How does the 2006 Chevy 4.3 hold up?

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I am eyeballing a 2006 Chevy Silverado truck. 4.3 engine 85k. I know it is only as good as maintained, but did they have any factory quirks when built?

I have a 1991 4.3, a 1999 4.3 and had a 1996 4.3. All are and were great motors.

Thanks for any input!
 
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They will run forever on anything resembling oil. Seen some crazy ones including 400k+ S10 with abused oci and sludge. (15-20k on Castrol GTX). The drain plug would let out chunks of sludge and it kept driving.
 
Replace the intake manifold gasket with a metal felpro one and it will last you countless miles with normal maintenance.
 
Good info. Easy to work on as well? Glad to hear about the update on the gasket...my 99 Astro had that replaced.
 
A lot of UPS trucks have a 4.3 under the body. As durable of an engine as you can get.
 
They run forever.

I have never seen intake manifold gaskets fail in a 2000 vintage GM V6, seemed to be more of a 90's problem.

2006 would be the second year of electric cooling fans so all sorts of room under the hood.

Over 100k miles the only failure mine has had is a couple coils and ignition control modules, and the serp belt idler arm bearings failed early on. That's it. I attribute the second coil/ICM failure to poorly made aftermarket parts.
 
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As you can see I have the exact same truck, GMC version. The engine has been very reliable. I have had a few problems with the rest of the truck, but nothing major or expensive.

I had a thread about the issues I had with this truck
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/3496907/Searchpage/1/Main/224027/Words/George7941/Search/true/Re:_Reliability_of_Current_Veh#Post3496907
 
Mine is a 2wd and the biggest problem is steering racks, I'm on my third. They seem to last about 50k than leak like crazy.
 
cant say i would ever want to drive a boat anchor, but if i did it would be the 4.3L chevy silverado
 
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Mine is a 2wd and the biggest problem is steering racks, I'm on my third. They seem to last about 50k than leak like crazy.


I haven't had any problems with the steering rack, and mine is also 2WD. I use Mobil synthetic ATF as power steering fluid and this cuts down considerably the cold start groan from the PS pump. The FF produced the annoying groan.

The driver side inner tie rod has a bit of play in it and I will be changing it out.
 
Thanks for all the input. I am waiting for more pics from the owner. Seems he is several thousand above KBB.
 
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