If you own a late model GM truck with the 6.2 motor

[LVSteve]

Buddy sent me this today. Seems that GM pushed the envelope too far with 0W-20 oil chasing good CAFE gas mileage numbers. Add in debris left in the oilways during manufacture and "variable" crank journal finishes, and the results are the bottom ends are getting knocked out.

 

[Jon651]

GM seems to have taken their lead from Toyota and their 3.6L V-6 twin-turbo. Toyota has been replacing those motors due to machining debris left in the oil passages causing the main bearings to spin. A friend of mine has one, with a lead time of 10 MONTHS to get the replacement motor when he was notified a few months back and time-in-shop estimated around 4-6 WEEKS.

 

[Yendor357]

Wait a minute….Toyotas are the greatest. They can do no wrong.

If Dodge ever had to replace thousands of frames, you would have never heard the end of it. Almighty Tiyoder gets a pass.

The government and the “anti gunners” have ruined the automotive industry, as well as everything they’ve ever touched.

 

[sophie]

Oops, big mistake on GM’s part. Check the model years per the recall.
It includes the Cadillac Escalade, GMC Denali’s also.
According to some of the articles I have read about the 6.2 engine failures, GM can’t build replacements fast enough.

 

[Harrison]

GM seems to have taken their lead from Toyota and their 3.6L V-6 twin-turbo. Toyota has been replacing those motors due to machining debris left in the oil passages causing the main bearings to spin. A friend of mine has one, with a lead time of 10 MONTHS to get the replacement motor when he was notified a few months back and time-in-shop estimated around 4-6 WEEKS.

 

[Harrison]

I think a lot of the blame for this recent spat of engine failures can be laid at the feet of the EPA and their gas mileage requirements. Toyota does not have these problems in other countries.

 

[Oldengineer]

I spent a lot of years in the spark ignition engine engineering business— design, development, and planning, with regular attendance at our various engine plants. This recall is reeeaaaaalllly expensive. I can think of numerous places in the engine assembly process where this should have been caught. By the time span it seems that there was/are more than one special cause. At the end of the day, it boils down to localized welding due to a boundary lubrication condition. Prescribing higher viscosity oil (remember the original mechanic in a can, STP?) makes me very skeptical about the efficacy of the “fix”, and I wonder how the suspect engines are being “inspected”…….cut oil filter up and look for bearing material?

It will be very difficult for GM to blame its supplier(s) and recoup any costs associated with this action. If NHTSA can prove that they have been stonewalled, expect a big fine. Heads have/will roll! Don’t for a minute blame EPA or CAFE regulations. This is flat ass sloppy engineering and MANUFACTURING. No excuses. PERIOD.

PS: we had a 2021 hybrid Escape that was recalled for a possible crankshaft journal finish issue. A connecting rod would seize, perforate the block, and because it was a hybrid and capable of sustained movement, would catch fire. The fix is a new long block under warranty within 7 years. If the problem doesn’t show up in 7 years, it won’t.

Tom H.

 

[eb07]

My friends 25 Tahoe lasted 55 miles. Replaced engine a few months back.

 

[quikdraw67]

My friends 25 Tahoe lasted 55 miles. Replaced engine a few months back.

One of my former employers had a 23 Tahoe High Country whose engine decided to commit seppuku on the PA Turnpike coming back from Philly. He has less than 500 miles on it at the time. This, of course, was before this recall. What a mess that was. It makes sense now.

 

[meistermash]

Ehh I have 15 Silverado with 60,000 and the 5.3.
Wonder if I shouldn't go to a higher vis oil just because.
I run a afm dissabler.
Never liked the idea of 0w20 oil.
Well when it was -20 I didn't think it was so bad.
At -20 most of the electronic doodads didn't even want to work.

That oil guy, I like his content but wonder how many extra voices are rolling around in his coconut.

 

[Tom S.]

I spent a lot of years in the spark ignition engine engineering business— design, development, and planning, with regular attendance at our various engine plants. This recall is reeeaaaaalllly expensive. I can think of numerous places in the engine assembly process where this should have been caught. By the time span it seems that there was/are more than one special cause. At the end of the day, it boils down to localized welding due to a boundary lubrication condition. Prescribing higher viscosity oil (remember the original mechanic in a can, STP?) makes me very skeptical about the efficacy of the “fix”, and I wonder how the suspect engines are being “inspected”…….cut oil filter up and look for bearing material?

It will be very difficult for GM to blame its supplier(s) and recoup any costs associated with this action. If NHTSA can prove that they have been stonewalled, expect a big fine. Heads have/will roll! Don’t for a minute blame EPA or CAFE regulations. This is flat ass sloppy engineering and MANUFACTURING. No excuses. PERIOD.

PS: we had a 2021 hybrid Escape that was recalled for a possible crankshaft journal finish issue. A connecting rod would seize, perforate the block, and because it was a hybrid and capable of sustained movement, would catch fire. The fix is a new long block under warranty within 7 years. If the problem doesn’t show up in 7 years, it won’t.

Tom H.

I don't disagree. Another issue is GM's reliance on non-GM employees, that is employees who work "at" GM but not "for" GM. Employees, whether salary or hourly have a commitment to their job. Contract employees live basically week to week, knowing they can be let go with no notice or reason and therefore usually lack in loyalty.

In some instances, suppliers do share or even own the blame. Who made the crankshafts? I don't believe GM does cranks anymore, do they? GM should perform inspection and testing on this critical part, but that too may be the supplier's job. For the past 30 years, GM has forced their suppliers to bear the burden of inspection and testing. In the interest of cost savings, GM expects it's suppliers to provide a part that is ready to install without testing or inspection. Even when GM does their own, again it is likely to be done by contract people who have no real allegiance to GM.

I remember STP well. It could quiet a rod knock, but hydraulic lifters of the day often took up the engine noise chorus, clattering when they hadn't before. It was like pouring very thick molasses into your car's engine. People residing in climates where winter temps reach negative double digits have a legitimate need for 0w oil, and I use it in my snowblower, but anything outside of those conditions seems highly suspect to me.

 

[chief38]

As I understand this recall, it only affects the larger 6.2 liter engines between 2021 - 2024. Most of the Chevy and GMC vehicles come with 5.3 liter engines so I'd believe that the ones mostly affected would be the Cadillacs. I own a GMC Yukon but it is a 2016 model with a 5.3 liter engine and is not affected at all.

I have been a "GM Man" for about 30 years now and have had great luck with them. In fact the last 15 vehicles we've owned have been GM's and they were GREAT! Our newest car is a 2024 Kia Sportage because when we went to buy another Buick for my wife the SUV we wanted was completely out of stock and they told us they would not have them for another 5 months - we needed a car sooner than that! The Kia dealer was right next door to the Buick/GMC dealer. I NEVER thought I'd buy a Kia, but when we drove one we fell in love with it. 100,000 mile / 10 year warranty is very comforting as well. So far in a year of ownership we have had zero issues, get 31 mpg around town and 37 mpg on the highway.

We have also since learned that GM is partially in bed with the Chinese Communists and that is a huge turn off for us. That said, Ford was in bed with the Nazi's back before and during WWll and Henry Ford received the highest German medal allowed for a non German citizen awarded by Hitler himself. Many of the high end German car manufacturers made death devises, extermination ovens etc. for the concentration camps. Many of the Japanese car manufacturers made many parts and planes that killed tens of thousands of Americans. So......... who really knows what the right thing to do it. All that said, we are very happy with our new Kia. Would I buy a new GM vehicle....... not quite sure as of now. As far as the recalls go - ALL manufacturer's have them from time to time!

 

[hike]

GM seems to have taken their lead from Toyota and their 3.6L V-6 twin-turbo. Toyota has been replacing those motors due to machining debris left in the oil passages causing the main bearings to spin. A friend of mine has one, with a lead time of 10 MONTHS to get the replacement motor when he was notified a few months back and time-in-shop estimated around 4-6 WEEKS.

GM was doing this long before Toyota has!

 

[Alton]

Simple if your going to run a Corvette engine, you will need to use a Corvette oil. My 2014 C7 had 80,000+ miles when I sold it in 2022 with no issues but I definitely did not use 0-20 oil either. My C8 was the same.

 

[WR Moore]

Please excuse the comments of an old man, but IIRC, GM's first attempt at a 6.2 was their effort to use one of their existing blocks for a light duty diesel engine for the Blazer/Suburban. This was apparently largely doomed by the cost accountants. One of GM's major issues is the amount of power exercised by those folks. When you sell enough items, pennies add up.

Waay back when, my father toured a Ford plant as his employer had steel contracts with Ford. After the tour, especially the engine plant, he refused to buy Fords. His description of how they cleaned the raw castings prior to and after machining was horrifying.

 

[Jon651]

Please excuse the comments of an old man, but IIRC, GM's first attempt at a 6.2 was their effort to use one of their existing blocks for a light duty diesel engine for the Blazer/Suburban. This was apparently largely doomed by the cost accountants. One of GM's major issues is the amount of power exercised by those folks. When you sell enough items, pennies add up.

Waay back when, my father toured a Ford plant as his employer had steel contracts with Ford. After the tour, especially the engine plant, he refused to buy Fords. His description of how they cleaned the raw castings prior to and after machining was horrifying.

I don't think the 6.2/6.5L old GM diesels were converted from anything. They were an early attempt to make a light duty diesel by folks who had zero experience designing and building light duty diesels, which is why GM partnered with Isuzu when they designed the 6.6L Duramax in the late 1990s. The "converted" diesels were from Oldsmobile and used a 350 short block - and were horrid. A former Lieutenant I worked with in my FD claimed he had one in an old station wagon he owned way back when. According to him, it would get 35 mpg on the highway, but couldn't roll over two dimes stacked on each other!

Regardless, that old 6.2L naturally-aspirated, mechanically injected diesel you mention is generations apart from the current 6.2L electronic fuel-injected computer controlled gasser they have today. And it's not the design of the motor that is currently at issue, but rather the manufacturing of it.

 

[Jon651]

GM was doing this long before Toyota has!

Both companies have an extensive history of recalls for as long as they have been building cars (ALL do). When comparing the current Tundra motor recall with the GM 6.2L motor recall, according to Google the Tundra recall was prior by about a year - but that isn't the point. Apparently, the same problem is plaguing both (machining debris left in the oil passages). And if you ask any large rebuilder I think you will find that all motors from all makers will have at least a few with this issue over the years, some more and some less. It's like a "social disease" - everybody claims they are careful, but nobody is immune...

 

[LVSteve]

As I understand this recall, it only affects the larger 6.2 liter engines between 2021 - 2024. Most of the Chevy and GMC vehicles come with 5.3 liter engines so I'd believe that the ones mostly affected would be the Cadillacs. I own a GMC Yukon but it is a 2016 model with a 5.3 liter engine and is not affected at all.

Before everyone gets the idea that the 5.3 is bombproof, here's a news flash. It depends. The 5.3 they build today is very different to the engines produced in the early 2000s. I know this, because my 2001 Tahoe developed piston slap in about 40k miles. I ditched it for an Xterra in 2005 thanks to GM's knack of making leather seats that feel like plastic and interior trim of such low quality it would make a QA guy at Mattel cry.

 

[Oldengineer]

In my opinion, this recall and its root cause is the equivalent of the surgeon leaving the scalpel and sponges inside the patient after closing the wound. There is just no excuse for this. In my experience, you can’t delegate responsibility. The results are always perfect for the choices we make.

Tom H.

 

[ColoCoug]

Let’s face it, GM has a history of recalls, and when they screw up, it means a big recall since they sell many vehicles. This isn’t due to Toyota, or UFOs, or the EPA, it’s a manufacturing error the GM didn’t catch. And this one carries a big bill to correct. I’ve sold GM cars and liked them, but they occasionally screw the pooch.