I review the Chevy/GMC 1500 2.7L Inline-4 cylinder TURBO MAX L3B Engine as a Heavy Duty Mechanic. This 4 cylinder turbo charged engine produced 310 hp and 430lb-ft of torque. I discuss updated Warranty from GM, potential Cracking Engine Block, engine specs and potential issues as a mechanic.
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Gear Oil - amzn.to/3PoIcxa
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Towing Gear:
10 ton Pintle hitch (2.5" receiver) - amzn.to/3r7Axvm
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Well I'm very excited to get my hands back on this very interesting 2.7L turbomax inline 4 cylinder engine because it seems like alot of owners and buyers are having real success with this power plant of an engine.
I wanted to discuss 5 main things with this engine back in the shop. firstly however I go over some of the awesome new technology stuffed into this engine.
the first point I wanted to discuss is the updated warranty. GM has updated the standard powertrain warranty to 5 years/ 100,000 miles which is massive and I really like to see this. gives me good faith that GM is seeing these engine not having any major issues and they still feel like they can make money from them while extending the warranty.
Next is the strength of the engine. this little engine is truly built to be in a pick up truck with fully forged internals, iron liners, off-set cylinder, billet steel camshafts and a very stiff and strong crankshaft. GM truly gave this engine some good strength.
number 3 is cracking engine blocks. this was a bit of a panic for the internet but as it turns out there were only 12 engines that have has this issue to date. only a small handful. GM replace the full engine, no questions asked.
4th is the cylinder deactivation or Active Fuel management. and I wanted to highlight that this Turbotax engine goes about shutting down cylinders completely different then the V8's like the 5.3L and 6.2L engine that are having lifter failures with their collapsable lifters.
this engine uses its special cam shafts to shut down cylinders so we should not see as much valve train issues as the larger V8 engines.
lastly is just how much work GM had to do to balance this mighty 4 cylinder engine. with all the special tech and massive large stroke this engine should be very unbalanced but its not. In fact his engine in my opinion is very well balanced at all speeds.
lastly I discuss my unhappiness with GM continuing to not go with a dual injection fuel system with port injection and direct injection to solve any carbon build up issues.
00:00 - Intro
00:40 - Engine Specs
03:03 - Warranty Extended (100,000 Miles)
04:05 - Engine Strength
06:08 - Cracking Engine Blocks
07:37 - AFM Cylinder Deactivation
10:23 - Engine Balancing
11:33 - Direct Injection Problems
12:29 - Conclusion