Miss The 350 And 700r4

jtstacy77 · September 30, 2011

Just wanted to let you guys know you have one of the best chevrolet trucks ever built. Many years ago I had a 91 4x4 sport with a 350 and 700R4. Sold it with 185,000 miles on it and had no engine or transmission problems. I am know on my 5th 5.3 and the last two have had some issues. One had castech heads and started loosing massive amounts of coolant around 83,000 miles. The second is in the shop right now with multiple stuck lifters and a wore out cam at 85000 miles. That 350 might have had less power, but boy was it dependable. Anyway enjoy yours trucks!

Mckenzie · September 30, 2011

got 199,100 miles on my motor and it still shits and gets and its got the original transmission so maybe you just got a bad truck?

KMGZ400 · September 30, 2011

IMO i personally think the non AFM 5.3 is an all around better engine then the 350, all the 5.3's i have seen all last forever...

rodram · September 30, 2011

[quote name='gm4ever' post='1206046' date='Sep 29 2011, 08:34 PM']Just wanted to let you guys know you have one of the best chevrolet trucks ever built. Many years ago I had a 91 4x4 sport with a 350 and 700R4. Sold it with 185,000 miles on it and had no engine or transmission problems. I am know on my 5th 5.3 and the last two have had some issues. One had castech heads and started loosing massive amounts of coolant around 83,000 miles. The second is in the shop right now with multiple stuck lifters and a wore out cam at 85000 miles. That 350 might have had less power, but boy was it dependable. Anyway enjoy yours trucks![/quote]

.. yes .. in my opinion also, these gmt400 trucks (1988 to 1998) are the best and most reliable version that GM has produced ... I'll be keeping my '97 for a long time yet....

zach1990 · September 30, 2011

i love the way those trucks look but thats it. im fixing to hit 284,000 miles on my 2000 and its still got the original engine and didnt need a trans till 5k miles ago (i blame that all on muddin and racing not normal wear and tear lol). i think ill stick with what i got till the wheels fall off, which at this rate is gonna be a long time from now i hope

jtstacy77 · October 2, 2011

[quote name='zach1990' post='1206239' date='Sep 30 2011, 04:04 PM']i love the way those trucks look but thats it. im fixing to hit 284,000 miles on my 2000 and its still got the original engine and didnt need a trans till 5k miles ago (i blame that all on muddin and racing not normal wear and tear lol). i think ill stick with what i got till the wheels fall off, which at this rate is gonna be a long time from now i hope [/quote]

I hope that my 06 avalanche will be able to make 284,000 that would be nice. I got mine back from the dealer with a new cam and lifters, so maybe it is smooth sailing from here.

govtech · October 2, 2011

my 85 6.2l diesel i put in a 93 C10 with 410k km on the engine and 498k km on the body,,,,,,god love alberta weather ,, 1 cab corner to do soon lol

no squeaks or rattles ....

grampadirt · October 2, 2011

Love my '95 Burb,235,000 miles and still going strong Wifey has a '99 Burb & it's still going also,however recently I had to do the MPFI upgrade on it,other than that it's been great

Sierra6.0 · October 7, 2011

I recently purchased a '97 K2500 Vortec 350 with 150k and I believe the NV4500 tranny.

Motor and tranny combo are cool, but I think my 2-3 synchro is getting worn, nothing major though. I'm worried about the early Vortec spider-injectors, but so far no hesitation or stumbling.

The 350 seems stout, but does not feel any more powerful than the 5.3 in my old 2003 Tahoe (I'm sure the 3/4 ton's weight had something to do with that).

As for reliability of the GMT-400. As I said, drivetrain and Chassis are solid. Interior quality sucks. Everyone I know who has a GMT-400 (myself included) has or had problems with door knobs breaking, doors needing to be slammed to shut tight, etc. Access to the door panel is crap (not a fan of the clip design), and the "always ready to snap" interior door handle is riveted on. Seriously? Something that breaks so often should have a bolt, don't you think?

The GMT-400 was in production so long, that even my '97 model shows hints of cost-cutting and cheap quality control of the late 70's and early 80's that plagued GM and gave the imports their current market share and customer base.

But as long as my GMT-400's drivetrain and chassis stays strong and reliable, I won't complain to much. It's still a great truck. Despite the heavy electronics of the new cars, I'm hoping my new 2011 2500HD has the same kind of drivetrain reliability as my k2500, but with added interior quality and reliability.

grampadirt · October 13, 2011

[quote name='Sierra6.0' post='1207885' date='Oct 7 2011, 06:10 AM']I recently purchased a '97 K2500 Vortec 350 with 150k and I believe the NV4500 tranny.

Motor and tranny combo are cool, but I think my 2-3 synchro is getting worn, nothing major though. I'm worried about the early Vortec spider-injectors, but so far no hesitation or stumbling.

The 350 seems stout, but does not feel any more powerful than the 5.3 in my old 2003 Tahoe (I'm sure the 3/4 ton's weight had something to do with that).

As for reliability of the GMT-400. As I said, drivetrain and Chassis are solid. Interior quality sucks. Everyone I know who has a GMT-400 (myself included) has or had problems with door knobs breaking, doors needing to be slammed to shut tight, etc. Access to the door panel is crap (not a fan of the clip design), and the "always ready to snap" interior door handle is riveted on. Seriously? Something that breaks so often should have a bolt, don't you think?

The GMT-400 was in production so long, that even my '97 model shows hints of cost-cutting and cheap quality control of the late 70's and early 80's that plagued GM and gave the imports their current market share and customer base.

But as long as my GMT-400's drivetrain and chassis stays strong and reliable, I won't complain to much. It's still a great truck. Despite the heavy electronics of the new cars, I'm hoping my new 2011 2500HD has the same kind of drivetrain reliability as my k2500, but with added interior quality and reliability.[/quote]

Wifey has a '99 K1500 Suburban with the 350,I did the MPFI upgrade on it about three months ago(old one took a crap).Best thing I ever did to that Burb