I was tooling along up the highway today and I started to hear a loud knocking. I pulled off to see what was wrong but I couldn't figure it out. The knocking seemed to be coming from the front of the engine but performance, temperature and oil pressure seemed to be unaffected by it. I've put way too much work into this thing over the summer and lately I've been wishing I had given up on it earlier, especially when I found a big hole rusted through the passenger side footwell. I figured anything that makes a loud knocking from inside the engine was my cue to finally give up on it - something like a rod banging around or ??. I continued on my way, hoping it would hold out until I got to where I was going. Oil pressure, temperature, and performance remained unchanged. About 20 minutes later I pulled into a rest stop to have another look. When I got out I saw antifreeze all over the fender, and I could hear it boiling in the engine. Since the temperature sensor is on the intake manifold it's possible for the engine to overheat without it showing up on the gauge if... the WATER PUMP FAILS!! Hot coolant stays in the engine and doesn't circulate up to the sensor. What good is that?? So apparently the knocking was the water pump. That's something I might have been able to convince myself to fix. But 20 minutes of highway driving with no water pump took its toll. The oil was all green and frothy with coolant. I just got the head put back on about a month ago after getting a valve replaced, and I really didn't want to open it up again. So when the towtruck showed up I wrote up a bill of sale for $1 and handed it over to the driver.

So now I need to look for something else. I've got a little Miata, but I don't drive that in the winter, so I've got a couple months, max, to find another winter-capable vehicle. What kind of mileage do the V6 Troopers from around 93-98 get? I really liked the fact that mine got about 23-24 mpg, which as far as I know is unheard of in more recent SUVs. They stopped making I-4s around 91 or 92, right? My commute is about 75 miles round trip, so mileage is a factor. I like the utilitarian feel of the older Troopers - I've never been in a newer one, but I get the feeling they've gotten a lot more cushy and plush. Anyway, I plan to spend a few weeks trying different vehicles to see what I like and narrow the search. Anyone got any recommendations?
Thanks for reading this long story,
Ben