2009 Yukon Denali 6.2 L9H Engine Replacement

[KraftMatic87]

I’m a lucky man to have such a wonderful woman in my life. We will find a way to save this truck. I have a 4 year old son and a 2 year old daughter and they LOVED the Denali. Every day I picked them up from daycare and brought them home they would spend 15-20 minutes in the truck pretending they were driving it and climbing around in the back. My son cried when we sent it away on a flatbed and to be honest I got emotional too. Probably because I have a loan out on it lol. It’s such a heartbreaking situation buying a car that needs to have such substantial amounts of work done to save it. I have never been in a situation like this before. I’ve been driving 10-15 year old cars my entire life and never dealt with an engine replacement before. It blows big time but we will prevail and bring this beast back to life!

 

[Geotrash]

I’m definitely a lucky man to have such a wonderful woman in my life. We will find a way to save this truck. I have a 4 year old son and a 2 year old daughter and they LOVED the Denali. Every day I picked them up from daycare and brought them home they would spend 15-20 minutes in the truck pretending they were driving it. They cried when we sent it away on a flatbed and to be honest I got emotional too. Probably because I have a loan out against it lol. I’m hoping I can afford to have a Jasper 6.2 dropped in with a new torque converter and then I’ll just send it! Where there’s a will there’s a way!

Your kids love it?!? I don't know what you mean...

 

[KraftMatic87]

Your kids love it?!? I don't know what you mean...

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It’s going to be like Christmas when we finally get this truck back home lol

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@KraftMatic87 I know what you mean man, our Tahoe quickly became part of the family and my wife and kids know I consider it my 3rd child LOL

The kids love the view riding in the middle row and the wife loves the comfy spacious interior, the blasting AC, and heated seats. Our other vehicle is a honda civic hatchback SPORT so it is a night and day difference comparing the 2. The sport civic really should have been my ride it hasn't been a good family vehicle between the size and stiff suspension.

Sorry for you misfortunate luck in your motor, from one man to another that situation would have crushed me on multiple levels, I woulda cried like a baby so your feelings are 100% justified man.

Once you get it back on the road you guys are going to love it! Work on a tool collection, between your garage and the folks on the forum here you should be able to keep that thing on the road for very cheap until your son takes it to college.

 

[KraftMatic87]

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[KraftMatic87]

@KraftMatic87 I know what you mean man, our Tahoe quickly became part of the family and my wife and kids know I consider it my 3rd child LOL

Sorry for you misfortunate luck in your motor, from one man to another that situation would have crushed me on multiple levels, I woulda cried like a baby so your feelings are 100% justified man.

I am definitely feeling pretty down. When I initially bought the truck I was expecting to do the 150,000 mile service early since I was only at 144k miles. I even upgraded the headlights and interior lights with LED's, fixed the cruise control with new brake controller, put new seat covers on, and fixed a leaking exhaust manifold before I realized what was going on in the motor. Unfortunately I learned that there are no lemon laws for used cars in Colorado, and after the first 3 weeks I had the truck I tried to get the dealer to take it back, and he said he wouldn't obviously. I have been robbed before, and the feeling I have right now is the same.

We are getting a quote on Monday from LT's shop for an engine replacement. The service manager said it would definitely exceed $10k unfortunately to put in a new Jasper 6.2. I am bracing myself for a $12k - $15k invoice. I'm still unsure how to move forward. I've had quotes for rebuilds that are half that cost, but I'm afraid then I might still have major engine issues down the road and then be back in the same situation minus thousands of dollars and little to no warranty on the work. Most rebuild shops I contacted would do a 12,000 mile / 1 year warranty. Hard to know what to do but my instinct is to replace the motor, I don't want my L9H anymore since its obvious the previous owner was not changing the oil regularly and was likely using regular gas in it.

 

[Geotrash]

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I don’t know where the extra $5K+ would come from. List price for a reman L9H is right at $4300 + $900 core charge. R&R shouldn’t be more than $2500 on the high side. This ain’t a Ferrari.

 

[KraftMatic87]

I don’t know where the extra $5K+ would come from. List price for a reman L9H is right at $4300 + $900 core charge. R&R shouldn’t be more than $2500 on the high side. This ain’t a Ferrari.

That's what I thought. I was quoted at other places closer to $10k-ish. I'd hate to not be able to afford the engine swap at LT's shop and have to get it towed somewhere else. I want a Jasper motor though I have heard horror stories about LKQ's and I don't want to mess with them.

 

[swathdiver]

Curious to hear anyone else's thoughts on how to move forward.

Find out from LT exactly what went wrong with the engine. He ought to be curious himself. Whatever you decide which is best for you, it's the cost of the platform. Don't think about book value or any of that stuff. You bought one of the safest vehicles on the road for a fraction of the cost of a new one. You'll quickly come to appreciate the truck in the coming months as you get to drive it more.

 

[Geotrash]

That's what I thought. I was quoted at other places closer to $10k-ish. I'd hate to not be able to afford the engine swap at LT's shop and have to get it towed somewhere else. I want a Jasper motor though I have heard horror stories about LKQ's and I don't want to mess with them.

Well, it's worth finding out exactly what they replace with an engine swap. You may find that they take the time to replace all of the oil and transmission cooler lines, install a new water pump, new overflow bottle, etc etc. Plus the TC of course. An R&R done right by competent people is worth paying a bit more for. If you'd like, I can work up a list of what I would want replaced if I were having it done.

 

[avalonandl]

Call Schram Auto parts they have 6.2 from crashed autos, Waterford Mich

 

[KraftMatic87]

Well, it's worth finding out exactly what they replace with an engine swap. You may find that they take the time to replace all of the oil and transmission cooler lines, install a new water pump, new overflow bottle, etc etc. Plus the TC of course. An R&R done right by competent people is worth paying a bit more for. If you'd like, I can work up a list of what I would want replaced if I were having it done.

Yes please. All I know is I want a new torque converter because I want to preserve my 6l80. When we checked the transmission fluid it looked clean and not dark so that's good. But yeah if you have any other suggestions of things that should be done while I'm getting an engine swap please let me know.

 

[Geotrash]

Yes please. All I know is I want a new torque converter because I don't want to need having my transmission replaced anytime soon. When we checked the transmission fluid it looked clean and not dark so that's good. But yeah if you have any other suggestions of things that should be done while I'm getting an engine swap please let me know.

Mainly it's things in the engine bay that are MUCH easier to replace with the engine out of the bay. So much so, it's practically free labor at that point. On my list:

-New heater hoses and plastic tees at the firewall. These will typically fail before 200K miles, and when they do, you have a few seconds to get pulled over and the engine shut down before it overheats and potentially does damage.
-New GM oil cooler lines
-New GM transmission fluid cooler lines
-New GM coolant recovery tank
-New water pump (if not included on the Jasper long block)
-New radiator hoses
-I would personally choose to install a new Denso radiator. (Denso is the OEM for GM radiators)
-New motor mounts on both sides
-New transmission mount
-New front differential mounts.
-New power steering hoses.
-Remove, clean and reinstall all ground points.

This is all I can think of at the moment. If I can think of any more, I'll add them here.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Tonyrodz]

Mainly it's things in the engine bay that are MUCH easier to replace with the engine out of the bay. So much so, it's practically free labor at that point. On my list:

-New heater hoses and plastic tees at the firewall. These will typically fail before 200K miles, and when they do, you have a few seconds to get pulled over and the engine shut down before it overheats and potentially does damage.
-New GM oil cooler lines
-New GM transmission fluid cooler lines
-New GM coolant recovery tank
-New water pump (if not included on the Jasper long block)
-New radiator hoses
-I would personally choose to install a new Denso radiator. (Denso is the OEM for GM radiators)
-New motor mounts on both sides
-New transmission mount
-New front differential mounts.
-Remove, clean and reinstall all ground points.

This is all I can think of at the moment. If I can think of any more, I'll add them here.

Cheers,
Dave

Pretty good list you got.

 

[swathdiver]

Any update on this? I'm watching LTs latest video and your truck is in the background!

 

[KraftMatic87]

Any update on this? I'm watching LTs latest video and your truck is in the background!

Yeah I noticed that too! Thomas the service manager said he’d reach out this week but I haven’t heard anything yet. He also said that LT would potentially be doing a video on the truck getting repaired which would awesome. Called and left a message this morning. When I first had it brought in three weeks ago they said they might not get to it until after July 4th. At least it’s safe inside the shop for now.

Thomas said he pulled the dipstick and it appears I might have some metal in my oil. Huge bummer but given the knocking noise I’m not surprised. They have not cut the oil filter in half yet. I’m hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.

Does anyone have any advice on crate motors? From what I’ve learned so far I need to stay away from LKQ. Thomas suggested a Jasper reman and said he could get a 6.2 relatively quickly if it comes to that. However I’ve heard some horror stories about some people needing to replace a motor from Jasper 1-2 times under warranty. There is a company called Blueprint in Nebraska that makes their own blocks, and the cost and warranty looks similar to a Jasper reman. I guess I’ll wait to see what my options are.

Hoping I hear something later next week but man I miss that truck and can’t wait to get it back!

 

[swathdiver]

Yeah I noticed that too! Thomas the service manager said he’d reach out this week but I haven’t heard anything yet. He also said that LT would potentially be doing a video on the truck getting repaired which would awesome. Called and left a message this morning. When I first had it brought in three weeks ago they said they might not get to it until after July 4th. At least it’s safe inside the shop for now.

In the video LT mentioned that he was going out of town this week. He'll probably get after your Denali after Independence Day. I've made some comments on his videos hoping that he documents/videos your truck when he starts working on it.

Thanks for the update, I had forgotten what you told us and you both reminded me!

 

[KraftMatic87]

In the video LT mentioned that he was going out of town this week. He'll probably get after your Denali after Independence Day. I've made some comments on his videos hoping that he documents/videos your truck when he starts working on it.

Thanks for the update, I had forgotten what you told us and you both reminded me!

No worries! I saw you comment on that last video. Given all the hail we’ve had recently I’m just glad to see it’s indoors! I’m bummed I can’t drive it up to the mountains with my family this weekend for the 4th but given what I know about the condition of the engine now I’d be paranoid AF driving it up. At least my motor is intact and if I need a replacement I can get the core fee refunded which I think is around $2k. Hoping we can get it back sometime later in July!

 

[KraftMatic87]

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. I heard back from Courtesy Automotive today. My quote came to ~ $14k for an engine replacement, fixing my CV axle and replacing my rack and pinion assembly.

Needless to say I’m crushed right now. I owe $9k on the truck. I can pay to do these repairs but I’d be paying half cash and having to borrow the rest. My wife thinks I should fix it because if I sell for a loss we will still need another vehicle. I think I should fix it too but I’m the dum dum that got into this situation in the first place.

Is dumping this type of money on a 2009 Denali stupid? The motor alone from Jasper is close to $7k. They did say my transmission looks great, and the fluid is clean with no metal at all, so I guess that’s a plus. They said they see no need to throw a new torque converter in at this time.

I’m going to marinate on this overnight before I decide to commit to this. I have had such overwhelming stress about saving this truck it’s hard to know which way to go. If I pull the trigger tomorrow I’d get my truck back by July 21st.

Curious to hear your thoughts. Thanks everyone!

Link to Courtesy Automotive quote:

https://shop.tekmetric.com/authorize/Iw3P2bNsxsNecj88jcezkO1r-nHS7khvhxJSVPASNOk

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@KraftMatic87 I recommend you become handy with a wrench very soon. $400 for a CV axle replacement... is just 7 nuts and a $100 CV axle.

Another way to look at this, would you pay $23k for your Yukon with a brand new engine, steering rack, and CV axle?