In my further ponderings of my impending purchase of an H3, I have two more questions:

1. How reliable is this engine in terms of workload, heat/cooling issues, particularly in terms of off-roading and sitting in rush hour where things can really heat up? In other words, does it cool well under load and harsh heat?

2: I have always hated automatic transmissions, but the stick shift H3 is abysmal in how close the pedals are and how little room you have to move your feet to operate them. But auto trannies are less efficient, run hot,lots of little moving parts that are prone to failure orgoing out of calibration. Worst of all, they can leave you stranded if you have any type of tranny failure or engine starting problem that could otherwise be fixed by popping a clutch to get rolling again. Is the auto tranny in the H3 a tried and true tranny with a good track record or are we basically guinnea pigs?

 

I posted a small report on a 3500miles+ trip I did in december/january.
have a look at it.
in a nutshell, NO RELIABILITY PROBLEMS.

 

Hey, mine drove me all around the mountains over steep, muddy, rutted, narow, gravelly unpaved roads (some I did not even want to venture over, but did- OK so I am a wuss sometimes) for several days, then drove me back home 1000 miles with a bad head/cylinder with NO problems except the rough idle...how reliable is that????? I'd say VERY!

 

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This isn't the 60's, auto trannies have come a long way an are not prone to failure any longer. I haven't heard of one person having an auto tranny problem on their h3, and I've been on differenthummer forums for a long time. I tow a 22' Gambler dual console bass boat with a merc 225xs about 180 miles round trip twice a week....have never had a heat issue or a tranny issue.