Can anyone give me the stright poop on the v6's that came in the 1st gens. I have found a few runners with the 6 but I have been told in the past to stay away from them. Was I given bad info? Thanks in advance for your help. Bryan

 

I bought a 88 pickup with the V6 that had 153,000.I had to replace the head gaskets back in march.Knock on wood,no trouble.Just had to replace a sensor and thats it.I have great power,good gas milage.I'm running 33's.So far so good.

 

In first gens the V6 (3.0) was only available in 88-89. I hear a lot a crap-talk about them, but aside from the head gasket problem I have no complaints whatsoever. If the head gasket replacement is done right you should have no further problems with it, and there are many more out there that never had a problem than those who did. I even drove it for many many months with 35s and 4.10s! The motor is not a powerhouse, but it makes all of its power in a broad usefull band. Low end and midrange - where you drive all the time, are really great. I had the 22re (great little motor) in 3 different Toys for more than 200k miles total and really liked them, but I prefer the 3.0 any day. But, it's just like any other motor - was it was thrashed and trashed or was it taken care of....

 

By the way, my neighbor just turned 240,000 on his bone stock '89 XtraCab 3.0, never had a single problem with the entire truck, other than normal maintenance items. I'm at 211k on my '90. His is stock and pampered, mine has been seriously thrashed by multiple owners...including me. (Don't let the paint fool ya, this truck works to earn its keep...)

 

I got 297,000 orig miles before the HG went TU! I just R&R'ed the entire engine, I love the 3.0! I get 21-24 mpg's!
* Harry *

 

Thanks for all of the info. I went with a 89 v6 SR5 pick it up today!