GMC 4.3 Engine
For most of my life I have been a GM guy. I like their product line. Especially from the 60’s. The last vehicle we bought was 2000 Safari van with a GMC 4.3 engine. One thing I want to make abundantly clear is that a 4.3 engine is not specifically a GMC engine, it is a General Motors ”corporate” engine. What that means is that it can be installed in any General Motors Vehicle. Thus making it not brand specific, like the old days.
Before I get into GMC 4.3 engines, in the old days, if you bought a Pontiac, you wanted a Pontiac engine in it. What happened to trigger General Motors into using GM corporate engines as moniker, as opposed to calling it a GMC or Chevy engine was this. Around the end of the 70’s, a man went to the parts store and wanted to buy a part for his Pontiac LeMans. (anyone remember the LeMans)?
The counter person said, that is a Chevrolet 348 cubic inch engine in your car. Well HolyMoly, this guy went nuts, he went back to the dealer and let them have it. He told them he was a devout Pontiac owner and he did not want a Chevy engine in his Pontiac. To shorten this story, GM went to the ”corporate engine” moniker soon thereafter, thus eliminating ”brand or model specific” engines. That solved the problem. I don’t know how they made good with their angry customer.
End of that story. The 4.3 engine is a 4.3 liter engine and it was the most popular V-6 engine General Motors has ever produced. The engine in our van has never had any serious work performed to it. Now we have 130,000 miles on it and it runs almost as good as new. What is the secret?
Well obviously GM made a really good engine design in the first place. It also happens to have plenty of power and is the exact right sized motor to provide excellent power and terrific fuel mileage for a large segment of their vehicle line. Rear wheel drive vehicles primarily.
Our van gets about 18 mpg in the city, when we load it up with luggage, guitars, stuff and our two dogs for a trip, we get 21 mpg with the A/C on, on the highway going 75 to 85 mph. Just keeping up with traffic. Although Virginia is a good state to go the exact speed limit. I bet half of their state income is from speeding tickets! How do I know? Oh, uh, someone told, me!
My only secret to keeping my van running tip top and preventing the need to call my boss, (Brian, owner and active boss) for a rebuilt engine is that I am the most maintenance conscious person alive. We both agree that selling engines unnecessarily to people who don’t take care of their cars is a bummer, to the folks. I don’t think either one of us enjoys other folks misfortunes.
However, we are in the engine replacement business, and Brian has kept GotEngines.com on the top of the heap by being an empathic businessman. Every one of his staff members is trained to listen to your engine problems in entirety, before providing some education that will help you make the best possible decision for you. That is our job, call us now at 1-941-269-8284.
