I just bought a 87 S10 Blazer with the 2.8 liter v6 in it. I keep hearing very mixed reviews of it being a great little engine and then about it being just a horrible piece of garbage. Just kinda want to hear from your guys about what you think about it and if it is a good engine or not. It's hooked up with the 5 speed if that makes any difference and has 202,000 miles.

 

I feel like it's a bit underpowered for the job. Like going up steep hills, hauling loads and whatnot. But then again I can't really say much about it because mine was knocking which may or may not be the reason for the lack of power.

 

pulled my 88z24 around pretty good, never had a problem with it.

 

Being a 5 speed its gonna be better than an auto, if its 2wd thats also gonna be better.

Personally too many people give these engines a bad name due to lack of care. I'd rather have a 60 degree s-series over a bastard design 90 degree v6 any day. Yes I have owned both engines.

 

I had a 1982 Chevy Celebrity with the 2.8L. Good, solid engine. Decent highway mileage (not great), ran like a tank. If you do regular maintenance, it'll last forever.

 

junk have replaced too many crankshafts to have anything good tosay

 

They're slower than molasses, but they are fairly dependable.
I know a few people with 2.8s, and they don't seem to have many issues with them.

 

there not Chevrolet's best idea but with regular maintenance they run pretty good,, i just replaced the cam in my 2.8 worst idea ever.. if u have internal engine trouble buy a new there not but like 300-500$