BREAKING: GM is officially recalling the L87

[WalleyeMikeIII]

Is this the only place to find engine build date.? I found a tag in the engine compartment on plastic trim with a very specific date stamp, is this engine build or final assembly?

The problem with either "new" or "reman" units, if new, what was the build date? I would be getting up under the vehicle to find the engine tag on the rear of the drivers side cylinder head to find the build date. If a "reman" I assume there is a tag on the driver side cylinder head with some date related info as well.

Engine Build Julian date is on a tag on the engine itself, usually on the driver side, end toward the rear of the vehicle. Lots of posts online on where to find it...I had to stick my cell phone up there to find the build date.
However, I think the recall actually references the vehicle build date, not the engine one...but if you get a replacement engine, would be good to know it's build date.

 

[Aggie76]

Michigan climate. I’m toast

Not necessarily true. Take a look at my posting exchange (#289) with jfoj along with his previous posts.

 

[roc1967]

Bottom line if you want your 6.2l to live a long life, I recommend these things.

1. Run only Premium fuel, preferable Top Tier fuel or BP/Amoco with Invigorate
2. Regularly run something like Techron Total Fuel System Cleaner in the fuel tank, I run it at 50% strength full time at the moment.
3. If you have a 2024 or older model, get a Range DFM disabler
4. Run in L9 around town up to 55 MPH
5. Install a catch can and empty is every 2000-2500 miles
6. DO NOT run 0W20 engine oil, seems GM want 0W40, I run Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 0W40, it is NOT Dexos Approved, but it likely would pass Dexos testing with flying colors. Pennzoil does not want to give GM the oil formulation which is a REQUIREMENT for Dexos approval. There are other vendors that do not want to give GM their oil formulation for their higher end oils. Low Sodium is one of the major requirements of Dexos approval and Pennzoil Ultra Platinum meets this requirement.
7. Change your oil every 3000-4500 miles depending on driving conditions. Consider watching the OLM and see what 50% is in mileage and maybe you can use 50% of the OLM as the reference.
8. DO NOT drive the vehicle less than 30 minutes when the temps are below 45F. You really need to drive these vehicles a minimum of 20 minutes almost every trip. Even at 80F it take 20 minute of driving to get the engine oil up to 200F.
9. DO NOT start and allow the engine to idle for warm ups, start the engine, allow the RPM to drop to 700-800 RPM, then drive the vehicle. The oil warms up far faster when driving vs idle.
10. Check your oil every at least other fill up, which is about 1000 miles depending on how the vehicle is driven. DO NOT wait until the low oil light comes on.
11. Keep your oil level at the TOP of the dipstick hash marks. I run 9 quarts at oil change, these engines take more than 8 quarts of oil with filter, check your oil when you put 8 quarts in, you will see the oil level will be about 2/3 down the hash marks on the dipstick.
12. Get a magnetic oil drain plug and install it. It can be a good reference for iron in the crankcase, it may not solve many problems, but GM cheaped out and did away with these. My 2005 6.0l has one and it has been useful to track what is going on in the engine. my 2005 6.0l has 275,000 miles, I hope I can get at least 1/2 of this with the 6.2l??

Everyone has opinions, I have done a lot of research and data logging on my truck and I know what is going on, so the above rule are what I follow. My oil has been changed 3 times in the first 6,000 miles. I have performed oil analysis on every oil drain.

Do what you want and fell is right, but

No shit... I'm glad I switched to Toyota.

 

[GMCnewbee]

I'

I called my dealer this AM and they confirmed that my engine was on the bad list.. I said what now? The service guy responded that he did not know and that they did not have clear direction from GM. He said that they had been originally been directed to change the oil wait but now that plan was being scrapped.. Oh boy

I have talked to my GMC Dealer twice. They will not be ready until June. I asked about coming in for an oil change but wanted a heavier oil than the 0W20. They say no, that at least until GM approves of something else they need to stick with what is written. I am also thinking about going to an oil change place with my own 0W4 oil and just paying them to put it in.

 

[GMCnewbee]

I agree. Doubling the weight of the oil in an engine that was specifically designed to operate with the lighter oil seems like a dart toss.

Agreed, but my only comment is that heavier oil is better than doing nothing, at least I hope that is the case.

 

[Mma-007]

Michigan climate. I’m toast

Person, you’ll be fine. Most importantly disregard the 0-w40 oil. Go with pen oil ultra plan 5w30. Said oil above will run into the same issue of 0w20. I got a 23 Yukon xl Denali with 11k miles. Been running 5w30 since I got it. I change my oil every 2500 miles but that’s my own personal preference.
Get an oil catch-can. Not a plug but I got mine from upr. Works tremendously.

I do my own work on the car. No offense to mechanics that may be on this forum. But, I haven’t had the best of luck with them. So I take it upon myself. Plus you know for a fact that the work was done. I’ve seen and heard too many stories of dealers and mechanics saying they did something when in reality they didn’t

Btw, I live in park city Utah. Where depending on the winter can get below freezing.

Take care of the car. Don’t treat it as a race car as it isn’t one. If you do your own maintenance or trust a mechanic to do it for you….You’ll be fine.

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

Attachment to Safety Recall Notice indicates the Crankshaft made in Mexico by Questum Macimex and the Connecting Rods made in Michigan by American Axle and Manufacturing.

 

[KMeloney]

Michigan climate. I’m toast

Your climate isn't harsher than Russia's.

 

[Silverado4x4]

Attachment to Safety Recall Notice indicates the Crankshaft made in Mexico by Questum Macimex and the Connecting Rods made in Michigan by American Axle and Manufacturing.

Wow American Axle at it again. They were responsible for the defective axles in 2019 thru 2020 with the clinging noise coming from the front axle. Luckily my 2019 I had was a GM axle in the front and didn't have the clinging noise.

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

Your climate isn't harsher than Russia's.

I am in Minnesota, got 35,500 on the odometer. In winter, it is often -10 degrees all day in January, my trip home is 6 miles. Trip to work is 6 miles too. 20 F in the garage in morning, -10 in afternoon after sitting in parking lot all day. In these temps, I drive the 6 miles and park it. So far no issues...but longest oil change interval I have been is 5500 miles.

Oh and BTW, stopped at my dealer today. Service advisor had the bulletin from GM, but had not yet seen the Safety Recall Report from NHTSA. I educated them. He said they don't even stock the 0W-40 oil, and he warned the parts guys to get it in. He also said they are not yet ready to do anything, and printed out my vehicle history report from GM and gave it to me. Recall is listed, but says "no remedy available." He said until GM gets them the inspection procedure and the notification on what to do, can't do anything. He agreed it is bogus that GM notified us all in the App there was a recall, but no remedy. Said he has had several calls so far today. That said, I think right now we on the forum are more educated than the dealers are. Sad if you ask me, but it is what it is.

Also, I am kind of amazed GM does not have better quality traceability in their MFG process to know when they had out of spec crank shafts and contaminated rods, and know exactly which engines those went in, and then which engines went in which truck. The recall notice from NHTSA seems to indicate they know the time period they had bad components, but they don't seem to be sure which exact engines got bad components.

 

[Mma-007]

I am in Minnesota, got 35,500 on the odometer. In winter, it is often -10 degrees all day in January, my trip home is 6 miles. Trip to work is 6 miles too. 20 F in the garage in morning, -10 in afternoon after sitting in parking lot all day. In these temps, I drive the 6 miles and park it. So far no issues...but longest oil change interval I have been is 5500 miles.

Oh and BTW, stopped at my dealer today. Service advisor had the bulletin from GM, but had not yet seen the Safety Recall Report from NHTSA. I educated them. He said they don't even stock the 0W-40 oil, and he warned the parts guys to get it in. He also said they are not yet ready to do anything, and printed out my vehicle history report from GM and gave it to me. Recall is listed, but says "no remedy available." He said until GM gets them the inspection procedure and the notification on what to do, can't do anything. He agreed it is bogus that GM notified us all in the App there was a recall, but no remedy. Said he has had several calls so far today. That said, I think right now we on the forum are more educated than the dealers are. Sad if you ask me, but it is what it is.

Also, I am kind of amazed GM does not have better quality traceability in their MFG process to know when they had out of spec crank shafts and contaminated rods, and know exactly which engines those went in, and then which engines went in which truck. The recall notice from NHTSA seems to indicate they know the time period they had bad components, but they don't seem to be sure which exact engines got bad components.

Dealers are only worried about sales. They can really care less about things like this. Only we care about them because we’re invested. GM had to post something to calm social media down. People have been spamming GM for acknowledgment of this issue and finally they did even if the individuals spamming them don’t have these vehicles. Doesn’t necessarily mean they know what to do. But, they put out a statement.

So I’m not sure if you’ve been through every page on this thread. I don’t remember the page number but someone posted a report I believe from NTHSA. Where the report said out of all the vehicles affected it was only 3% of them. Now, those are the reported ones. I agree that number will increase as more issues arise. But, to a car manufacturer they consider that to be within a margin of error. Based on the number of cars they crank out on a yearly basis. We on the other hand see it negatively and rightly so for the folks dealing with engine replacements.

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

Dealers are only worried about sales. They can really care less about things like this. Only we care about them because we’re invested. GM had to post something to calm social media down. People have been spamming GM for acknowledgment of this issue and finally they did. Doesn’t necessarily mean they know what to do. But, they put out a statement.

They did more than "put out a statement." They did a "Product Safety Recall" which is not something any manufacturer of any product does lightly, because to do so is to admit you built a defective and unsafe product. So, they likely got some pressure from Uncle Sam, and thus had to act, or the alternative was going to be worse. To say doing this recall is pure PR is grossly understating the reality. Dealers, at lest the good ones, actually care more about service than vehicle sales. Vehicle sales are really a pipeline to the true profit center of the dealership, which is the finance and service departments. The good ones will take care of their customers as best they can, so they retain them.

 

[Mma-007]

They did more than "put out a statement." They did a "Product Safety Recall" which is not something any manufacturer of any product does lightly, because to do so is to admit you built a defective and unsafe product. So, they likely got some pressure from Uncle Sam, and thus had to act, or the alternative was going to be worse. To say doing this recall is pure PR is grossly understating the reality. Dealers, at lest the good ones, actually care more about service than vehicle sales. Vehicle sales are really a pipeline to the true profit center of the dealership, which is the finance and service departments. The good ones will take care of their customers as best they can, so they retain them.

I agree with you. However, the percentage of dealers that actually care about the consumer is very small.

 

[KMeloney]

Also, I am kind of amazed GM does not have better quality traceability in their MFG process to know when they had out of spec crank shafts and contaminated rods, and know exactly which engines those went in, and then which engines went in which truck. The recall notice from NHTSA seems to indicate they know the time period they had bad components, but they don't seem to be sure which exact engines got bad components.

I suspect they do have that traceability and do know what-went-where (to a large extent, at least). I also suspect that they've been scrambling to determine their best (for them) course of action given the circumstances.

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

I suspect they do have that traceability and do know what-went-where (to a large extent, at least). I also suspect that they've been scrambling to determine their best (for them) course of action given the circumstances.

There is no doubt they are trying to do it at the least cost...been through similar discussions in my career on quality issues too...it is truly a difficult thing to do.

 

[BacDoc]

I personally use 0-20 oil in less than ideal conditions. I have driven 100k miles on 0-20 oil in a K2 Tahoe with a 6.2 engine, and now I have 75k miles on a 2022 GMC Yukon with a 6.2 engine. My conditions are not ideal at all, I live in a metropolitan area in Russia, the car is used for Home-Work-Home events in traffic jams and congestion.
I don't change the oil early, but change it according to the regulations, every 7500 miles.
I always warm up the engine in winter for at least 10 minutes. And in summer for at least 1-2 minutes after a long parking.
I have heavy traffic in the city with traffic jams, and on the highways I drive very fast at a speed of 90-110 miles per hour.
Plus I often drive a heavy trailer.
And with all these conditions I have no problems with the cars.

In Russia we don’t even let engines destroy us, we destroy engines! LOL

 

[BacDoc]

Yes, I'm on the list because I have a 2022 Yukon. But I'm still not going to switch to 0-40 oil. I'll stay with 0-20. By the way, our mechanics have learned to open the engine from below, without dismantling it, and change the connecting rod bearings. This operation is inexpensive, and in Russia, those who are at risk have already changed the bearings from the T1 generation to the red bearings from the K2 generation. They fit perfectly together.

Excellent!
Russian ingenuity at its finest
Necessity is the mother of invention!

 

[Vladimir2306]

If you want advice from me, as a person from distant Russia, where there is no warranty for GM. Then you have two options, if you have a warranty, then wait for the dealer's decision, they will say to change the oil to 0-40, so change, they will say to leave 0-20, leave it. In any case, you are protected by the warranty, decide to replace it with 0-40 oil yourself, you will lose the warranty. If your warranty has already expired, then I advise you to go to the service so that they open the engine from below and replace the connecting rod liners with the same ones from the 4th generation red, we have this work costs 400 dollars. And then drive and monitor the oil level every 600-700 miles, checking it with a white paper towel. Metal particles are clearly visible on it, if they are not there, everything is fine, if they are there, then run to repair the engine. That's it, don't panic or get hysterical

 

[Vladimir2306]

In Russia we don’t even let engines destroy us, we destroy engines! LOL

You know, just now we discussed it with the owners of the 4th generation.here are those who drive by pressing the pedal to the floor and driving at speeds of 160-240. Yes, we have learned how to remove the limiter and there are Tahoes and 4th generation escalades that drive 240 km/h. So those who drive fast drive 300-400 thousand kilometers, not knowing about the problems of AFM, or lifts, but those who drive in the city and traffic jams, or drive calmly, they begin to repair engines after 100-150 thousand km

 

[BacDoc]

You know, just now we discussed it with the owners of the 4th generation.here are those who drive by pressing the pedal to the floor and driving at speeds of 160-240. Yes, we have learned how to remove the limiter and there are Tahoes and 4th generation escalades that drive 240 km/h. So those who drive fast drive 300-400 thousand kilometers, not knowing about the problems of AFM, or lifts, but those who drive in the city and traffic jams, or drive calmly, they begin to repair engines after 100-150 thousand km

Interesting what can be accomplished by ingenuity. I saw a YouTube video of a shop in Thailand (from Russian guy called Sanctioned Ivan) and those guys learned how to rebuild motors in an environment where parts are hard to get, that most shops in the US would just toss and replace. They did this work usually less than a full day and those engines would better than new! German, Japanese or American cars they fixed all of them!

It is truly amazing what problems can be solved when the mechanics start using their brains instead of a computer to tell them what to do!