[mfan72]

I have a 2007 GMC Canyon. When I bought it, the inner front fender splash shields were missing and some really weird stuff under the hood was not connected or loose. So, I thought the engine was changed at some point. Now I am working on it and ordered some parts and changed them. Serpentine belt, spark plugs, belt tensioner, idler pully. When I got done, the engine started missing and coded #3 misfire. That was last night and I did not get back to this yet. One of the coil bolts was missing, so thought this is the problem.
After that, my real issue... What engine do I have in this thing? I looked up a new ignition coil and found a 2007 coil looks different than what I have. Went to the salvage yard this morning an found a 2006 Colorado with the same 4 cylinder engine and same coils. For further parts and services, how can I identify what engine I have. Am I correct that up to 2006 it was less HP and in 2007 the HP was raised slightly? It runs good and uses no oil, so I am happy with the engine (except for a slight noise until it warms up). I was told, learn to live with this, the Colorado and Canyon all do that.
PLEASE HELP

 

[mfan72]

There is so much good information on this site. But no one can tell me any way or ways to see what engine I have?
Any help would be great.

 

[AJ1794]

2004-06 and 07 motors are interchangeable so its possible it was changed. Does it have a black plastic valve cover or aluminum valve cover? Plastic is 04-06 and aluminum is 07+ (08+ doesn't have an intake cam sensor)

 

[mfan72]

Thank you AJ1794 ! Valve cover is plastic. So, 2004-2006. I know it is not 2007 which is the year of the truck. I replaced a coil and when I looked for the part, the 2007 coil looked nothing like mine. I went to the salvage yard and got a coil off of a 2006 Colorado. Perfect fit. I have been lucky so far that parts I installed (plugs, serpentine belt, belt tensioner, belt idler, have fit. Got them at RockAuto and used 2007, 2.9 at the engine. I did look and 2006, 2.8 are the same parts. So, thanks once again. I would like to narrow it down. I will keep looking for a serial number and see if I can identify it exactly. For now, not much info on that.
So, I have an engine that I am not 100% sure of the year, I have no idea how many miles are on my engine. Geez !!
It does seem to run very good. It does have, as many on this forum have stated, some type of different sound when first started when cold. Everyone seems to just pass this off a business as usual with no detrimental long term effect.

 

[OldGuy]

Our timing chain tensioners are operated by oil pressure. When you crank up the engine, the timing chain has slack in it until you build up some oil pressure. When you do an oil change, make sure you use an oil filter with a check valve in it. This holds the oil in the filter and helps in keeping a little bit of oil pressure in the system at all times.

 

[OldGuy]

The coils for the 3.5 motor used in '04-'06 models is different than the coils used in the '07 and later 3.7 motor. I think I've heard of some '07 colorado's being built with left over 3.5 motors. Best way to find out is to do a Google search of your vin number. There are plenty of free sites for getting all the specs on your truck from a VIN number search. If you do a search and your VIN indicates that your truck was built with a 3.7 motor, then your motor is not original to the truck. If the VIN indicates that your truck was equipped with a 3.5 motor, then it's probably the original motor. I think I remember another guy on this site had the same problem and found that his '07 was built with a 3.5 motor and he ran into similar problems when buying parts for it.

 

[AJ1794]

Accessory wise they're all the same right up to 2012, except the alternator which they switched plug type in 07. All I'd do is make sure to buy for an 06 motor and 07 everything else. The serial number and build year is on the back of the cylinder head, paper sticker. It might be gone by now but you can still check. I doubt you can use the serial to check what truck it came from or any other information about it. 04-06 motors were all the same.

An easy way to confirm your truck year is to look at the 10th digit in the VIN. Is is 6 or 7? Corresponds to 2006 and 2007 respectively.

 

[mfan72]

Thanks for the information. I know my truck is a 2007. The VIN verifies that. I will look for the engine serial number. I'm pretty sure I have a 2.8 out of a 2006. I am pretty happy with the truck. It always starts and runs very good. I changed the oil for the first time and used Mobil 1, high mileage oil and a Mobile 1 filter. I am not sure if it has a check valve, but I would bet it does. I however have no idea how many miles are on the engine. I am hoping that whoever changed it put in an engine with decent miles. I know if I was going to change an engine, I would not go through the labor to install a high mileage engine. The truck has 108,000 miles on it. So far, I like it! As far as the noise when cold, I guess I can live with that unless it gets worse. After it warms up, it runs really quiet. Well, quiet for a straight 4.

 

[Colorado Desperado]

The coils for the 3.5 motor used in '04-'06 models is different than the coils used in the '07 and later 3.7 motor. I think I've heard of some '07 colorado's being built with left over 3.5 motors. Best way to find out is to do a Google search of your vin number. There are plenty of free sites for getting all the specs on your truck from a VIN number search. If you do a search and your VIN indicates that your truck was built with a 3.7 motor, then your motor is not original to the truck. If the VIN indicates that your truck was equipped with a 3.5 motor, then it's probably the original motor. I think I remember another guy on this site had the same problem and found that his '07 was built with a 3.5 motor and he ran into similar problems when buying parts for it.

That's a nice truck. There's lots of life left in a 108,000 miles Colorado.There's a youtube video that's pretty cool. I just watched it. He has a 2005 Colorado & has like over 400,000 kms on it. He changes a coil if you want to see what the 2005 coils look like.
https://youtu.be/IallmAlkEck

 

[mfan72]

I have the 2.8 engine in my truck. I changed all the coils and plugs. Easy job. I did watch the video and the only thing I do different is I like to put a little, very little never seez on the plug threads. It runs great. I had the truck on about a 100 mile ride yesterday. Runs great. Oh, my truck is the very plain work truck, but it was full of surprises when I got it. I was shocked that a plain work truck has the following... Cruise control, and tilt steering wheel. And, I got a pleasant surprise the other day. Being a typical old guy, I made a slight turn that did not turn off the turn signal. My hearing is shot, so I did not hear the signal. After about a minute, I got an alarm and the DIC read turn signal. How freaking cool is that? Love that!!
I am really getting to love this truck