4.3l V-6

i started this thread because i needed some help with my 2005 4.3L v-6. lately ive been finding that the accleration and over allhorsepower is just not were i need it. so i was wondering if anyone could tell me i fi should jsut mod the hell out of it or pay to have a new 4.8 or 5.3L V-8 installed.


thanks to all who reply





x:shakehead x

i say you swap the motor i too own a 4.3 and its not that great but i dont normally drive very fast i dont normally race and dont tow heavy objects so i dont need all that power (not to say i dont want it :)) im just a cruiser the only time I floor it is when im late for work thats enough reason to mod my engine:)

you have an 05 the best thing would be to sell it and buy another witha v8, theres no reason to put all that money and time into swapping when you can sell it for over 10k easy

i say you swap the motor i too own a 4.3 and its not that great but i dont normally drive very fast i dont normally race and dont tow heavy objects so i dont need all that power (not to say i dont want it :)) im just a cruiser the only time I floor it is when im late for work thats enough reason to mod my engine:)


haha. yeah so do you have any idea if you can buy any throttle bodys for this engine i was thinking of the first thing i should do if i "did" mod my enginge and not swap was get an air intake and throttle body. Or am i not starting in the right place.


ps.... im a senior in high school and make $7.25 an hour. so i dont have an "amazing" source of cash right now. espically ssince i put $2,536 worth of wheels and tires on my truck. (there 22's :evillol:) haha. but yeah anyways to put it simplely im lookijng for the biggest bang for my buck. haha

thanks


x

well put the stock wheels back on put on a forsale sign and private sell it bc u get more then take that money and put all the cash down on another 99 up with a v8 and put those wheels on it, i make 8 an hour and bought a 99 silvy for 5k and i can pay for that and full coverage ins while in high school and college and i can still afford to buy some aftermarket goodies!!

thats one of my biggest problems though the trucks not in my name. but im allowed to do anything i want to it. im not allowed to sell it though unless my dad gets the money. we bought it with only 11,000 miles on it for $15,000. and the engine is still pretty new i mean ive only put about 1,000 miles more on it so far. ive only had it about 2 months. yeah. maybe in the future i should just buy the truck from my dad. any suggestions?






thanks.

get a tune nelson tune or wait4me.

ive never herd of nelson or wait4me tuning? is it a programmer that pugs into the diagnostics port?

get a tune nelson tune or wait4me.

what is a wait for me?????

what is a wait for me?????

I think its the same thing as a nelson tune except someone else does it.

ps.... im a senior in high school and make $7.25 an hour. so i dont have an "amazing" source of cash right now. espically ssince i put $2,536 worth of wheels and tires on my truck. (there 22's :evillol:) haha. but yeah anyways to put it simplely im lookijng for the biggest bang for my buck. haha

thanks


x

Could of done alot with the motor for the 4 months of pay you spent on the tires and wheels

by the way do you have a pic of the 22s

i started this thread because i needed some help with my 2005 4.3L v-6. lately ive been finding that the accleration and over allhorsepower is just not were i need it. so i was wondering if anyone could tell me i fi should jsut mod the hell out of it or pay to have a new 4.8 or 5.3L V-8 installed.


thanks to all who reply





x:shakehead x

A 4.3 v6 and big wheels in a Silverado.
One thing for sure It is not going to burn off the high priced tires.
You can not squeeze blood out of a turnip.
It would take a lot of mods and big bucks to make it get up and go.
If it gets good gas mileage and gets you there and back learn to live with it or by another one with a bigger engine to start with.
MT

A 4.3 v6 and big wheels in a Silverado.
One thing for sure It is not going to burn off the high priced tires.
You can not squeeze blood out of a turnip.
It would take a lot of mods and big bucks to make it get up and go.
If it gets good gas mileage and gets you there and back learn to live with it or by another one with a bigger engine to start with.
MT


if you want to go fast leave your truck alone and get yourself a camaro with an ls1 and mod that or a 300zx with twin turbo or lancer evo point is trucks can go fast with major mods(look at slowprocess) but i would rather get something fast out of the block then mod it to be faster then the rest
after my truck is payed off im looking into getting a motorcycle to compliment my truck

by the way do you have a pic of the 22s


yeah you can see them here.....

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/DisplayWheel.jsp?wheelMake=AT+Italia&wheelModel=Magnum&wheelFinish=Stainless+Face+w%2FBlack+Accent



i love em.



and also can anyone one explain to me exactly what a "nelson" or "wait for me" tune is. is it liek a dyno tune?

and also can anyone one explain to me exactly what a "nelson" or "wait for me" tune is. is it liek a dyno tune?

From what I gather (I don't have one), yea a nelson and wait for me is pretty much a dyno tune without putting it on a dyno. Apparently, the guys that sell these have worked with enough of them that they can sell a tune customized for most unmodified (and some modified I think) engines that will increase performance.

I too have the v6, and while it doesn't bother me, I would love to hear somebody say how much a tune helped theirs. I got the v6 because it was cheaper, though I do get better gas mileage than my friends with the v8 for some reason, even though the stickers say they are about the same. Prolly because of my light footed, old man driving :iceslolan.

nelson tunes and wait4me tunes:

basically nelson and jesse (wait4me) buy a bunch of different programming software, tune a truck as best as they can get it with what they have. most tuners offer a power tune and/or a economical tune (better gasmileage)
you mail them your pcm or ecm (i forget whats what) and they mail you one back with the tune file on it. wait4me i believe is cheaper but from what i hear, nelsons are better. ive never heard of anyone with a 4.3L tune. honestly, don't bother modding the performance with your truck. my friend has a 4.3L s10 with every bolt on you can imagine and the thing is still a turd. i have a stock colorado and my truck is faster than his. those 22's you put on are going to kill your performance and gas mileage, so it looks like you already went the appearance route over the performance route. im only 21 and remember high school well. just put in a bangin audio system, keep your truck clean and waxed, and do whatever minor appearance stuff you want to add some personality (paint the interior, new floor mats, console cover, etc). just enjoy cruising in your truck and don't worry about speed. save your money most of all. just my $.02 though

nelson tunes and wait4me tunes:

basically nelson and jesse (wait4me) buy a bunch of different programming software, tune a truck as best as they can get it with what they have. most tuners offer a power tune and/or a economical tune (better gasmileage)
you mail them your pcm or ecm (i forget whats what) and they mail you one back with the tune file on it. wait4me i believe is cheaper but from what i hear, nelsons are better. ive never heard of anyone with a 4.3L tune. honestly, don't bother modding the performance with your truck. my friend has a 4.3L s10 with every bolt on you can imagine and the thing is still a turd. i have a stock colorado and my truck is faster than his. those 22's you put on are going to kill your performance and gas mileage, so it looks like you already went the appearance route over the performance route. im only 21 and remember high school well. just put in a bangin audio system, keep your truck clean and waxed, and do whatever minor appearance stuff you want to add some personality (paint the interior, new floor mats, console cover, etc). just enjoy cruising in your truck and don't worry about speed. save
your money most of all. just my $.02 though


I could not agree more:icon16:

Hey Im A newbie to this forum. But I Own a 2003 Regular Cab Shortbed with a 4.3. I put a K&N FIPk, A flowmaster After-cat exhaust, and a hypertech tuner in it and it is pretty quick. It'll keep up with my best friends 4.8 without too much of a sweat. Mine is a 5-speed though so that helps out but those mods have helped out a lot for me plus i picked up from about 3-5 mpgs.

Hey Im A newbie to this forum. But I Own a 2003 Regular Cab Shortbed with a 4.3. I put a K&N FIPk, A flowmaster After-cat exhaust, and a hypertech tuner in it and it is pretty quick. It'll keep up with my best friends 4.8 without too much of a sweat. Mine is a 5-speed though so that helps out but those mods have helped out a lot for me plus i picked up from about 3-5 mpgs.

is his an auto???

I don't know if it is an auto. If i had to take a guess i would say probably so, if it is as slow as he is talking. But i don't know.

Hey Im A newbie to this forum. But I Own a 2003 Regular Cab Shortbed with a 4.3. I put a K&N FIPk, A flowmaster After-cat exhaust, and a hypertech tuner in it and it is pretty quick. It'll keep up with my best friends 4.8 without too much of a sweat. Mine is a 5-speed though so that helps out but those mods have helped out a lot for me plus i picked up from about 3-5 mpgs.

Sometimes mods help and sometimes they do not.
Did you do them all at one time or seperate times or keep tract of what ones helped or did not help?
Or what ones did what?
MT

No i did my mods at seperate times. I never have the money to do things all at once. I could feel a difference with every mod i put on but the biggest one was putting the programmer in it. From what i hear the reason it helped out so much is cause i had the intake and exhaust that complimented the programmer. Plus I have picked up almost 5mpgs. I think next i am putting on headers and a MAF sensor and hopefully that will help out too

No i did my mods at seperate times. I never have the money to do things all at once. I could feel a difference with every mod i put on but the biggest one was putting the programmer in it. From what i hear the reason it helped out so much is cause i had the intake and exhaust that complimented the programmer. Plus I have picked up almost 5mpgs. I think next i am putting on headers and a MAF sensor and hopefully that will help out too

You might be better off to quit while you are ahead.
And if running a K&N go easy on the oil and keep the MAF sensor cleaned often.
Good Luck

If i quit then it will just get boring. Plus i have to get my truck t keep up with the 5.3. it keeps up with my buddies 4.8 now so its not doing too bad. But thanks

If i quit then it will just get boring. Plus i have to get my truck t keep up with the 5.3. it keeps up with my buddies 4.8 now so its not doing too bad. But thanks


how much did the programmer set you back???

The programmer cost me $349 plus tax i think. I got the FIPK and programmer for $686 together with tax included. the programmer is worth getting it helped out on top end power a lot which is where the 4.3 needs the most help.

The programmer cost me $349 plus tax i think. I got the FIPK and programmer for $686 together with tax included. the programmer is worth getting it helped out on top end power a lot which is where the 4.3 needs the most help.


yea its it does have a weak top end I notice it big time when im on the freeway its good to hear someone has a well tuned 4.3 kool man keep it up:grinyes:

If i quit then it will just get boring. Plus i have to get my truck t keep up with the 5.3. it keeps up with my buddies 4.8 now so its not doing too bad. But thanks


10-4 on that.
But there is no end in site there on that.
There will always be one a litter faster that you will want to keep up with.
Good Luck :grinyes: :rofl:
Which mod helped the most?
Or how much did each one help gas mileage?
MT

I don't mean to interup, I also had a 03 4.3. I had all what you mentioned and a granatelli maf. The sensor does not help(IMO), so don't waste your money on it. If you don't have an intake spacer get it cause it helps with the gas. The programmer helped me alot, but its tough to hang around with a 5.3. I did the swap to a 5.3 and there was a lot of difference. So if I were you, I would try and save for a V8, its worth it. I think my old v6 with everything i had wouldn't keep up the new 5.3 stock.

How much did it cost you to put the 5.3 in the truck? I want to put a V-8 in her but i don't know if i can afford it or not. Im only 19 and making a truck payment as well as trying to pay for everything else. But i also can't complain cause i am getting from 23-26 mpg's. But let me know how much everything cost to do the swap and what all is needed to get it done right. Mine is a 5-speed so which 5-speed transmission would work with the 5.3? i would appreciate any and all help.

Oh and to answer the guys question above you. I will agree with him the Hypertech programmer helped the most. I could feel the difference with them all but the most difference came with the programmer. the programmer cost me $349, The K&N FIPK cost $249, and the flowmaster exhaust cost me $120. With those Upgrades i picked up around 5-7 mpgs. If i keep my foot in it all the time i am still getting an extra 2-3 mpgs. The upgrades are worth it if you have the 6. Both in Gas and power.

I got the 5.3 installed with everything for $1200, but it was in mexico. They even changed my steering wheel to one that has controls. In total i spent $1700 including the motor mounted, also I got them to change my door panels and put on powerlocks and windows and mirrors. So now my truck looks like a truck that came out of the factory with a V8 and p/l, p/s. It wastes a little bit more gas then the V6 but then again i always have my foot in it .hehe.

Where at in Mexico did you get it done? I could spend 1200 bucks on my truck to get it installed. Is that including the motor? And do they do god work? And have you had any problems with it? If you can at least tell me where you got i done I might end up just doing that

Here in south tx. Yeah the $1200 included everything, it was a 2005 motor. I've been having a problem with the a/c but the guy told me just to find out what the problem was and he would give me the part.

I got the 5.3 installed with everything for $1200, but it was in mexico. They even changed my steering wheel to one that has controls. In total i spent $1700 including the motor mounted, also I got them to change my door panels and put on powerlocks and windows and mirrors. So now my truck looks like a truck that came out of the factory with a V8 and p/l, p/s. It wastes a little bit more gas then the V6 but then again i always have my foot in it .hehe.


thats sweet man:iceslolan

hehe, its great living right next to the border. I wanted a 6.0 but they didn't have one at the time.

I might have to look into doing that. If i get the money saved up i might send you an e-mail to get exact directions to where it is if you dont mind.

Yeah, its cool. If you do decide to get it i'll go with you to get a cheaper price. I forgot to mention it takes like a week to get all the work done.

Itmight take awhile to get the money saved up but if I do ill let you know thanks for the help