Looking at buying a Colorado, but the later 3.7 doen't come in manual and they are a lot more expensive than the earlier 3.5. The later 2.9 4 banger might be enough, but again only in newer more expensive trucks.
I know the 3.5 had issues with valve seat wear, but truly how common was this and whats the fix? Looking around the Colorado sites didn't tell me much beyond "get new head from Chevy $$$"
Anyone have first hand with this? I found what looks to be a nice '04 w/62k but I'm wary...
Paging toyman
I've bought a couple of them used for work trucks. I've put about 11K miles on mine with zero issues, it now has 139K. My son has put 6K on his with zero issues, it now has about 190K. I have read about the valve seat problem, but have no experience with it. The fix is a rebuilt head.
The engines sound like crap, but run very well. I'm getting about 22mpg average in real world driving without a trailer and about 17mpg with a 16' flat deck weighing about 2000 pounds, loaded.
Get used to turning off the traction control. It rather violently shuts the engine down if it senses any wheel spin. That's a bad thing when you are pulling out in traffic and the 3.5 will spin the wheels with almost no effort on any surface.
Over all, I really like the trucks. They are pretty basic models with very few frills. I have read that some of the more optioned Colorados have some electrical issues. Might be worth checking into.
Yeah, the one I'm looking at sadly has TC, hopfully a tune can kill that permanently.
I work for GM and have never seen a 3.5 that needs valve seats. I have seen them that need exhaust cam actuators though at low miles, and that's a real treat to do. To remove the valve cover, you have to remove the intake manifold, engine harness, alternator and right front inner wheel well and have the special tools to hold the cams and timing chains.
The problem wasn't wear, but I believe the valve seats were actually falling out of the cylinder head. GM extended warranty up to the 06 trucks to 10yrs/160, maybe later now. Look for a misfire engine code, and rough idle. They are otherwise very stout motors, and decent trucks.
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