does anyone know anything about this engine? It's in my wifes new 08 Impala. Engine famil y? I wonder if it's a foreign job. Serp. belt has a Jap name on it. I think they're putting a chinese motor in the Equinox.

Equinox = Vue.

They used to buy Honda motors for the Vue. Maybe you got lucky?
Googled and saw that the 05 Equinox has a Honda 3.5L.

depends on the year...

There is a 3500 V6 that is a pushrod motor... and a 3.6 that is the Caddy "High Feature" V6. There are two versions of that, the normal and the direct injected.

Then there is a 3900 V6... that's a bigger version of the old Buick 3.8. The 3500 V6 pushrod is a version of the old 2.8, 3.1 and 3.4 motor.

If you have a 3.5 litre over head cam V6, then you have a Honda engine.

At the same time, GM does NOT use a Chinese engine here in the states. Their products are not up to our durability standards.

We just got the car yesterday. I will have to take that big plastic cover off that covers the engine and see what's underneath. The info. says it has variable valve timing whatever that is. Earlier this year, I read in some mag that the Equinox engine would be manufactured in China. I hope that was erronious. This Impala has 82% domestic (U.S.&Canada) content. Assembled in Canada.

I did not read that anywhere. So don't worry.

There are two engines on the new new Impala, the 3.5L V6 sounds like the engine you have.

It's a push rod engine with varible valve timing...

http://www.chevrolet.com/pop/impala/2009/3_5_engine_en.jsp

What is VVT? It's actually been around for a while, but only implemented by Honda in the NSX. What it does is manipulate the valve so it opens and closes at a more optimal time. The camshaft phazer allows the cam to linger a moment, effecting valve duration.

In case of the Honda system, it is much more sophisticated (it's also on a DOHC engine, vs a cam-in-block). It also adjusts lift! In my old Prelude VTEC, the cam actually had an extra more aggressive lobe - in the middle between the two main lobes. These extra lobes were activated when the RPMs reached 4800, the engine temp was hot enough and the throttle was essentially floored.

At that time, the oil pressure would activate an extra rocker arm which rode on that extra lobe. This activated the lobe which in turn opened both sets of valves farther and longer. It was essentially a mild street cam with a near race cam that could be swapped on the run! I would not want that aggressive cam off idle. It would have been a real pig. As it was, I was getting 190 chp and the little Lude was pretty damned quick. On a par with a stock 82-85 Vette, actually. 0-60 in 6.6, quarter in 15 flat and a top end of 140. Not bad... and it would get 29mpg highway all day long.

The lift was about .3"... I know that's not much with a V8, but on a multivalve 2.2L I4, it was more than enough. I also don't know what the ratios of the rockers are. If it was 1.5:1, that would give an effective lift of .450.

http://www.trucktrend.com/features/ne ... ompact_engines/index.html

Looks like the Impy isn't on the China list... yet. Or maybe it is. Nobody seemed to know about the source of the Equinox until years after the fact.

bogus, the 3900 is not a bigger version of the buick 3.8

the 3500 and 3900 are the most modern incarnations of the 60* V6 engine - the same family as the 2.8, 3.1, 3100, 3400, 3.4TDC.

the 3900 i think is in the G6 GTP and is rated 240hp n/a - the same as the previous supercharged boat anchor 3.8 - good stuff.

Hey, thanks for the info. Now that I know the engine family...They don't make it easy anymore Reading yhe owners manual, they must take us for idiots. I think I had one of these, the 3.1 I think in a Pontiac 6000 for a while until my daughter wrecked it. That car had a surprising amount of pep. Well, I hope this car treats me as good as my 91 Caprice wagon does. My wife calls it my hearse. Dk. blue, dk. tint glass.