How is your 4.3L EcoTec3 V6 Engine working out for ya?

Grumpy Bear · February 24, 2020

In a few days Pepper will pass 110,000 miles. I could go on for paragraphs about the truck but the question is about the motor so I will limit my comments to that.

Flawless Operation!

No matter what I ask of it, it has done not just well but exceedingly well. Quite, thrifty, powerful enough to never cause a moments concern even when forced into a dangerous situation, such as a lane squeeze on the interstate. Just press the pedal and escape. Short ramps, fast Interstate? Not a problem. She'll hit the speed limiter in under a thousand feet.

Oil changes have been on 5K OCI's and she uses none inside that frame of reference. Past that reference I don't care.

-35 F or 105 F, hit the starter and she goes. Her lifetime average has been a bit over 27 mpg and climbing all the time I've owned her. Past summer 30 mpg average for the entire six months. This winter solidly over 25 mpg. City driving which I do very little of has never produced a tank under 22 mpg.

Do I have any knocks? Yes but not about the motor directly but more about the technology. The high-pressure fuel pump tick which is common to all GDI's.

A slight roughness at the ultra low idle speeds inherent to the V6 even fire motors which the balance shaft would handle nicely IF the idle speed were a bit higher. Just over 500 rpm is a bit slow for smooth service. A V8 will rock a bit that slow. I'll fix that some day

Excessive use of plastics. Just replaced the flex plate shield over the starter, under the exhaust as it warped (heat D'oh) and rubbed the ring gear making an awful racket. $10 part, $120 repair. Allot to remove to get to a part that has traditionally been metal for good reason. I expect it is true for her bigger brothers as well.

Maintenance has been routine except the changing of the VLOM pre-filter screen under the pressure switch. Neither actually needed to be replaced but the screen was damaged during removal and I had already bought the switch. IF GM in their infinite wisdom would calibrate gauges accurately I wouldn't have even looked at it. A gauge should reflect reality and not generality. And yes I replaced plugs and wires at 100K. Routine. Coolant services have been on going as is my habit. Replace a quarter of it twice a year. My routine. Not a single "Common Problem" with this motor.

All in all, what is not to like?

kwOH · February 24, 2020

In a few days Pepper will pass 110,000 miles. I could go on for paragraphs about the truck but the question is about the motor so I will limit my comments to that.

Flawless Operation!

No matter what I ask of it, it has done not just well but exceedingly well. Quite, thrifty, powerful enough to never cause a moments concern even when forced into a dangerous situation, such as a lane squeeze on the interstate. Just press the pedal and escape. Short ramps, fast Interstate? Not a problem. She'll hit the speed limiter in under a thousand feet.

Oil changes have been on 5K OCI's and she uses none inside that frame of reference. Past that reference I don't care.
-35 F or 105 F, hit the starter and she goes. Her lifetime average has been a bit over 27 mpg and climbing all the time I've owned her. Past summer 30 mpg average for the entire six months. This winter solidly over 25 mpg. City driving which I do very little of has never produced a tank under 22 mpg.

Do I have any knocks? Yes but not about the motor directly but more about the technology. The high-pressure fuel pump tick which is common to all GDI's.

A slight roughness at the ultra low idle speeds inherent to the V6 even fire motors which the balance shaft would handle nicely IF the idle speed were a bit higher. Just over 500 rpm is a bit slow for smooth service. A V8 will rock a bit that slow. I'll fix that some day [emoji4]

Excessive use of plastics. Just replaced the flex plate shield over the starter, under the exhaust as it warped (heat D'oh) and rubbed the ring gear making an awful racket. $10 part, $120 repair. Allot to remove to get to a part that has traditionally been metal for good reason. I expect it is true for her bigger brothers as well.

Maintenance has been routine except the changing of the VLOM pre-filter screen under the pressure switch. Neither actually needed to be replaced but the screen was damaged during removal and I had already bought the switch. IF GM in their infinite wisdom would calibrate gauges accurately I wouldn't have even looked at it. A gauge should reflect reality and not generality. And yes I replaced plugs and wires at 100K. Routine. Coolant services have been on going as is my habit. Replace a quarter of it twice a year. My routine. Not a single "Common Problem" with this motor.

All in all, what is not to like?

Mine is getting ready to turn 140k, I have only had it 2 years, I am the 2nd owner, I have probably only put about 7-8k miles on it, the previous owner, was a lumber salesman, I bought it from a small rural chevy dealership, everyone knew the guy who had owned it, he has been a regular customer of the dealership for many years, in fact one of the other salesmen said “Hey, I see you’re buying my neighbors truck.” lol. They had performed all the service and had all the service records. Records state it has had a new throttle body at some point, probably from oil build up, but other than that, nothing but regular maintenance, thing runs like a top.

Bowtiejeepin · April 15, 2020

2016 chevy silverado 1500 4.3l lt2 z71

328hp 348lb tq

5.4 sec 0-60 on e85 max tune

23.4 overall mpg average on my 118 mile daily commute.

42k miles

Flowmaster super 44 delta racing series

Diablo intune i3 tuner

Rough country 2" leveling kit

Spectre cold air intake

Custom front offroad bumper

Custom grill

Mishimoto oil catch can

Back rack

Monroe rear coil over towing shocks

first v6 truck I have ever owned, been an automotive tech for 17 years and picked this up bone stock 3 months ago for a steal, did some research and made her my own and couldnt be happier with the performance and mpg on my 118 mile daily commute. Gotta say im rather impressed with the 4.3l ecotect3 setup.

certainly aint the 4.3l I grew up with (power of a 4 banger and fuel economy of a v8 lol). I tow a 2,500lb boat with ease and have hauled my jeep on my car hauler with no issues.

jshrubs · April 27, 2020

On 4/15/2020 at 7:18 PM, Bowtiejeepin said:

2016 chevy silverado 1500 4.3l lt2 z71

328hp 348lb tq

5.4 sec 0-60 on e85 max tune

23.4 overall mpg average on my 118 mile daily commute.

42k miles

Flowmaster super 44 delta racing series

Diablo intune i3 tuner

Rough country 2" leveling kit

Spectre cold air intake

Custom front offroad bumper

Custom grill

Mishimoto oil catch can

Back rack

Monroe rear coil over towing shocks

first v6 truck I have ever owned, been an automotive tech for 17 years and picked this up bone stock 3 months ago for a steal, did some research and made her my own and couldnt be happier with the performance and mpg on my 118 mile daily commute. Gotta say im rather impressed with the 4.3l ecotect3 setup.

certainly aint the 4.3l I grew up with (power of a 4 banger and fuel economy of a v8 lol). I tow a 2,500lb boat with ease and have hauled my jeep on my car hauler with no issues.

Pretty impressive numbers! Do you have any sound clips of the exhaust? Been thinking about doing the exhaust on mine for awhile now.

Grumpy Bear · October 18, 2020

I have one source saying the AFM will give up by 135,000 and another saying the 6L80E will act out by 160,000.

Currently at 130,000 and still a Swiss Watch. What to think of all this indeed.

Donstar · October 19, 2020

On 10/17/2020 at 9:21 PM, Grumpy Bear said:

I have one source saying the AFM will give up by 135,000 and another saying the 6L80E will act out by 160,000.

Currently at 130,000 and still a Swiss Watch. What to think of all this indeed.

There is another thread where a member is looking to replace his 4.3 in a Silverado at 250k miles. I don't know if he ever found out what was exactly wrong with the engine or what kind of maintenance it had received. I'm sure Pepper is good for a million!

Grumpy Bear · October 20, 2020

3 hours ago, Donstar said:

There is another thread where a member is looking to replace his 4.3 in a Silverado at 250k miles. I don't know if he ever found out what was exactly wrong with the engine or what kind of maintenance it had received. I'm sure Pepper is good for a million!

I've seen and posted to that thread. Pepper is about as perfect as one truck can get IMO. It would be hard to imagine that one that looks like this one looks is ready for the bone yard.

SlvrRado210 · January 15, 2022

On 2/25/2015 at 9:24 PM, Perseus said:

7000 miles on mine. Love everything. Really want to try towing with it. Just don't want to go overboard. Would like to trailer my Mustang to the track with it and maybe a travel trailer see how it does

Also if anyone has real world figures on level kit and larger tires, I'm interested in mall crawling

I have a 2018 4.3l. Originally had a 2" level but ended up putting a 6.5" lift with 35s. K&N Intake. It gets up, even better on E85. I pull my 20' boat on the regular no problem. 13.5 average MPG, mostly in the city.

Grumpy Bear · January 23, 2023

On 10/17/2020 at 11:21 PM, Grumpy Bear said:

I have one source saying the AFM will give up by 135,000 and another saying the 6L80E will act out by 160,000.

Currently at 130,000 and still a Swiss Watch. What to think of all this indeed.

164,000 currently.

Seems it beat the odds.

Will it go 200K?

:dunno:

customboss · January 23, 2023

39 minutes ago, Grumpy Bear said:

164,000 currently.

Seems it beat the odds.

Will it go 200K?

Looks new like its on the showroom floor!

Levi Herron · September 12, 2023

I love it; I'm at 176,415 miles, 2wd, 3:42 gears, 4l80e swap from RPM transmissions, 3rd cat deleted for 3" straight pipe to just before the rear axle and a tune+throttle controller, factory 20's running all terrains on the rear and road tires up front(experimental). I started building the truck as a sleeper but the farther I got he turned into more of a off-road recovery/work/play rig

Donstar · September 15, 2023

(Thanks Grumpy for the redirect.) My '15 Sierra 4.3 V6 is proving to be my best truck in over 50 years of owning pickups. It is actually quite boring in its suitability, reliability, functionality and, as a result, taken for granted. I often go out kicking tires but no fuel burning pickup would be enough of an improvement or change to warrant purchase. I appreciate that this truck is the most fuel efficient of all my previously owned trucks however significant improvements in this area would be motivation for change.