2023 Yukon Denali 6.2L, Dead at 3600 miles

[Blackcar]

I met my mechanic, and tbh, service dept at the dealer has treated me very well so far. Good communication and no unnecessary calls / questions. Can’t say the same about GM customer service. Eye roll.

My motors been pulled. I picked up the dealers loaner and parts has told the new motor is en route and could be here by Friday. Here’s my old motor in a heap on the floor ..

Just as I thought might happen Gm wants that motor back to tear down see what caused failure.

 

[RST Dana]

I met my mechanic, and tbh, service dept at the dealer has treated me very well so far. Good communication and no unnecessary calls / questions. Can’t say the same about GM customer service. Eye roll.

My motors been pulled. I picked up the dealers loaner and parts has told the new motor is en route and could be here by Friday. Here’s my old motor in a heap on the floor ..

Looking at the size of those ports, takes me back to the old days, when we had big block iron heads to work on. Aluminum heads were rare and cost prohibitive.

 

[Blackcar]

Looking at the size of those ports, takes me back to the old days, when we had big block iron heads to work on. Aluminum heads were rare and cost prohibitive.

Like this

 

[Geotrash]

Like this

 

[Toomanyhobbies]

I think the issue on the motor is not the swap - that’s actually easier now than on some previous generations given how componentized and plug-and-play everything is. The issue is that basically every LS engine (and compatible transmission) seems to be on backorder for months. I think best case is that you are looking at months of a free rental followed by a good outcome engine swap.

In my case I’m still waiting on a definitive answer from the dealer as to what the problem is. They will have had it for a week tomorrow so I will call tomorrow evening before close and find out what’s up. I’ll be asking for a rental at that time too unless the answer is “everything is fine, come and get it”. I’ll post back as the situation develops.

To be honest there’s a tiny part of me that hopes it’s something catastrophic so I can just dump the lease and build a GMT-900 Tahoe like a did a few years ago with my GMT-800 Tahoe (build is completely documented on this site - look at my old posts).

I talked to a guy in finance when I was at the dealership earlier in the week and he said to me “honestly - between you and me - we are 9 months behind delivering vehicles and the demand is so high and supply so limited that if you want out of your lease I can guarantee we want your vehicle and would give you cash to buy it out.” So there’s that.

I’m just thinking if I want to buy a 2013/2014 Tahoe and build it out to my spec, amongst many other things I would want a LS376/525 with a 6L80E in it and as I said the wait on those is months. So one way or another the desired solution to the problem would be a slow roll. I got the 2023 specifically to avoid that. But a $50k buy and build on a 2014 vs $100k on the 2023 has a financial attraction all its own. And no, I couldn’t care less about the “image” difference between driving a fully loaded 2023 Denali and a resto-modded 2014. “Image” isn’t a factor.

I feel the same way thought I was being too negative. Bid up an ‘03 3/4 ton burb on BAT last week because it had 27k miles and the 6.0. Didn’t win but I don’t think I am ever going to be “content” with all the tech.

 

[Boomer73]

Just circling back for an update here: I heard from the dealer today now that they've had my Yukon for 2 weeks exactly. It has TWO spun bearings. There's no engines in stock so they want to rebuild it. I told them I'm not having a rebuilt engine in a new vehicle - I didn't pay for that. They told me to open a case with GM which I did.

In one week I will hit Maryland Lemon Law requirements - 30 days or more in the shop in the first 15 months. I'm at 11 months now and 21 days in the shop total so far.

 

[Boomer73]

I met my mechanic, and tbh, service dept at the dealer has treated me very well so far. Good communication and no unnecessary calls / questions. Can’t say the same about GM customer service. Eye roll.

My motors been pulled. I picked up the dealers loaner and parts has told the new motor is en route and could be here by Friday. Here’s my old motor in a heap on the floor ..

Look how fresh that block looks...

 

[Geotrash]

Just circling back for an update here: I heard from the dealer today now that they've had my Yukon for 2 weeks exactly. It has TWO spun bearings. There's no engines in stock so they want to rebuild it. I told them I'm not having a rebuilt engine in a new vehicle - I didn't pay for that. They told me to open a case with GM which I did.

In one week I will hit Maryland Lemon Law requirements - 30 days or more in the shop in the first 15 months. I'm at 11 months now and 21 days in the shop total so far.

These bottom end issues cropping up (spun main or rod bearings, thrust bearings) are very uncharacteristic of the LS series engines. I wonder what manufacturing or QC changes led to these. There is always a reason.

 

[Boomer73]

These bottom end issues cropping up (spun main or rod bearings, thrust bearings) are very uncharacteristic of the LS series engines. I wonder what manufacturing or QC changes led to these. There is always a reason.

You're exactly right. My guess? Pandemic layoffs and quitters created vacancies in the supply chain that were then filled out of necessity by people with no experience and because of the demand, QC corners were cut resulting in mass defects. I think 50% of anything made during the pandemic is questionable at this point. Give it time for the data to come out across all manufacturing areas, but wait and see, the data will eventually show a HUGE increase in defects.

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

These bottom end issues cropping up (spun main or rod bearings, thrust bearings) are very uncharacteristic of the LS series engines. I wonder what manufacturing or QC changes led to these. There is always a reason.

Be interesting to know the manufacture date of the engines in question.

 

[91RS]

These bottom end issues cropping up (spun main or rod bearings, thrust bearings) are very uncharacteristic of the LS series engines. I wonder what manufacturing or QC changes led to these. There is always a reason.

LT engine.

 

[Geotrash]

LT engine.

Yes, LT. Thanks. My point though was that the current engine architecture has now been around almost a decade in production. And to my knowledge this is the first we’re seeing a pattern of bottom end failures.

 

[Boomer73]

Yes, LT. Thanks. My point though was that the current engine architecture has now been around almost a decade in production. And to my knowledge this is the first we’re seeing a pattern of bottom end failures.

That’s a fair point. And further to your previous point while the LS and LT architectures are a little different they are close enough to be fraternal twins. Regardless, we have an engine architecture here known for its reliability and robustness that has recently seemed to have developed issues in an area it’s not know for having issues in. To me that point to assembly/manufacturing not to the architecture itself.

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

And, we know of 2x of these fails, right? Don’t recall seeing a ton of bottom end issues…but agree…could be an assembly or parts quality issue.

 

[Geotrash]

And, we know of 2x of these fails, right? Don’t recall seeing a ton of bottom end issues…but agree…could be an assembly or parts quality issue.

I believe we've seen 3 here, and of course I have no way to extrapolate that to the whole owner base. But given that people are seeing many weeks to months for replacement engines, it suggests that it's not an isolated problem.

That’s a fair point. And further to your previous point while the LS and LT architectures are a little different they are close enough to be fraternal twins. Regardless, we have an engine architecture here known for its reliability and robustness that has recently seemed to have developed issues in an area it’s not know for having issues in. To me that point to assembly/manufacturing not to the architecture itself.

Yes, I agree that it's likely manufacturing related.

 

[Boomer73]

And, we know of 2x of these fails, right? Don’t recall seeing a ton of bottom end issues…but agree…could be an assembly or parts quality issue.

I counted more than that just on the Similar Threads suggestions at the bottom of this thread. If you including any GM vehicle using this engine not just Yukons and also include other vehicles of the same platform using other variant engines, the problem is a lot bigger than 3. Again that points to manufacturing/assembly issues not specifically L87 architecture issues.

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

I counted more than that just on the Similar Threads suggestions at the bottom of this thread. If you including any GM vehicle using this engine not just Yukons and also include other vehicles of the same platform using other variant engines, the problem is a lot bigger than 3. Again that points to manufacturing/assembly issues not specifically L87 architecture issues.

I reviewed the 5x "similar threads" below (which came up for me, might be different for you, I don't know the forum algorithm) One was a fuel injector, one was battery, one was transmission control module, one was lifters, one the OP never came back and said what the issue was.
None were "bottom end" (crank shaft, rod bearings, etc).

I do agree that we have seen more than usual as of late reported here, but I don't recall seeing info on this forum that indicates a large issue w/ "bottom end" issues. That said, like Geotrash said, we don't have a way to extrapolate to everyone, not everyone reports in..and agree, bottom end issues were super rare to non-existent in the prior generations...so, seeing 3 here might be cause for concern, or it could be a bad lot of something, or a bad run, etc...which is why I suggested it might be interesting to see the manufacture date of the failed engines.

As an aside, saw that GM is shutting down Fort Wayne assembly for 2 weeks to "manage inventory." I read that as "pickups are not selling now, and they don't want to have to incentivise them." This may be good for meeting the demand of replacement engines people are waiting on?

 

[NoYukonYet_1Jeep]

All good info here. Can’t really speak to wider issues with this motor. I went in with all good impressions of the L87 6.2L. I echo what someone had posted about things made during the pandemic being shit. Simplest way to put it, but I think also some bad luck on my end.

But Quick update for the forum - motor has arrived at the local dealer.

This Friday (2 days away) will be four weeks at the dealer. Initially said their turn around to install was 2 days but I’m happy to let them test it for a few extra days to make sure things are running smooth. Wish me luck gentlemen

 

[Boomer73]

All good info here. Can’t really speak to wider issues with this motor. I went in with all good impressions of the L87 6.2L. I echo what someone had posted about things made during the pandemic being shit. Simplest way to put it, but I think also some bad luck on my end.

But Quick update for the forum - motor has arrived at the local dealer.

This Friday (2 days away) will be four weeks at the dealer. Initially said their turn around to install was 2 days but I’m happy to let them test it for a few extra days to make sure things are running smooth. Wish me luck gentlemen

Do you know where your engine came from? I need a new L87 too and my dealer “can’t find one”.

 

[NoYukonYet_1Jeep]

Do you know where your engine came from? I need a new L87 too and my dealer “can’t find one”.

I don’t but I’ll see if I can find out.