2009 Yukon Denali 6.2 L9H Engine Replacement

[swathdiver]

I could probably drive it there and it would make it. I’m just really bummed I’m in this situation so quickly after buying this thing. The past few weeks have been super tough.

Yeah, it sure is a bummer. But once done and gone over, you won't have to think about it for a long time.

Our corporate knowledge teaches us that when the 6.2s get overheated, they tend to drop a valve guide. The earlier 2007-2008 6.2s had a habit of breaking a valve spring on #7 or #8 at around 165K miles more often than the later years. If the engines were fed a steady diet of 87 instead of 93, by about 100K miles they were breaking pistons and piston rings.

That said, they are great motors, have two of them in my pickups and going to someday put one in my Yukon XL.

 

[KraftMatic87]

I'd say change the oil and put in 15w-40 to drive down, and keep the rpms low and engine load low. Denver to CO springs isn't too bad of a drive if I remember correctly. It may make it.

Or put 20w-50 in it and trade it.........I'm not really serious, but it could be an option. I had an acquaintance 20 years ago that put 80w-90 in an old camaro to mask the rod knock when he got rid of it. I could never do that to a person........maybe a shady dealership though.

I did trade in a 2009 Denali because all of a sudden it started drinking oil on a road trip. It was a beautiful black XL. But, I was tired of the piston slap that never went away and dropped it like a bad habit for a pristine 2017 Denali. I don't feal bad because the salesman said it would go to auction because it had 165k. Somebody got a nice truck for pennies I'm sure and put a motor in it.

I have a beautiful black XL! Only issues on the inside is one of my doors sometimes doesn’t unlock and chrome coming off door handles. I think it is totally worth saving. My family really like riding in it and it would be a shame to let it go.

I think that my truck is having an oil consumption issue and the rod knock is because it’s gotten too low on oil before. If i tried to sell this thing to CarMax I’d be lucky to get $3k - $4k. I want to see if it’s possible to get either a rebuild or new engine put in.

Interesting idea with your friend doing that trick with his Camaro lol

 

[B-train]

Yeah, it sure is a bummer. But once done and gone over, you won't have to think about it for a long time.

Our corporate knowledge teaches us that when the 6.2s get overheated, they tend to drop a valve guide. The earlier 2007-2008 6.2s had a habit of breaking a valve spring on #7 or #8 at around 165K miles more often than the later years. If the engines were fed a steady diet of 87 instead of 93, by about 100K miles they were breaking pistons and piston rings.

That said, they are great motors, have two of them in my pickups and going to someday put one in my Yukon XL.

Interesting tidbit about the piston rings. The guy I bought the 2009 from in Texas said it had piston slap from day one and GM wouldn't do anything about it. After dealing with him I realized his a sheister (owns a construction company, go figure) because maintenance wasn't his strong point.

That may explain piston slap that NEVER went away and then turned into an oil burner after a hard run.

If you ever see a 2020 black escalade for sale in the future from the Dallas area from a guy who owns stated company beware....LOL

 

[KraftMatic87]

Yeah, it sure is a bummer. But once done and gone over, you won't have to think about it for a long time.

Our corporate knowledge teaches us that when the 6.2s get overheated, they tend to drop a valve guide. The earlier 2007-2008 6.2s had a habit of breaking a valve spring on #7 or #8 at around 165K miles more often than the later years. If the engines were fed a steady diet of 87 instead of 93, by about 100K miles they were breaking pistons and piston rings.

That said, they are great motors, have two of them in my pickups and going to someday put one in my Yukon XL.

Interesting. I’ve been putting only premium in this thing and I’ve only driven it about 700 miles since I’ve owned it. No issues other than this noise I’ve been trying to troubleshoot. The previous owner clearly did not do some critical maintenance because there are oil leaks. They probably might have been using regular fuel. Bummer for me!

 

[B-train]

I have a beautiful black XL! Only issues on the inside is one of my doors sometimes doesn’t unlock and chrome coming off door handles. I think it is totally worth saving. My family really like riding in it and it would be a shame to let it go.

View attachment 402042

I think that my truck is having an oil consumption issue and the rod knock is because it’s gotten too low on oil before. If i tried to sell this thing to CarMax I’d be lucky to get $3k - $4k. I want to see if it’s possible to get either a rebuild or new engine put in.

Interesting idea with your friend doing that trick with his Camaro. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that but I’m not beyond doing it so I can trade it in for a different car.

Just put your plate into the carmax site and see what happens (instant offer). You might be better off dumping it and getting a similar truck depending onnwhat the outcime is. I feel your pain, totally sucks.

 

[KraftMatic87]

Just put your plate into the carmax site and see what happens (instant offer). You might be better off dumping it and getting a similar truck depending onnwhat the outcime is. I feel your pain, totally sucks.

I got an offer of $6k. But I know I would get less. We sold our oil burning Subaru there they offered us $9k and when they inspected lowered it to $7k when they found some other issues that were definitely there like frame damage from an accident. If I got $4k maybe I could accept that but I’d still be out a vehicle. Seems like it might be too much for me to invest but I’m trying to stay positive.

 

[B-train]

I got an offer of $6k. But I know I would get less. We sold our oil burning Subaru there they offered us $9k and when they inspected lowered it to $7k when they found some other issues that were definitely there like frame damage from an accident. If I got $4k maybe I could accept that but I’d still be out a vehicle. Seems like it might be too much for me to invest but I’m trying to stay positive.

80w-90 is cheap man......LOL

 

[KraftMatic87]

80w-90 is cheap man......LOL

If that's my best option than I'm really in trouble here lol

 

[B-train]

I sold my 2018 Sierra to Carvana when prices went up in 2021. It had 14k on it because I never drove it. I got $3500 less than what I paid for it 19 months earlier.......should've held out another 3 months in hindsight.

But, they had all this lingo about a test drive, etc in the paperwork. A ************ adult showed up with a rollback to pick it up. I asked about all the stuff and he said with 14k I'm not worried about anything........and them proceeded to try and load it on a slippery aluminum bed in 2wd. Hilarious.

Maybe that's an option for you. Spiff er up with new "amended oil" and let it ride. I wouldn't feel bad because I'm sure they made a 10k profit on my truck for nothing other than a wash. It was PRISTINE.

 

[B-train]

I sold my 2018 Sierra to Carvana when prices went up in 2021. It had 14k on it because I never drove it. I got $3500 less than what I paid for it 19 months earlier.......should've held out another 3 months in hindsight.

But, they had all this lingo about a test drive, etc in the paperwork. A ************ adult showed up with a rollback to pick it up. I asked about all the stuff and he said with 14k I'm not worried about anything........and them proceeded to try and load it on a slippery aluminum bed in 2wd. Hilarious.

Maybe that's an option for you. Spiff er up with new "amended oil" and let it ride. I wouldn't feel bad because I'm sure they made a 10k profit on my truck for nothing other than a wash. It was PRISTINE.

What's up with the censor? I said a B A R E L Y. (Probably early 20's at best)

 

[wjburken]

Would that actually work? I mean if it would save me $2k on a trade in I would absolutely do it lol. But I’m guessing the motor wouldn’t run for very long afterwards? I’d be genuinely curious how I’d be able to pull that off.

Look at it this way. You can either spend the money on a new vehicle or spend it on a new or rebuilt motor for this one. If you go with a different vehicle, you may end up in the same situation as there will be unknowns with that vehicle as well. If you have the motor replaced or rebuilt by a competent shop, you will have a solid vehicle, with a known good motor for about the same money.

 

[B-train]

I do agree to a point with @wjburken. If everything else is top notch, then it may be worth it. But, if the previous owner wasn't smart enough about engine oil, what do the rest of the mechanicals look like. Any supporting service records for the vehicle in general?

 

[KraftMatic87]

Look at it this way. You can either spend the money on a new vehicle or spend it on a new or rebuilt motor for this one. If you go with a different vehicle, you may end up in the same situation as there will be unknowns with that vehicle as well. If you have the motor replaced or rebuilt by a competent shop, you will have a solid vehicle, with a known good motor for about the same money.

I honestly want to save this truck. I can figure out paying half cash and financing the other half or something. I just want definitive answers and it’s been tough. My first month of ownership has been taking this thing to a different shop every week lol. I’ve been getting rebuild quotes and if I can get a motor installed for around $6k-ish I would do it. A lot of the quotes I’ve gotten are much higher than that. Trying to keep my hopes up and maybe I’ll get a good quote for a rebuild and get that done ASAP so I can start finally enjoying this truck with my family.

 

[KraftMatic87]

I do agree to a point with @wjburken. If everything else is top notch, then it may be worth it. But, if the previous owner wasn't smart enough about engine oil, what do the rest of the mechanicals look like. Any supporting service records for the vehicle in general?

I have the CarFax and that’s it. Here it is:

Re CarFax VIN Report Request.pdf

drive.google.com

The truck seems to be very clean on the inside. Seats are in immaculate condition. DVD player still works. The paint is in very good condition except for one small spot of rust the size of a nickel behind passenger door that would be real easy to fix. Unfortunately I just need a new motor and THEN it will be perfect. Transmission fluid was checked and it is in good condition as well and shifts very smoothly so at least that’s a positive!

Hoping to get some more answers next week so I can make a decision whether to dump it or run it! But definitely leaning towards trying to save it for sure.

 

[B-train]

If it's rust on the rocker bynor below the door, then you have a can of worms that can't be tamed. You'll end up dumping more into it to fix that......and then this.....etc

If it's just surface from rock chips and paint missing then probably not an issue. If it's bubbling, then it's bigger, longer term lurkers

 

[KraftMatic87]

If it's rust on the rocker bynor below the door, then you have a can of worms that can't be tamed. You'll end up dumping more into it to fix that......and then this.....etc

If it's just surface from rock chips and paint missing then probably not an issue. If it's bubbling, then it's bigger, longer term lurkers

Rockers are totally clean. The truck has been in Colorado its whole life the subframe looks very nice. The rust is just from a rock chip it looks like and it just wasn’t repaired. It seems everything on this truck is good except the motor potentially so it does seem like it is worth saving. That and my wife and kids really like it too it would be a shame to tell them daddy has to let it go. I fully intend to do the work the last owner didn’t as long as I can work it out financially.

 

[j91z28d1]

huh does it get better when it's cold and then worse as it warms up? that's normally what I've seen with rod knock.

what's the oil pressure like? do you change your own oil and feel like cutting the oil filter open to look for metal?

 

[KraftMatic87]

huh does it get better when it's cold and then worse as it warms up? that's normally what I've seen with rod knock.

what's the oil pressure like? do you change your own oil and feel like cutting the oil filter open to look for metal?

Oil pressure seems very good. Always at 40 psi and dips ever so slightly when idling at a light. I’ve kept my eye on it a lot and never seen it dip more than ~10 psi at an idle. It’s not very loud when you’re inside the vehicle driving and you can really only hear it when you open the hood or get underneath the truck like in the first video I posted. I’ll try to post more videos of me driving it.

 

[j91z28d1]

Oil pressure seems very good. Always at 40 psi and dips ever so slightly when idling at a light. I’ve kept my eye on it a lot and never seen it dip more than ~10 psi at an idle. It’s not very loud when you’re inside the vehicle driving and you can really only hear it when you open the hood or get underneath the truck like in the first video I posted. I’ll try to post more videos of me driving it.

it's more of a cold thick oil thing hiding the slop in the worn bearing so it's not loud. you'd basically have to pop the hood before the first morning start and then see if it's much worse once it warms up.

old school guys used to be able to tell a rod knock from a crank bearing knock just be listening to it and revving it a bit.

I never was able to, I just figured if it's knocking its coming out and taken apart anyways. so eh, why worry about it. but there are times I wish I remembered what they listened for. something about how the knock changed on the return to idle after you reved it in neutral. but none of that is helpful to you.

just curious if it knocks on cold oil and if you've checked for metal in the filter. when talking to a shop next, you could ask if they will cut the filter open for you. I don't know if normal flat rate guys even have a filter cuter these days, they only really make money when parts are swapping. diagnostics is kinda a lost thing.

good luck. I do like those headlights on black yukons haha

 

[KraftMatic87]

Interesting tidbit about the piston rings. The guy I bought the 2009 from in Texas said it had piston slap from day one and GM wouldn't do anything about it. After dealing with him I realized his a sheister (owns a construction company, go figure) because maintenance wasn't his strong point.

That may explain piston slap that NEVER went away and then turned into an oil burner after a hard run.

If you ever see a 2020 black escalade for sale in the future from the Dallas area from a guy who owns stated company beware....LOL

Not like I could afford one but the newer GM trucks seem to have really terrible quality control issues with the power trains. I wanted a non-AFM truck so I was only looking for ones that had a 2 or an 8 as their engine code in the VIN for the 2008-2009 Denalis. This one did with the L9H so I figured (if well maintained lol) it might be a good one. Oh well hard lesson to learn for sure!