Dodge Caliber euthanized

[dietz4ibanez]

to me the tbi 4.3 was the good one and the sfi one was junk. It was actually somewhat hard to find a motor locally because most had spun bearings like mine.

The one I ended up with burned oil.

My motor was junk at 123k.

Helps to be more specific the first time, huh?

 

[dietz4ibanez]

Brian gets paid by GM to be blindly loyal, Paul.

Ultimately most would think that but in reality I get paid by ford to defend chevy to see if anyone sticks up for ford...

I know its confusing but try and keep up!!!

 

[drperry]

Mine was just a POS. It was a '96 with the junk 4.3.

That was actually a awesome engine!

We had a astro van in the family 2wd with the 4.3 with 330k miles on it with no major repairs... What killed it was the 6th or 7th deer it killed...

My first 4.3 went 15000 miles on a bent valve before the engine cooked... And yes, the bent valve was my fault

 

[Texas Jim]

to me the tbi 4.3 was the good one and the sfi one was junk. It was actually somewhat hard to find a motor locally because most had spun bearings like mine.

The one I ended up with burned oil.

My motor was junk at 123k.

I have had FOUR vehicles with the 4.3 Chevy engines...
Three of them in Astro Vans and one in a long wheelbase, full size van...

Me and my guys, put a combined total over a half million miles on the three Astro Vans.
Never had any engine trouble with any of them.
The full size van, I sold to my brother a couple of months ago.
It has over 100,000 on it and has never had to be in the shop at all.... for "ANYTHING"...

Maybe I just got lucky...

 

[dietz4ibanez]

to me the tbi 4.3 was the good one and the sfi one was junk. It was actually somewhat hard to find a motor locally because most had spun bearings like mine.

The one I ended up with burned oil.

My motor was junk at 123k.

I have had FOUR vehicles with the 4.3 Chevy engines...
Three of them in Astro Vans and one in a long wheelbase, full size van...

Me and my guys, put a combined total over a half million miles on the three Astro Vans.
Never had any engine trouble with any of them.
The full size van, I sold to my brother a couple of months ago.
It has over 100,000 on it and has never had to be in the shop at all.... for "ANYTHING"...

Maybe I just got lucky...

I had it in a Siverado too and it was phenomenal! That truck had a 180k miles before I sold it...

 

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

The 4.3 is a good engine. I have seen some that held up to some severe abuse and didn't have too many issues...

 

[DV2000NJ]

I had it in a Siverado too and it was phenomenal!

I'm sorry, but there will never be anything "phenomenal" about the 4.3 in a fullsize truck.

 

[daddy]

I had it in a Siverado too and it was phenomenal!

I'm sorry, but there will never be anything "phenomenal" about the 4.3 in a fullsize truck.

It was a GM engine, Dan.

 

[Zembonez]

I had it in a Siverado too and it was phenomenal!

I'm sorry, but there will never be anything "phenomenal" about the 4.3 in a fullsize truck.

Not everything is based on pistons needing to be the size of one's head.

Our local NAPA distributor ran a large fleet of 4.3 regcab Chevy trucks for years. Most of them had well over 300K on the clock before they retired them. The 4.3 was a great, long life engine in those trucks. They might not have been fast (he didn't need fast), but they lasted like crazy. Many half ton utility vans also used the 4.3 and lasted well.

 

[DV2000NJ]

I had it in a Siverado too and it was phenomenal!

I'm sorry, but there will never be anything "phenomenal" about the 4.3 in a fullsize truck.

Not everything is based on pistons needing to be the size of one's head.

Keep in mind I also own (and am happy with the power of) a 1.6L Miata.

Our local NAPA distributor ran a large fleet of 4.3 regcab Chevy trucks for years. Most of them had well over 300K on the clock before they retired them. The 4.3 was a great, long life engine in those trucks. They might not have been fast (he didn't need fast), but they lasted like crazy. Many half ton utility vans also used the 4.3 and lasted well.

I will guarantee you those weren't 300 thousand "phenomenal" miles though.