Don't those GM 4.3l v6's have a bad track record?!

I know of quite a few people that had blazers with the 4.3l v6 and they died on them within 2 years! Not to mention they had a ton of problem with pinging.

 

nothin compared to a 227hp / 266 ftlbtq 4.2 v6

 

my s10 whoops on my 4.2 ford any day. In the reliability and the power fields. Im sorry ford... you just cant make a 6 cylinder as good as chevy can.

(thats a non biased opinion also. Ive had both chevys and fords and love them both.)

 

I've never owned a Chevy, but from my experience from picking up friends and towing a few of them and seeing some sitting in the back yard of my neighbors house, I've learned to love Ford especially when I learned to drive a '68 F-100 at 12 years old and currently drive a F-150.

 

Let's compare apples to apples - have you ever driven a Silverado with a 4.3? You cannot compare a S-10 to a F-150.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. My grandpaw drives a 1994 K-10 Silverado reg cab swb with the 4.3L V6. I drive it all the time, and I can tell you my 4.2L reg cab swb will beat it no problem. Those 4.3's have good snap off the line, but that's about it.

 

A 4.0L SOHC in a Ranger rapes a 4.3L Vortec in an S10.

And as far as reliability, look at the 3.0L and the older 4.0L in the Rangers (Both are bulletproof, especially the 3.0L). I had 157,000 on my 3.0L 4x4 Ranger before I traded it in on my F150 (easily could have gone to 225,000).

 

Yeah! I see waaaay more Chevrolet failures than Ford on those 4.3's vs. Fords 4.2. Yes, maybee it's not a bad engine but they don't build a better one, besides, who in they're right mind puts a plastic injector assembly inside of the intake manifold in front of hot e.g.r. gasses? Chevy!!

 

lol pw3nt!!!

 

Knew it was true...

Suppose that's why a guy down my road has 3 junkyard blazers for his newer blazer...

 

Yes, I'm not the biggest fan of the 4.2 but it is definitely better as far as G.M.'s 4.3 "boretec". IMO

P.S. And don't even get me started on "Dodge".

 

Well, being that this is a F-150 forum, and Ford only uses the 4.2 in the F-150 and E-150, I think we need to keep the comparisons in 1/2 ton trucks and vans. The GM issue is already addressed, but nobody has really said anything about a Dudge. I've never driven a full size with a 3.9, but I hear that it's a REAL dog.

 

I've riden in one but wasnt too impressed with it. Has a nice little rumble though with stock exhaust.

 

I stumbled across this thread and had to chime in as I am an owner of a 2003 S15 Sonoma (same thing as an S10) and have the 4.3 vortec. Now the 4.3 is no slouch (in an s10 at least) but it isn't exactly your sports car acceleration. Stock I ran a 16.4 with a 2.5' 60ft, so essentialy I could've pulled off a 16.0 -16.2 with some better launches (I only ran it 1 time stock).

To address some things said, I'd say the track record is on par with any F150, I'm not sure what their problem rates are but the late model s10s with the multec 2 spider assembly do pretty good, there are a lot of problems with the older poppet injectors in the spider assembly getting stuck because people buy circleK or Arco gas and they get clogged. to date (80,000 miles) I've never had 1 problem with mine. Obviously other people will have different experiences, but over at the Sseries forums the general census is that problems are neil.

Stock for stock like stated earlier an s10 is quicker due to power/weight compared to an F150, a 4.3L Silverado vs. a 4.2L F150, I have no idea, I don't know what either run stock. Someone said an OHC4.0 ranger will rape an s10, I don't believe that, they may be quicker but I doubt by THAT much. A lot of manual 4.3 s10s run a 15.7 stock, most autos are 16.0-16.4, but when my truck was stock I ate up 4.0 OHV rangers quite often. I only raced 1 4.0 OHC ranger but he was a 4x4 with the bigger tires so I beat him.

'TECH' stated earlier that chevy does not make a better motor with that kind of displacement, that's incorrect unless he was just referring to what s10s or silverados have. Chevy replaced the 4.3 with a 4.2L I6, it makes 295HP and is used in the trailblazers and might make their way into the silverados to replace the 4.3s. But I have to agree with TECH that GM was very stupid with with their plastic injector assemblys, a very bad design, and not upgradable. More on that in a second.

If you're interested in my truck keep reading.
Lately my truck has recieved some upgrades, which are exhaust and a cam (266HR by comp cams) I haven't dynoed it yet but it's probably upwards of 260HP+. and currently I run a 14.62 @ 93MPH with a 2.2 60ft. This is on 7inch wide tires, no posi, stock gears, and on the stock plastic spider intake assembly. A stealthram intake manifold to replace that horrible intake is on the way with some better tires, gears, and posi so I'm hoping for 13s.

I'm open to any questions you have or things to say

 

A 4.0 OHC Ranger makes a 4.0 OHV Ranger look like a turd. The Silverado needs that I6, it would kill a V6 F-150. However, by the time they put it in, the V-6 will be gone, the 09 F-150 will have the 4.6 2V V-8 standard which will give a 4.8 Silverado a good run for its money.