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OT; 97 S10 4x4 pickup???

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
Hi folks,
Any of you have or know someone that has one of these (or close to it year wise). Trying to find out if they are any good and about what they get for gas mileage. 4.3 V-6 but I'm not sure if it is an automatic or standard trans.
Decent used pickups that are affordable over here (Germany) are hard to come by and I just heard that someone has one of these for sale but can't get any details for 4 weeks.
If you folks could enlighten me, I'd sure appreciate it.

Thanks, Dave
 
Dave, I have no personal experience with the S-10, but considering the vast numbers of those trucks that are on the roads around here I'd guess that there are not too many problems. Granted most of those little trucks are 2 wheel drive, but the Chevy S-10 Blazer SUV is built on the same chassis and the vast majority of those ARE 4X4 with no apparent problems. That 4.3 engine is basically the same engine as the famous Chevy small block V8, but with 2 less cylinders. It seems to be pretty much bullet proof.
 
I owned a '91 chevy s/10, with the 4.3. Problems I had were steering shaft loosens up, kinda hard to get to to tighten up, 4wd vacuum actuator under battery, guess what's allergic to battery acid? Also to look for is the wiring harness where it passes over the back of the motor chafes and causes idiot lights to come on randomly. Also check the emissions air pump and lines. Mileage really isn't that great, and drops from 20 down to 10 as things in that emissions side go bad. Don't know if this helps, being 6 years older model than you are looking at.
 
Dave, the only recurring problem I've seen with thes etrucks is lower ball joints. They have typically been pretty dependable vehicles.
 
Dave I had a 93 old body style, 2.8, 5 speed it had around 90,000 on it when I bought it. It got about 21 MPG. I bought a 94 auto, 4.3 new body style it had about 90,000??? K also. Let my son have the 93 he wreaked it the next week. Couple of years he wreaked the 94. I bought a 2002 4.3 auto that had 26000 on it I have about 78,000 on it now with no problems antilock light stays on most of the time, but the antilock works. Both 4.3"s about 19 MPG the 02 is the only one I have driven long trips and it will get about 24 then. Since out wounderful state of MO gov. has mandated 10% efithenal I only get about 17 driving to work.
 
Get an S10 with a 4cyl. if you want any kinda gas mileage. The V6 4.3 isn't much better then a full size V8.
 
Thanks folks! I guess I'll look at it when they get back. If it gets around 20 mpg, I'll be happy. Think they would pull a 2 horse trailer (2 ton max)?

Dave
 
Dave, a 2 horse trailer might be pushing the limits a bit for an S-10. If you can find an owners manual, it will tell you the towing capacities.
 
If you have a third stop lite on the truck, make sure both bulbs are working, might turn out your antilock light.
 
I am driving a 95 S-10 4.3 central port injection and automatic with 4 wheel drive. It gets used hard as I pull different trailers with it a lot. I bought it when it had 124,000 miles never been on gravel roads. It has 258,000 on it and original motor and transmission. I change transmission oil every 50,000 miles, Use mobil one synthetic oil try to change close to 6000 miles. I expect to do normal maintenance as brakes, starter, etc but for the most part this has been best lil pickup I owned. normal driving I can say I get 19 and sometimes better but that is local driving not freeway stuff.
The last things were injection system and lower ball joints but with that many miles who can complain?
Body is showing a little rust but not bad yet.
 
No experiance with an s10 but we have 12 Chevy 1500s with the 4.3 V6. The intake manifold blows on about half of them at 80k-100k, other than that they run forever (at at least to 200K). In our full size PUs with auto OD they average about 17 MPG, I would think 20 MPG in an empty S10 would be a reasonable expectation.
 
no way I'd use an S-10 to pull a two horse trailer...It's just to light. You're basically talking about a Chevy Malibu with a bed when it comes to brakes and springs. Not picking on the S-10, I wouldn't recommend it with a Ranger either.
 
For the mileage they get, might as well have a full size. My 98 K1500 with a 350 "R" code gets 18mpg on the highway. At the Chevy dealer I work for we refer to the "S10 Package", idler arm, pitman arm, 4 ball joints. On the older ones with a non wearing pitman, center link. They last longest if you use Moog brand steering and suspension parts.
 
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