Thanks. I forgot to mention I just did a full flush of the cooling system and put the good toyota red stuff in there.
I'll be sure to print up a checklist and go through the car, which will help me to make a final decision on whether or not I'll bring the car.
What part of AZ
Bro you'll be fine
If I take this trip, I am going to print this out and tape it to my dashboard.
Flagstaff.
It's one thing to do that 3000 in little chunks, it's quite another to do it all at once. I guarantee unless you get your coolant flushed, you will have overheating problems.
Does it burn oil at all? If not you've got half a chance of making it. Honestly, in a car that old, I'd just sell it or leave the keys in the ignition with the door unlocked in a bad neighborhood and get another shitbox once you land in AZ.
Have you tried hill climbing in your car? Can it do a good hill climb for an hour and not overheat? Try it in the Catskills.
Get your oil changed before and after the trip. Do it over the course of a couple days, you'll be perfectly fine.
so what if it burns some oil. All cars do. Just change it right before you leave, top off if necessary, and then change the oil again after you get there
A car doesn't really care if it doesn't get a "break". Once a car is up to temp there is basically zero wear going on. 90% of wear in an engine comes from starting it cold and running it until it's warm. It's more about the number of drive cycles
if you trust your car your fine i drove from kc to chattanooga in a neon with 220k miles and running on 3 cylinders it didnt skip a beat the whole time