V6 Eng Problems ?

[jjctruck]

looking at 07, V6 ,4.3 eng. and was told they had problem with the spider- pluem (part of the fuel system?) under the intake manafold going out at about every 100,000 miles and having to be replaced. What are the facts on this? Are there any other known inheirant problem with this eng? Thanks

[Jsdirt]

I went through that with a '00 Jimmy. That, and every other possible problem.

 

The 4.3 is a tried & true engine mechanically - it's basically 2/3rds of the 350 (5.7) which has been around for years - a proven design. What sucks about them today is all the electronic BS that they put zero effort into for quality. Some are better than others. Mine was an absolute lemon. So much so that I parted the vehicle out. It's sitting in my driveway right now on blocks being sold off piece by piece. In all fairness, it was a rental most of it's life, so this is a worst-case example.

 

So yeah, the plenum is a problem on some - it's guaranteed to fail at some point. Piss-poor design IMHO. But that's true with anything these days. The first Duramaxes had crap injectors that barely made 50K miles, for example. The later design made it 100K or more if you were lucky - still can't do much better even today. Manufacturers don't seem to care much because people keep buying them. That's what happens when government (EPA) tells private industry how to do their job ...

 

But I digress ... and I'm ranting again .....

 

Some other issues are the oil filter lines on 4x4's leaking or blowing altogether & ending the engine's life, distributors wearing out ( probably don't have one on the '07, but I'm not sure ), & the usual EVAP problems & failing sensors.

[jjctruck]

I went through that with a '00 Jimmy. That, and every other possible problem.

 

The 4.3 is a tried & true engine mechanically - it's basically 2/3rds of the 350 (5.7) which has been around for years - a proven design. What sucks about them today is all the electronic BS that they put zero effort into for quality. Some are better than others. Mine was an absolute lemon. So much so that I parted the vehicle out. It's sitting in my driveway right now on blocks being sold off piece by piece. In all fairness, it was a rental most of it's life, so this is a worst-case example.

 

So yeah, the plenum is a problem on some - it's guaranteed to fail at some point. Piss-poor design IMHO. But that's true with anything these days. The first Duramaxes had crap injectors that barely made 50K miles, for example. The later design made it 100K or more if you were lucky - still can't do much better even today. Manufacturers don't seem to care much because people keep buying them. That's what happens when government (EPA) tells private industry how to do their job ...

 

But I digress ... and I'm ranting again .....

 

Some other issues are the oil filter lines on 4x4's leaking or blowing altogether & ending the engine's life, distributors wearing out ( probably don't have one on the '07, but I'm not sure ), & the usual EVAP problems & failing sensors.

 

 

 

 

Would the 4.8 - V8 be a better buy, less problems, better in the long run?

[MikeNH]

Any of the V8s will have a much improved fuel system and be more reliable. The 4.3 like the 305/350 has a wet intake manifold and will eventually leak, which can let coolant into the oil and wreck the engine. On the V8s an intake leak will just be an unmetered air leak that would just cause driveibility issues. The 5.3 will likely get you the same mileage as the 4.8 with a bit better performance too.