Vortec 4.3L V-6 -- Opinions Wanted.

I had an 1989 4.3L on my C1500 extended cab. I had no engine problems other than normal maintenance through 190K miles. I have no complaints with its performance, even when haulin 8 old railroad ties.

I traded it in on a 1995 S-10 in 2000 for a 1995 S-10 4X$ with 50K on itand another 4.3L. It has also performed well with no problems through

120K. Hoping to get another 5 years out of it.

Reply to
ronlin
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Hi Scot,

Regardless of your previous poor experience with the 4.3L, you turned around and bought a GM 4.8L -- I think that says something.

I do think GM is building some very good machines these days. The 4.8L you have has a higher compression ratio (more efficient) than the 4.3L, is balanced "naturally" (does not need a balance shaft), has aluminum heads (better thermal transfer), shorter stroke, smaller bore, etc. It is the next generation smaller truck engine, and I think you will like it.

I was torn between it and the 4.3L, but the 4.8L for cargo vans only came with the higher GVW and did not have rack and pinion steering. It was more "truckish",but when I did the balance sheet for my usage, the

4.3 with the higher axle ratio (MPG) just made more sense for me.

I think GM offers more engine/axle ratio combinations for the pick ups than for the vans. For the vans, you can get the 4.3L with a high ratio rear axle and rack and pinion steering, but if you go to the 4.8L, you get R/B steering, lower rear axle ratios and higher GVW. It depends on what you are doing with the truck,

Good luck with your new truck. I do think you will be happy. GM is making some mighty fine trucks these days.

bonehead

Reply to
old bonehead

That's funny, I just finished working on an 87' Astro with 332,000 miles on it (4.3L/TH700R4), ALL original, and it purrs like a damn kitten, has great compression on all cylinders, 50 psi of oil pressure and is quite smooth.

My wife's 98' Sonoma with a 4.3 is quite smooth and powerful as well.

Maybe the problem with your 4.3's wasn't the engine but was the hands that were wrenching it.

Doc

Reply to
"Doc"

That might be the case in your situation but personally I think you just got a bunch of bad engines if that is even possible because I have the 1995 version of this very engine it has a bunch of miles on it (160k to be exact) and it shows none of the symptoms you have described. Have had very little trouble with the truck itself at all and none with the engine.

Justin

Reply to
Justin Spencer

I can't argue with your success. Obviously, not all 4.3L Vortex V-6 engines are bad. But take a look at what this guy has to say:

GM 4.3 Liter Vortec - I am so disappointed with the quality of this engine I will never buy another General Motors Product again

GM 4.3 Liter Vortec Is a piece of JUNK!

I am a 15 year ASC, and state of Michigan Master tech. I have been teaching dealer tech's for the last 8 of those 10 years.

I have been driving S Series Pick ups's and Blazers sense I received my drivers license back in 1983. I recently bought my first non TBI or carburetor equipped 4.3 equipped vehicle. It is a 2003 Chevy S-10 4 door pickup. You know, the latest, greatest Vin W Vortec pushrod engine. I am so disappointed with the quality of this engine I will never buy another General Motors Product again. Far less because of the inherent design flaws right out of the box that have been able to stay with a design that is near 10 years, but because of how stupid General Motors thinks it's costumers really are!

My engine has the same problems that 80% of V6 and V8 Vortec engines have. Its noisy and idles terribly! GM has been promising a fix for years with no resolution. Carboned pistons causing clacking, improperly metered lifters are noisy and to top it all off, a balance shaft torsion problem that completes the engine noise cycle and vibration throughout ALL operating ranges and engine speeds and conditions.

With as many millions of these ticking time bombs on the road, with no resolution in sight, GM just shrugs its shoulders and says: "Hey, its a pushrod motor, its supposed to be noisy." $27,000 for a vehicle with an engine that sounds like it has 150,000 miles on it at 15,000 miles and on. I guess they think that them telling us Vortec owners that "it poses no longevity or performance issue" should appease our sense of concern. Problem is IT DOESN'T! Of 5 dealerships, none could give me the time of day, and GM costumer service? Lets just say, banging my head against the wall would have been a more productive use of my time.

I pulled the motor out of my NEW TRUCK myself and found:

6 of 12 lifters defective. Improper valve preload on all 6 resulting in a noisy valve train. Checked bleed down rate of all lifters, none of which met GM's own Minimum Bleed down rate specification for this application. 8 valve guides with at least .005" of movement. 7 valve springs out of square and ALL 12 with less than 50 lbs of installed seat pressure.

Valve stem heights in variance of over .020" on a non adjustable valve train.

.023" back lash on the balance shaft gears. OH MY GOD! No wonder it's so noisy! After trying to match 16 sets of new shafts and gears, best I could do was .008" and had to lap them in as well. Lucky for me ONE local GM dealer let me strip old gears and shafts from old warranty engines. They had exploded carcasses on hand. Where did those all come from?

Left bank of the engine had a minimum of .006" piston to wall clearance and 2 collapsed piston skirts, right bank had 1 collapsed skirt with .005" on one cylinder. THATS 3 collapsed piston skirts total in a 6 cylinder engine.

If I didn't know it was an almost new engine, I'd swear it had at least

100,000 miles on it!

After an investment of $675.00 and a week and a half with the engine on a stand, my engine sounds like it should after 16,000 miles. Its QUIET!

Question is, why couldn't GM do this in production? How many years have they been having this problem? For as long as a balance shaft has been inside the Vortec! What is the moral of the story?

GM has no regard for costumer care, or satisfaction. GM has no regard for the faithful costumer and Joe lunchpail who is paying a note on a truck that sounds like a piece of junk! I just wanted to share my engine autopsy with your readers.

Any one want to join me in a class action law suit?

Victor G Dearborn Michigan (home of Henry Ford and the Mustang)

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Reply to
One-Shot Scot

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I have been looking for the history of the 4.3L Vortec V-6 and their inherent vibrations. So far, I have turned up the following on an S-series page:

1988 Common: The 4.3l v6 engine was introduced. 1993 Common: The 4.3l v6 engine received an internal balance shaft to reduce vibration.

My original 4.3L Vortec V-6 was produced in 1990 and my two Goodwrench replacement engines were put in the truck in early 1996. My guess is that both of my rebuilt 4.3L Vortec V-6 engines were pre-1993 models because it is very unlikely that any later models would have needed to be rebuilt. Therefore, my problems with the 1200 RPM shake were probably inherent in all three engines.

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Here is some information on GM's Vortec 4200 inline 6-cylinder engine:

"Sutter (Tom Sutter, Assistant Chief Engineer for GM's new Vortec 4200 Inline 6-cylinder engine) described the inherent smoothness of an inline

6-cylinder design. It has both primary and secondary balance. Primary balance is when the crankshaft counterweights offset the weight of the piston and rod. Secondary balance is when the movement of one piston balances the movement of another. V6's have a secondary imbalance that causes engine vibration. Adding a counter balance shaft can reduce this imbalance, but that adds weight and complexity. The inline design was a good choice. The new Vortec 4200 engine runs smoothly, quietly, and quickly all the way to its 6200-rpm redline."

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Reply to
One-Shot Scot

Reply to
One-Shot Scot

My 4.3L is in a '92 S10 extended cab and has 187,000 miles on it. The distributor was replaced and that's it! Uses no oil and runs fine. I'd buy another one tomorrow...in fact, if I get the money I'm going to get another S10 and hopefully with a 4.3L.

Maybe it's the oil he uses.

Reply to
Drumstick

This guy is crazy. He's taking his "one motor" experience and thinks that he can condemn the entire line of 4.3 engines. I actually have worked on these engines non-stop since their inception. Can he say that? I will admit that the first few years of 4.3's were pretty lousy engines. But we literally do "nothing" in terms of major mechanical work to these engines. As I said before, the intake manifold gaskets are a problem. Engine oil cooler lines are a problem too, but I don't consider this part of the engines mechanical design. The only other problem that I've encountered (and very rarely) is a rattling noise that occurs around 2100 rpm. There is a bulletin out on this, and the fix is to install a newly designed timing chain tensioner assembly. The noise is actually coming from the balance shaft gear and the chain tensioner addresses this problem. But we rarely replace engines, or do head work or bottom end work. And even though I work at a dealership, we see many trucks that are well beyond warranty mileage.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_Kai

BOTTOM LINE:

"I will admit that the first few years of 4.3's were pretty lousy engines."

Thank you!

Reply to
One-Shot Scot

Hi!

Hey One-Shot, give these a listen:

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They're quick and dirty and a little bassy but that's how my laptop heard it...sounds pretty good, huh? That one's got about 14,900 miles on it so far.

My dad has loud exhaust on his truck, so there's really not much you can hear of the motor *itself*.

I'm rather surprised at how you've kept on "knocking" the 4.3 especially after most of this group has told you how *good* the vast majority are. It's almost reaching into the troll zone, bud. If you don't like it, you don't have to buy a truck with it and you didn't. Enough said, really.

For anyone who else who might know or give my samples a listen...what's that soft whine the 4.3 makes? Any truck I've ever seen with it or a 350 seems to do it... I'm not worried about it, but what makes that sound?

William The Guesser (wondering why he doesn't have a life...)

Reply to
William R. Walsh

William,

It's the serpentine belt assembley just winding up.

Damn dude, now I wanna run out and take some sound clips of my girl! Neighbors'd be pissed though if I started revving her @ 11:30 pm. Maybe tomorrow.

Doc

Reply to
"Doc"

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 22:16:59 -0700, "One-Shot Scot" wrote something wonderfully witty:

I had a `90 version that went through the valve guides & seals right quick. Damn thing looked like a skeeter fogging machine when it was first started up.. Didn't prevent me from buying an `02 Astro & `02 S-10 with the 4.3 engine in both of em. I have 50K on the S-10 & 21K on the Astro. No engine problems in either one.

Reply to
ZombyWoof

Reply to
One-Shot Scot

Hi!

Thanks for the information, as always.

Go and do it! Life's too short to put things you want to do off...

I have very forgiving neighbors (with their own vehicle collections, too). That's probably the only reason why I get away with having so many vehicles on my property... :-)

My brother, dad and myself all smoked out the neighborhood one night around 11 while fiddling with an old Buick and injector cleaner. Not only did we make a LOT of smoke, but the car had virtually no muffler left.

William The Guesser

Reply to
William Walsh

I'm neither for or against GM. I am simply a technician who happens to work in a GM dealership, and I like to come by the newsgroups and contribute what I can.

Your 4.8 v-8 is a good engine, but I have little doubt that when the piston slap starts occurring, or you have a right cylinder head gasket split, or the water pump gaskets go south, that you will be upset that you got a "lemon".

There haven't been that many bugs to begin with. GM has made what appears to be a great engine. The same engine is running in light trucks, Corvettes, the CTS, Trailblazers...etc. It comes in all aluminium configurations, cast iron block, cast iron heads configurations, and cast iron block, aluminium head configurations. I think it will be around for a while.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_Kai

Must be bad luck, as I have a 1993 Chevy Astro with the 4.3 V6 and over

130,000 miles on it. I have done two tune ups and regular oil changes and I have not had nary one problem out of it. The joker never has failed to start, except for dead batteries and forgetting to put the ignition interrupting plug in before starting. Oh yea and no 1200 rpm shake either to speak of. 90% of my miles are highway miles.

Reply to
TM

production. Hopefully, I waited long enough for GM to get the bugs out

Reply to
One-Shot Scot

Reply to
seeray

I have a 92 GMC Safari. All wheel drive, extended. With a 4.3. It has around 145000 mile on it. Some things in the van needed replaced over time. New fuel system, redone air conditioner. Front and back units. Some gaskets. On the back Dutch doors. The only engine parts that needed d replacement were the alternator, and a knock sensor. It runs great!! I like the engine. I also have a 91 S-10 with a 2.8, with 197000 miles.

Reply to
4645

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