Chevy Reliability

[Thumper113]

Ask any competent Ford tech at a dealer how reliable Ford's are & ask any competent GM tech at a dealer how reliable GM's are.

I'm willing to bet you'll get similar answers since competent techs at both places won't be hurting for money due to them (both Ford & Chevy) breaking down. Oh yeah, I wheel with 2 Toyota techs & they aren't hurting for money either........The stories they tell me about Yotas means that they break too & those guys admit that they have their own set of problems.

Find a dealership that the parts department only stocks oil filters & the service department only has a lube rack. If you find one of those, buy that vehicle because it means they never break down since they never need anything but oil & filter changes.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I do tend to favor Fords, I like their styling better than GM. But that 350 is more than a contender. My dad drug a 1981 3/4 with a 350 out from behind a barn where it had been sitting for 7 years. Stuck tires, brakes, plugs/wires, and valve cover gaskets on it and it ran great. Only problem was the secondaries on the floodrajet didn't work that well, but the guy we ended up selling it to stuck on a new Eldebrock and it runs better now than when we had it.

I do like how on GM's new engines they don't have the coils actually over the plugs, to change the plugs you just unplug them like you do on a briggs and stratton. On your typical mod motor you get to wrestle with the fuel rail to take off the coil packs before you can even see the plugs. That said my old 2 valve 5.4 still makes more torque than a new 5.3 however.

 

[LearjetMinako]

Oh the slangs we use to dis one's other vehicle.

Say all you want. But nothing keeps my good old Ranger down.

 

[shadetree]

I have replaced two dodge gasoline engines in the last 4 months. One was a 4.7, and the other was a hemi. Both were used to pull heavy trailers. It seems some don't hold up well when worked hard.

I had another 4.7 that exhibited symptoms of a bad oil pump. Turns out it was sludged. These engines sludge easily for some reason, probably poor maintenance.

No problems with the Cummins, but they aren't made by Dodge.

Anyone seen the new Chevy diesel "upside down engine" I call it that, because the exhaust ports are in the vee side of the engine. It's a 4.5 turbo, and will be used in light trucks under 8600 GVW. It has a 72* crank angle as opposed to the standard 90*. Another aluminum and cast iron mix. It will be interesting to see the longevity on the engine.

My friend and I have ongoing arguments about the virtues of Ford vs: Chevy. He is a Chevy guy (who drives Dodges), and is always poking me about "them fucking Fords." I always remind him that the last time I looked, every car dealership has a service department in the back somewhere. They all have their problems. But, I have noticed that most Chevy guys I talk to are like a Clinton supporter, they are perfect and have no real problems. shady

 

[snake]

GREAT answer Shady! I noticed that about chevy boys too (including Nova's post) they list a ton of stuff wrong but say "i haven't had any trouble with it".

One of the things I hate about chevy is those stupid compression fittings for the heater hose on the V8 intake manifold, and thousands of other design things- like 1800 different styles of wiring connectors for example. When you take the intake off for the notorious water leak (they only been leaking on every engine produced for 20 years with no fix yet) every connector is different and some you never can figure out how to take apart so you have to leave the whole damn thing over to the side and connected.

Their engineers don't like to change or upgrade anything either- what about those pickup hoods that bent in the 70's and 80's? Every damn one bent up by the windsheild because the springs were too tight but they didn't redesign them until the whole truck got redesigned...

I'll admit the trucks are the best thing they build, but you'll never catch me buying one. I bought ONE chevy- ONE. And that was too much.

My Girlfriend's son has a 1994 F-150 and the daughter has a GM clone- the son's Ford will have a water leak from a broken original hose from time to time, but the daughters car is a nightmare- not enough space to write it all. The daughters car is newer by a year as well. Ford seems much more reliable when they are 15 years old and older.

You buy whatever you want, it is a free country. But if it is GM, I hope you enjoy being underneath it every weekend if it makes it to the weekend. The last one I owned didn't!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Ford does have some pretty hair brained ideas to though. In the 2 valve mod motors they like to spit spark plugs out (3 threads to hold them into an aluminum head) The recomended fix for the blown plug is to replace the head, but a Kwiksert will fix it however but depending on where it is you may have to remove the head.

They fixed it in 2004 on the 3 valve engines, but then they made this goofy long spark plug that gets corroded and the tip of it can break off in the head. It isn't exactly common but Ford went thru the hassle of making a special tool to remove the plug tip after it breaks and a TSB on the proper way to remove them to reduce the chance of breaking them, and how to take care of it if you do. Again depending on which one it is you may have to remove the head to fix.

And how long have spark plugs been around again???

My dad has a 1980 3/4 Chevy with a 350 and a 1980 F-350 with a 400 for service trucks. We have had both trucks for at least 15 years, I bet the Chevy is closing in on 20, both trucks have been very reliable over the years. I don't care what they are, they all break once in awhile.

 

[v-8power]

I go past the GM plant in Marion IN. on my way to work, they have this display also. Pretty neat.

 

[PaleBlue90]

Wow, pretty interesting to hear someone saying something bad about a Chevy. Honestly, a 350 is a hell of an engine. Amazingly, at 16, yes I was 16 like 3 months ago. I took off my god damn carb, rebuilt it, tuned it, fixed the spark issue, and I fixed the charging issue (isolator went bad) and to top it off I put a 6" lift kit on by myself. This things are so easy to work on. I don't know how anybody can have trouble with one.

I will give you some advice. If you've got points get rid of them. Do a complete tune-up. Adjust your carb...I would rebuild it first, then you won't have any more problems. If you don't mind go ahead and give me your k5. I wouldn't mind. Hell, I'll trade you my ranger for it.

well idk wat to think of it, ive replaced 2 sets of plugs in the past 2 months, a set of plug wires, a fuel filter, a new battery, i had to rewire the heater AGAIN, the throttle is now sticking, ive replaced 2 HEI moduels as well, and for some reason now the holly carb wants to disel and leak onto the intake.

its not that i hate chevy its just i dont see dumping gobs of money into a old truck, me and my dad r considering parting the damn thing.

 

[LearjetMinako]

I just do remember one Chevy that I had, that wasn't a POS. It was a 1975 Chevy 350 camper special. Had only the basics and everything heavy duty. 4.10 LS, beefed up leafs springs, V-8 350 w/ a 4-barrel carb, 3-speed auto. Some of the prems. were power steering and a AM radio with CB. Nothing could kill it. But I do remember why I forgot about it. Hows 12mpg empty taking it real easy and then get 4-8mpg with it loaded or with a heavy foot.

 

[BLOODBANE]

Thumper113 Ask any competent Ford tech at a dealer how reliable Ford's are & ask any competent GM tech at a dealer how reliable GM's are.

I'm willing to bet you'll get similar answers since competent techs at both places won't be hurting for money due to them (both Ford & Chevy) breaking down. Oh yeah, I wheel with 2 Toyota techs & they aren't hurting for money either........The stories they tell me about Yotas means that they break too & those guys admit that they have their own set of problems.

Yeah but your just bias against anything but your cruiser.LOL, Besides your wife likes it best(remember Eagle Rock, when all the bikes were meeting up?)
And I agree, they are all piles, destined to be scraped.......

 

[HoleshotKFX400]

Im all for fords, and if i couldnt have a ford it would be something domestic but the tranny on my taurus took a shit @ 12,000 miles... of course ford fixed it no questions asked, but 12,000 is pretty bad, now im at 120,000 and its slipping pretty hard.

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

Well, my parents have a 99 Pontiac Bonneville and a 99 Mercury Grand Marquis. Both are the largest car in their brand for that year and both are in the "large sedan" class. They both cost about the same as well. Both have 180,000 miles on them.

Problems with the Bonneville:
1. Driver's side interior door panel has been glued back together a dozen times.
2. Whole exhaust needed replaced.
3. Tranny took a dump at 170,000 miles.
4. Front end eats tires, allignments, ball joints, tie rod ends, etc. Has been doing this since about 80,000 miles.
5. The whole car feels like it's ready for the final trip to the junk yard.

Problems with the Grand Marquis:
1. One sqeaky shock. Thats it.
The car litterally runs and drives like it's new.

That's been my experience with Ford vs. GM. That being said, I've worked on all kinds of vehicles and they all, especially Toyotas, break down from time to time. You're best off just finding the one that has the cheapest replacement parts and is easiest to work on. That's why I've chosen Rangers. And with 244,000 on my 90 Ranger, I really can't complain.

 

[Mutant Pony]

Yes, In reality no auto make is any better than the other. If one were actually better, The others wouldn't exist.
On the other hand, Chevy lovers are arrogant pricks that deserve a little bashing. Right Will?
Now since this is a Ranger site, The only way you can keep a Chevy rolling is to hitch it to some reindeer!

 

[2manyfords]

Chevy lovers are arrogant pricks that deserve a little bashing. Right Will?

 

[Bob Ayers]

I've posted these pics before, but thought they would go well in this thread.
These were taken at GM's exhibit at SEMA in Las Vegas, 11/06. This shows
GM's follow-on to their OnStar system, and their solution to PI$$ POOR reliability: