4.3l Power Upgrades/advice

jdaniel83 · February 15, 2011

Like the title says I am looking to do some power upgrades on my '97 Chevy 1500 with the 4.3L motor. It already has a K&N filter and a Trans Dapt throttle body spacer as well as an Accel coil. I've heard that one of the best ways to upgrade these motors is by getting it programmed and from what I have read the Blackbear tuning system seems to be pretty popular so I was going to see if anyone had done that to their 4.3L motor and what were the results.

Now I'm not looking to tear the motor apart to replace any internal parts so a new cam, heads, or anything like that is not what I had in mind. I'm looking more for pulling power or torque increases without sacrificing gas mileage so any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks.

Oh and I know the best power/torque increase would be an upgrade to a V8 but that's not in the works yet.

Wingnut · February 15, 2011

My 4.3 is tuned. Mainly for the bigger wheels/tires.

But you're not going to get much more power out of it without swapping some hard parts, and at that point, you might as well just buy a salvaged V8.

cliobogger · February 15, 2011

man...lets be real for a moment...to get the BEST towing power out of it...would be to add two cylinders...get a junk yard 350, buy a GOOD rebuild kit...(they arent that expensive) some good heads and some headders and BAM, you have yourself a GOOD reliable motor. and it would be WAY cheaper than your other option to get better towing power without cams, heads...a super charger or twin turbo... so yeah...7k for a twin turbo set up, or at MOST 2k for a good rebuilt 350...

edit: btw wingnut, i call lies on your 2mil plus posts...LOL.

Wingnut · February 15, 2011

man...lets be real for a moment...to get the BEST towing power out of it...would be to add two cylinders...get a junk yard 350, buy a GOOD rebuild kit...(they arent that expensive) some good heads and some headders and BAM, you have yourself a GOOD reliable motor. and it would be WAY cheaper than your other option to get better towing power without cams, heads...a super charger or twin turbo... so yeah...7k for a twin turbo set up, or at MOST 2k for a good rebuilt 350...

edit: btw wingnut, i call lies on your 2mil plus posts...LOL.

You can buy a 5.3 from a salvage yard for around 800 bucks all day long. At least that's the going rate around here anyway.

And look closer at what you're reading. I hand-jammed that in there in the same place you can do it on your own profile...I've never touched my real post count

[email protected] · February 15, 2011

You're wasting your time tuning anything pre-99 lt based engine, especially a 6 cylinder one. And I really doubt all the mods you listed could've gained you more than 15 hp.

KMGZ400 · February 15, 2011

You're wasting your time tuning anything pre-99 lt based engine, especially a 6 cylinder one. And I really doubt all the mods you listed could've gained you more than 15 hp.

x2. just save your money and buy a few tanks of gas

cliobogger · February 15, 2011

touche wingnut. haha. anyways wouldnt puting a 5.3 in require a ton of mods? like new engine mounting places and trannys and tranny mounts and all that? i figured a 5.7 would just drop in. and the 2k came from performance parts, of COURSE you can do a complete rebuild for way under that, but whats the fun in that? lol.

jdaniel83 · February 15, 2011

Yeah that's pretty much what I expected to hear. I would like to drop in a 5.7L motor in it but I am starting a small business to make some extra money on the side and to keep startup costs down and save on gas I was going to use my truck as it was for a while. I'll be pulling a small cargo trailer (8-10 foot) so I won't be pulling a heavy load, but I wanted to get a little more power out of the 4.3L so it didn't have to work as hard pulling the trailer. Just wanted to see if anyone had done some mods to their 4.3L and what the results were.

Wingnut · February 16, 2011

touche wingnut. haha. anyways wouldnt puting a 5.3 in require a ton of mods? like new engine mounting places and trannys and tranny mounts and all that? i figured a 5.7 would just drop in. and the 2k came from performance parts, of COURSE you can do a complete rebuild for way under that, but whats the fun in that? lol.

They're about as close to a bolt-right-up project as you can get. ls1truck.com (I think) has people doing the swaps left and right.

tyhuck · February 16, 2011

Like the title says I am looking to do some power upgrades on my '97 Chevy 1500 with the 4.3L motor. It already has a K&N filter and a Trans Dapt throttle body spacer as well as an Accel coil. I've heard that one of the best ways to upgrade these motors is by getting it programmed and from what I have read the Blackbear tuning system seems to be pretty popular so I was going to see if anyone had done that to their 4.3L motor and what were the results.

Now I'm not looking to tear the motor apart to replace any internal parts so a new cam, heads, or anything like that is not what I had in mind. I'm looking more for pulling power or torque increases without sacrificing gas mileage so any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks.

Oh and I know the best power/torque increase would be an upgrade to a V8 but that's not in the works yet.

I went through the same issues with my 01 S10 with the 4.3L, until I performed the greates power adder of all. I traded it on a 1500 with a 5.3L V8. If you cant put a V8 in your truck now, there really isnt much you can do to add power to the 4.3. They just dont take bolt -ons very well. You could always add boost with a turbo or SC, but thats pretty pricey too.

If you are looking for more pulling power, Ide go with a gear swap. Its not going to add any more engine power, but it will put more tq to the ground which is what pulling power is. Your MPG will drop due to running higher RPMS, which really doesnt help save work on the engine, but it should help save some wear on your trans.

KMGZ400 · February 16, 2011

Like the title says I am looking to do some power upgrades on my '97 Chevy 1500 with the 4.3L motor. It already has a K&N filter and a Trans Dapt throttle body spacer as well as an Accel coil. I've heard that one of the best ways to upgrade these motors is by getting it programmed and from what I have read the Blackbear tuning system seems to be pretty popular so I was going to see if anyone had done that to their 4.3L motor and what were the results.

Now I'm not looking to tear the motor apart to replace any internal parts so a new cam, heads, or anything like that is not what I had in mind. I'm looking more for pulling power or torque increases without sacrificing gas mileage so any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks.

Oh and I know the best power/torque increase would be an upgrade to a V8 but that's not in the works yet.

I went through the same issues with my 01 S10 with the 4.3L, until I performed the greates power adder of all. I traded it on a 1500 with a 5.3L V8. If you can put a V8 in your truck now, there really isnt much you can do to add power to the 4.3. They just dont take bolt -ons very well. You could always add boost with a turbo or SC, but thats pretty pricey too.

If you are looking for more pulling power, Ide go with a gear swap. Its not going to add any more engine power, but it will put more tq to the ground which is what pulling power is.

i was just gonna say, id look into a gear swap.

do you know what gears are on your truck now?

jdaniel83 · February 16, 2011

It has the 3.73s in it.

tanked_darren · February 16, 2011

Drive it till it breaks, then buy another, don't waste money on minature gains.

tyhuck · February 16, 2011

That or trade it before it breaks so you can get something out of it. That was my train of thought when I sold mine.

jdaniel83 · February 17, 2011

Well there is quite a bit of sentimental value attached to this truck so selling/trading isn't going to happen, and I'm sure it will eventually break but I've put 200+K miles on it and the only problems I've had have been minor (fuel pump, alternator, and water pump). I'll probably just start up the business with the truck as it is and add a few more extras over time if I think it needs it. Thanks everyone for the advice.