2.8 V6

I may have found a 2.8 V6 out of an Chevy S10, any thoughts on this motor?


Thanks, J.R.

 

While they are compact and make decent power they didn't have a very good history of reliability. Some of this may be the types of vehicles they were put into along with peoples driving habits. My wife had an 85 Camaro with one that ran good other than the water pump bypass hose would blow out every 15k miles. My next door neighbor had an S10 that had about 190k on it with this motor with no problems.
Not sure about transmission options with this motor either as it used a different bellhousing.

 

best used as a boat anchor

 

I had one in an 86 s10,
swore I'd never own another 2.8
little power, bad gas milage about 12 to 14 mpg if I remember right

-Matt

 

one positive would be the boneyards are probably full of them
at only 173 cid, you can do better

 

You can use a Camaro bellhousing to mate it to an SM420 transmission, but it's not a great engine. The only way I'd run one is if it was free and I really needed an engine in a hurry.

Other tranny options are a 60-degree TH200R4, TH700R4, or a Chrysler 904 auto from a 4-cylinder Jeep.

Power-wise, I'd rather go with a Wrangler 2.5L 4-cylinder. Better top end and torque down low if you can believe it.

 

What everyone says above. It's lightweight speed equipment available. If it were me I'd rather have a 225 - 231 Buick. 3.4 or 3.8 Camaro/Firebird is going to use same bellhousing as the 2.8 but with fuel injection. But it's your Jeep and you wan't to use the 2.8 use it, there are better options.

 

You beat me to it. Power is certainly better with the 2.5L (at least the MPI version) though the torque numbers give a slight edge to the V6:

(cid, hp, tq, bore/stroke)
150, 123@5250, 139@3250, 1.21
173, 115@4800, 145@2400, 1.17

The 150 should be an easy swap into an early CJ-5, though the 173 is going to be way cheaper to buy. The 150 is probably not done more often because the 2.5L is too new and therefore expensive. Watch Pirate4x4 - those guys throw away all sorts of useful drivetrain pieces.

 

I had one in a '86 S10 Blazer and it sucked rocks. Almost as bad as my 2.5L YJ on 33"s. On the other hand I had another one in an '88 Cavalier Z24 and put 200K miles on it. As far as I know it's still on the road today. That was a damn good car.

 

Not even good for that. Might get in trouble for polluting a waterway.
Leave it where you found it.

 

if its a 86 0r 85 and later motor(i cant remember,,been a while) its the better of the 2.8's (stronger bottom end),,,there are people who love'm whether its injected or carb'd,,,,,check the web for fiero performance sites and camaro/firebird sites,,,,thirdgen.org has a 60 degree v6 forum,,,,,,gm performance parts even makes an all aluminum block,,,,,there are ways to make it better down the road.......

 

Wow,

Thanks ! Guess I'll hold out for something better.