[bgclarke]

We looked at one yesterday.

Very nice looking vehicle.....best looking of GMs latest batch.

As long as the engine pans out, or they put the 3.5 in later on, it should do well.

As for reliability issues, the intake manifodl gasket was redesigned, and all 3.1 and 3.4 V6s assembled after November 2002 have the new gasket. Whether it solved the problem has yet to be determined.

 

[bgclarke]

Originally posted by gp2@Mar 30 2004, 04:21 PM
Somehow I knew this would haunt the good folks at Tonawanda. Fortunately for them GM has been pouring a lot of dough into the plants over the years and they continue to produce fine engines. (Well mostly, I have an '02 saturn L200 with the I4 they built there. Plenty of power, fact is I passed on the six because I couldn't discern enough of a difference. Anyway the engine on mine, like all the other folks I know with one continues to have electrical problems even though my dealer has had it in several times. On deceleration all the lights flash on and off. )

Tonawanda also has had the (negative) distinction of rolling out the piston slap plagued 3.1 V6.

 

[bgclarke]

Originally posted by joey@Apr 6 2004, 12:17 PM
Yea, and the 3.4L comes from the same lineage.

The 3.4 also suffers from piston slap; listen to any GM minivan from the last 6 or so years when they start....some sound like baby diesels.

I'm sure the Tonawonda facility does produce good quailty engines. I believe the problem is with the suppliers and not GM per se, but the final result is a "GM engine" that has issues.

Anyway, enough of my ranting. This thread is supposed to be about the sharp looking Equinox.

 

[bgclarke]

Originally posted by originalstarlite@Apr 7 2004, 06:15 AM
So other than this piston slap that is a noise produced when it starts, are there other problems that I should know about?

Is it not possible that "piston slap" is fixed? Is it due to a faulty fit and occurs after several years? I started a Nox and it sounded like any other car to me?

If there are so many issues, how or why does GM still use this motor? Why are the class action suits not lining up? I am not trying to start a flaming war, only trying to understand what I have on order and deciding if I still want it.

Intake manifold gaskets were a problem on the 3.1 and 3.4 V6s produced from 1998/1999 to late 2002.

3.1 and 3.4 engines assembled after November 2002 have an updated design for the intake manifold gaskets. The tech I talk to regularly says that it's too early to tell if the new gasket design has addressed the problem.

As for the piston slap, yes it can be fixed, and it may in fact be fixed with the 2004 engines. The main problem is that some of the pistons in these engines are not as wide as they should be, which allows for a bit of side to side movement in the cylinder walls. Between the 3.1 and 3.4, piston slap seems to afflict the 3.1 by a much larger degree.

When I had my 2001 Malibu, at 46,000 kms GM determined that it needed to be fixed. The solution was to replace the pistons with new ones that had teflon on the piston skirts. However, when they tore my engine down, they discovered that cyclinders 2 and 4 had cylinder wall damage and I needed a new engine. They replaced the engine. Now my 2003 Malibu, with 21,000 kms is starting to slap.

As to why GM still uses these engines....when they work well, they are solid as a rock and have a long life.

As for the class action lawsuit, here is a snippet from the filing:

A class action lawsuit has been filed against General Motors Corporation on behalf of of purchasers of 1999 through 2003 model GM vehicles with a 3.1, 3.4, 4.8, 5.3, 5.7 (LS1), 6.0, or 8.1 liter engine that exhibits a loud noise due to Piston Slap.

Given all of the problems I've had in the last few years, if I had a chance to get the Equinox, would I? Yes I would.