2021 Suburban HC - Lifters

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two_burbs

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Long time lurker on a few Suburban/Tahoe/Yukon forums with both a 2021 Suburban HC and a 2022 Suburban RST.

I had hoped for a very long time that the lifter issue wouldn't affect me, but alas my 2021 just joined the failed lifter club. Truck was purchased new in April 2021 (w/ 28 miles on it) and now has 18,300 miles.

The suburban started making a clunking noise last night after driving for maybe 40 minutes (so vehicle was warmed up). Sound appeared to be in mid-engine or below dashboard. It happened right around the time the Suburban changed gears, so I thought for a few minutes that it was transmission related. But then a few more clunks happened and the RPMs fluctuated (car stuttered going ~40mph). Oil pressure remained good, real time mileage was good, and I didn't get any alerts/messages, so drove home and let it sit overnight.

Nothing uneventful happened when I started it up this morning (engine sounded normal). However, about 1/4 mile after driving, the clunk returned (louder this time) every 1-2 minutes. I still had no alerts or system messages. The clunk was followed by more of a snapping sound when idling at a red light (every 10 seconds or so), with the engine shuddering slightly and RPMs fluctuating slightly. When I parked and let the car idle there was a distinct, constant clicking noise. Again, no service messages or alerts.

I took it to the dealership and the service manager (which I have a good history with) agreed that it was very likely the lifters without even seeing the vehicle. He said they have a revised lifter part/sku that should take care of it. I would love to know how many design changes for these lifters GM has gone through for DFM engines or if they are still using the same part/design with "non faulty" springs? If the latter, it looks like folks are still occasionally having the problem on replaced lifters ...

In any case, I'm happy to report the outcome and any trouble I might have along the way.
 

Micahsd

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Sorry to hear that.
I joined the lifter club April of this year and bought mine April ‘21 also, except I had half the miles (9,100 at the time).

No issues since they did the lifter replacement. Currently up to 15,500 miles although they only replaced the affected bank and not all the lifters so I hope I’m not re-joining the club again soon. :)
 

Seamus

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The more time that goes by and the more miles, it is quite prevalent. Yet some like to debate its not a big issue. It is. Sorry for your troubles, hope it goes well. make sure they replace all of them not just once side and the other goes when your out of warranty. Good luck
 
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two_burbs

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Want to followup to my Jan 6th post. As expected, the issue was indeed failed lifters and a bent rod. Dealership replaced only one bank of lifters since mileage was over 6k or 8k (can't remember the threshold).

Waiting game for the remaining lifters to fail.... :thumbsdown:
 

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