V6 4.3 fuel economy?

keitkeit · January 16, 2006

Just got me an 02 Silverado and just wondering about what kind of gas mileage to expect from this thing. I have an auto trans.

pm26 · January 16, 2006

What axle ratio do you have? If you drive conservatively, I would say 16 MPG city, 20 highway.

blue2kzr2 · January 16, 2006

What axle ratio do you have? If you drive conservatively, I would say 16 MPG city, 20 highway.

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That's driving VERY conservatively. I had an S-10 with that engine in it, a ZR2 so it had 31" tires, 4WD and 3.73 gears. I was lucky to get 14 in the city and 20 on the highway. We're talking a lighter truck here, with the heavier Silverado, I wouldn't expect that.

OUMike · January 16, 2006

What axle ratio do you have? If you drive conservatively, I would say 16 MPG city, 20 highway.

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That's driving VERY conservatively. I had an S-10 with that engine in it, a ZR2 so it had 31" tires, 4WD and 3.73 gears. I was lucky to get 14 in the city and 20 on the highway. We're talking a lighter truck here, with the heavier Silverado, I wouldn't expect that.

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I don't know what kinda driving your doing ZR2. I have a 1994 4.3 with nearly 200 grand on the clock and I get 16 EASY and about 20 on the highway just like what was posted before. If your ZR2 is getting worse than that than you need a tune up. The newer 4.3s are much more economical than my old school throttle body. The only mod I have is Magnaflows, and I too have 3.73 gears.

I would highely doubt that an extended cab S10 is that much heavier than a single cab Silverado with that little motor. I think you'll be very happy the 4.3 keitkeit. Its a great motor and very dependable. Obviously it isn't ideal for towing a big load or anything, but it'll run forever if you take care of it.

Cheers

67ChevyRedneck · January 16, 2006

A freind of mine has a 99 reg cab shortbox v6 auto he got brand new. It has about 80K on it and he says he gets about 16 straight city and 21 straight hwy. He said he averages about 17. He's had no problems with the truck at all yet.

fig03 · January 16, 2006

I have a 01 ecsb 4.3 with 3.42 gears bought new with 75000 miles. I get 15.5 city 17 hwy with a heavy foot.

lowrider · January 16, 2006

I picked up my '06 Sierra Long Bed in the Middle of November. Mine has a 5MT with the 3.23 axle. Around town I'm getting high 18s, Low 19s. I didn't expect it would be that good. I'm pleased. BTW, I'm not a conserative driver. My car is a modded Infiniti G35 6MT coupe.

Lou

05W/T · January 16, 2006

I get 19.5 right now, before winter 21.5 and long trips 22.5 all stock except for VR velocity stack. My '89 with 200, 000 gets 17 summer 15 winter.

05 W/T

2005 1500 4.3 5sp long box 2WD

1989 1500 4.3 5sp short box 4WD

Shoot2Thrill · January 16, 2006

On my 05 with manual transmission and a 3.23 gears I get right at 18 MPG. Whether I am driving in town on a bunch of short trips or on the highway, I don't seem to notice much difference in fuel economy. -Shoot2Thrill

busta · January 16, 2006

On my wife's 04 S-10 Blazer 4WD 4.3 it gets terrible...if we are lucky we might get 19-20 on the highway...but thats on a good day...so along w/ terrible gas mileage and many other issues with that vehicle it might be getting traded in this weekend

keitkeit · January 18, 2006

Ok well that sounds about right. My previous vehicle was a 95 ranger xcab with the 4.0 and a manual and I got about 22.

Is there anything that I can do to increase the gas mileage that isn't very pricy? I was thinkn a K&N filter. Or should I just go with a new intake all together?

2004GMC1500CC · January 18, 2006

Ok well that sounds about right. My previous vehicle was a 95 ranger xcab with the 4.0 and a manual and I got about 22.

Is there anything that I can do to increase the gas mileage that isn't very pricy? I was thinkn a K&N filter. Or should I just go with a new intake all together?

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No mods will ever give you enough savings in mileage to pay for themselves. The best thing to do is drive like you have an egg under the accelerator.

OUMike · January 18, 2006

On my wife's 04 S-10 Blazer 4WD 4.3 it gets terrible...if we are lucky we might get 19-20 on the highway...but thats on a good day...so along w/ terrible gas mileage and many other issues with that vehicle it might be getting traded in this weekend

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Thats really not "terrible". That is a large V6 that were dealing with, and your is 4WD so its gonna be a little worse with the extra weight. "Terrible" would be 14-16 on the highway.

Just my $.02

JAMIEZ71 · January 20, 2006

I agree with above post about not doing any mods just for mileage. It would take years to pay for themselves. My 04 work truck on the government project averaged about 13-14 but it had a ton idle time. I've had the truck for over a year and only put a tank of gas about 1 a month. Truck never leaves the project except to go to get gas. 4.3s have never been known for good mileage. The 4.8 and 5.3 get the same if not better mileage. I average 15-20.5 in my truck with 5.3 depending on driving situation.

pm26 · January 20, 2006

On my wife's 04 S-10 Blazer 4WD 4.3 it gets terrible...if we are lucky we might get 19-20 on the highway...but thats on a good day...so along w/ terrible gas mileage and many other issues with that vehicle it might be getting traded in this weekend

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That's not bad at all. I had a 95 Nissan SE V6 4x4 king cab truck with a 5 speed manual for ten years and the best I got out of it was 17-18 MPG. It had something like 4.35 rear end gears and I used smaller 235-75R15 tires (31X10.5 were standard) to give me more torque and pulling power, which effectively reduced the gearing by about 10%. This truck was underpowered though: 153 hp and 180 ft-lbs torque just would not cut it in a 4000 lb truck. Especially when towing a 5000 lb boat/trailer. It would tow it OK, just would not go very fast with it. BTW, my mileage dropped to about 11-12 MPG when towing my boat with that truck.

On the plus side, this motor was absolutely bulletproof: Nothing went wrong with it in 10 years and this was the only vehicle I have ever owned where oil dipstick always showed full anytime between oil changes, which I did every 3K miles. Never added a single drop of oil to this thing between oil changes.