Greetings Dillhart541,
Welcome to the GMT400 forum. Sounds like you are having quite a time with your '89.
As for this thread, it started out originally as a question about the relatively short usable
lifespan for the V8 'crab caps', which were introduced to the GMT400s as part of a
redesign/upgrade for the '96+ model years.
Then in reply #
24 a member asked if the crab cap V6 had the same short lifespan issues.
So this is why
@454cid stated what he did above. And he is right, for the correct dizzy
cap for your '89 4.3L is the old school 'firing order' style. (See 1st attachment) The
crab-style Left & Right bank V6 cap is in the 2nd attachment.
The rest of the Vortec naming confusion was that GM used this as a marketing tool to refer
to a new swirl-inducing ski ramp inside the intake port starting way back in '85. But this
new design intake port fed into a conventional (let's say V8 TBI like) combustion chamber.
('88-'95 GMT400 4.3 V6s - see 3rd attachment)
In the '96+ 4.3 V6 engines the new heart-shaped combustion chambers were introduced
on both the V6 & V8 engines. (See 4th attachment.) And for what it's worth, '96 was
when the 'Vortec' name was added to the V8s. And now in 2024 a 'true' Vortec engine is
considered to be the V6 & V8 engines with these newer, better breathing heads.
GMT400 perspective:
* '88-'95 4.3 V6: 160-165hp
* '96+ 4.3 V6: 200hp
Note: A pretty decent Wiki article on the evolution of the 4.3L V6:
3/4 of the SBC
****
Having said all that, I am still interested in hearing how goes the battle with your '89 4.3L GMT400.
When you get that engine bay weatherproofed enough to handle your off roading adventures please
report back with what it took to make it right again.
And all this makes me wonder if there's anyone out there who has owned both Pre-'96 and 96+
GMT400s with the 4.3, and if they remember if those caps lasted the same length of time with
the same driver? Or do you remember a big difference in longevity between the two?
Anyway, I hope this clears up how the early GM marketeering use of Vortec to describe a new
intake swirl port have changed to whether or not the engine has the fast-burn heart-shaped
combustion chambers.
FWIW --