at night. 

To keep the kids (4 and 2 years old) sleeping, we're leaving at 7pm Thursday.. and I'll be doing ALL the driving.  I will be struggling to stay awake around midnight.  Do you have tips to stay awake for nighttime driving?

I'll make one planned stop before we cross the border through Sarnia.  I don't want to try to find a gas station in the US that's open in the middle of the night.  Cheaper Gas south of the border is nice, but trying to find 24hr gas station in the middle of nowhere could be challenging.  I should be able to cover 600km on one tank so I won't have to stop from Sarnia to Chicago.

rrocket, I don't even know where you live. Are you somewhere between Sarnia and Toronto?

[Firm]

Hopefully not
It's been astoundingly reliable, but it's 31 years old, it would be silly to go on a trip without some basic tools in the trunk. Frequent fuel stops though, 45L(ish) tank and 10L/100km on the highway means an annoying amount of stops.

No way it has a 45 L tank. This page says 61 L: http://www.carfolio.com/specifications/models/car/?car=99165

That page is a mess, but it might be right....I know I've never put more than 45L in it, but I try to keep it above 1/4 tank when I can....no need to suck 30 years worth of dirt from the bottom of the tank up into the system.

[Triple Bob]

To keep the kids (4 and 2 years old) sleeping, we're leaving at 7pm Thursday.. and I'll be doing ALL the driving.  I will be struggling to stay awake around midnight.  Do you have tips to stay awake for nighttime driving?

Don't.  It's worse than being drunk.  You are risking your family's lives driving tired.