Higher mile L87

How many out there have higher miles on their L87 either before or after passing the pico recall? Or after engine being replaced? You hear of all the failures, but are there any unicorns out there?

My 2024 Tahoe had the pico test and “passed” whatever that means lol.

I put about 4k miles and had another 0-40W oil change then put another 2k miles, so approximately 6k miles since the test. I only have a little over 15k miles so not a lot and I have not noticed anything different in engine sounds, performance or fuel mileage before or after the test and different oil.

The Tahoe has been amazing truck so far and I hope to drive this one for a while but I am very interested in the new V8 engines that GM is supposed to have out soon.
The only regret I have is I didn’t get SuperCruise as everything I searched for options and colors I wanted did not have SuperCruise at the time I was buying and the new model year was a long way off.
That and more horsepower is enough to make me trade for.

Our 2022 Denali had 25k miles when it passed the PICO Test in November. We don't drive that much and are only at 26k right now. I would not say that I worry about the motor. I am aware and pay close attention to it, but if the numbers can be believed I have a 90% chance of it being OK. We will see.

GMCnewbee said:

Our 2022 Denali had 25k miles when it passed the PICO Test in November. We don't drive that much and are only at 26k right now.
I would not say that I worry about the motor. I am aware and pay close attention to it, but if the numbers can be believed I have a 90% chance of it being OK.

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Instead of gambling blindly, how much would it cost to get a peek inside the bottom of your oil pan after you drain all the oil out of it?
Just snake a flexyscope or something like that in there and actually see what's going on down there.
If you see ANY swarf in the pan, removing the pan to get rid of the swarf now might save you lots of downtime.
If you see NO swarf in the pan, your chances are far better than 90%.

Not a bad idea. I'll have to look into who in the Orlando area could do that for me. I guess an oil sample would be a good idea as well. It will be a while until I hit 30k because we just don't drive it every day. Only 1,000 miles since November, so I have time to ask around. At least I hope I have time!

I have over 97,000 miles on my 2021 Suburban High Country 6.2. I passed the PICO last November. I have been using 0W30 oil since I bought it in May of 2024 at 70,000 miles, now using 0W40.

GMCnewbee said:

Not a bad idea. I'll have to look into who in the Orlando area could do that for me. I guess an oil sample would be a good idea as well.
It will be a while until I hit 30k because we just don't drive it every day. Only 1,000 miles since November, so I have time to ask around. At least I hope I have time!

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If you see any swarf, you can get rid of it, then you know that even if it was built badly, you can at least say you cleaned out the garbage GM did not.
If you see NO swarf, then you can hope even harder - it becomes far less likely that your L87 was badly assembled & prepped if it's clean.

I'm the type of person who thinks it's always better to know, I'd not be able to resist peeking in the oil pan with a flexyscope.

I have been cutting open my filters to inspect. I have not seen any metal.

My 2024 L87 has 81K miles on it.

Switched to 0-40 oil at 40K miles. Passed the pico test at 47K miles. Also, before the truck reached 10K miles, I bypassed the auto stop/DFM and put a catch can on it.

jerry455 said:

I have been cutting open my filters to inspect. I have not seen any metal.

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There is such a thing as 'teeny tiny pieces of metal so small, even the best eyes cannot see them' ...

I understand that, but usually the larger particles are the ones that kill it. I always open filters on my vehicles. It is a habit. The one thing I find funny about this forum is how people with other generation of trucks comment about the newer ones, particulaly that theirs are so much better than the new ones. People seem to forget the problems that every generation truck has had. I have worked on GM Vehicles since the early 70's and every generation of truck have had their problems. It doesn't help any of us with newer vehicles, looking for information, to hear that all the time. That is why there are other sections for each generation of truck. This is the first forum that I have ever been a part of where this happens.

jerry455 said:

I understand that, but usually the larger particles are the ones that kill it. I always open filters on my vehicles. It is a habit. The one thing I find funny about this forum is how people with other generation of trucks comment about the newer ones, particulaly that theirs are so much better than the new ones. People seem to forget the problems that every generation truck has had. I have worked on GM Vehicles since the early 70's and every generation of truck have had their problems. It doesn't help any of us with newer vehicles, looking for information, to hear that all the time. That is why there are other sections for each generation of truck. This is the first forum that I have ever been a part of where this happens.

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Ya me too... That would be like me jumping in on a two or three generation older forum and start commenting on things. I don't own one. I don't know anything about them. And I certainly wouldn't comment on them. I never look at any other forum on here except the one I own. I may occasionally comment on something generic like tires or batteries in another generation, but even that is very rare. But like you said, there's plenty of people out there that want to tell you what you should do or buy and then tout their old beast.

Marky Dissod said:

There is such a thing as 'teeny tiny pieces of metal so small, even the best eyes cannot see them' ...

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If the filter traps if, you can easily see it. If the filter traps it, the particles will not be circulating, BUT if there are particles in the oil filter then something is not going well and even Oil Analysis will not detect debris in the filter.

If your eyes are not so good, use a magnifying glass or cheaters.

This was from a 2025 6.2l L87 in an AT4 with just 411 miles, first OE oil filter cut open.

jfoj said:

If the filter traps it, you can easily see it.

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Something is wrong with this line of reasoning. Even a half@$$ oil filter HAD BETTER be able to trap particles too small to be seen by the best naked eye,
otherwise what's the point of an oil filter?

jfoj said:

If the filter traps it, the particles will not be circulating

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It is entirely possible for a filter to catch a particle that it eventually releases some time later - unlikely, but still definitely possible.

jfoj said:

BUT if there are particles in the oil filter, then something is not going well

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if there are particles in the oil filter too small for the best naked eye to see, then something is already going less-than-ok.
By the time the particles are large enough for even the best naked to see, then something has regressed to 'what needs to be done SOON?'

jfoj said:

even Oil Analysis will not detect debris in the filter.

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Makes me wonder why used Oil FILTER MEDIA analysis is not a thing. If the oil filter has been running oil in one direction its entire life,
it shouldn't be too hard to remove the media for analysis. Likely unnecessary for engines in the middle of their lives,
but brand new engines and engines over 150,000 miles would likely find used oil filter media analysis useful.
And yes I'm suggesting going further than using a pair of +3 cheaters to eyeball the media.

While you may not be able to make out the smallest particles trapped by an oil filter, at some point enough material is trapped in the filter you will notice it building up due to discoloration in the filter media. Under 20 micros you will not be able to really see these, 30 micros maybe yes, maybe not depends on a lot of things including the lighting, contrast and how good someone's eyes are. You can use a magnifying glass to inspect the filter media, but you need to cut the media and stretch it out flat to really see what is caught by the filter. You rely on oil sampling and analysis to determine what the oil filter did not capture.

Most filters do not trap anything below 20-30 microns, so these particles continue to circulate in the engine, some may get picked up by the filter as it starts to become filled with particles, but in general the only way to remove the smaller particles from the engine is with an oil drain and this will not remove 100% of these particles.

I can see on the inside of the filter can/shell where I have my magnets where smaller iron is attracted and caught inside the filter housing. From inspection this appears to be very fine iron that likely would continue to circulate through the engine oiling system over time.

The only downside of the magnets, between the magnetic oil drain plug and the Filter Mags on the filter is this iron will not show up in oil samples so it may alter the results/impression of the wear metals in the engine. But I would rather capture what I can and keep if from recirculating through the engine.

I fully agree that sending oil filters in with oil samples for a facility to have a consistent process to determine the engines health based on what is actually caught in the oil filter is a bit missing link. But this is why I have been cutting filters open and inspecting them for years and I have access to a number of 2025 6.2l L87 that I have been inspecting the filters as well and what I am finding in the 2025 models is not encouraging. We are now starting to hear about 2025 and 2026 6.2l failures which is not good. Maybe not the numbers for earlier years, but these engines should not be failing at all IMHO if the correct measures were originally put into place.

jfoj said:

I fully agree that sending oil filters in with oil samples for a facility to have a consistent process to determine the engines health based on what is actually caught in the oil filter,
is a bit of a missing link. But this is why I have been cutting filters open and inspecting them for years ...

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If it were easier to remove the filtration media from the casing without contaminating the media,
and it were easier to bring to bear significant magnification beyond 'cheaters', I'd be all for it.

Specifically for L87s, it would seem that another missing link is sticking a flexyscope (?) thru the drain plug hole to look for swarf lying on the bottom of the pan.
Must be cheaper / easier more readily available to the masses than a 'PICO test'.

I bought my 2021 Denali 6.2 brand new and just hit 160,000 miles. Mine was not part of the recall and I haven't had a single problem, just regular maintenance. It's the best vehicle I've had.

Nord said:

I bought my 2021 Denali 6.2 brand new and just hit 160,000 miles. Mine was not part of the recall and I haven't had a single problem, just regular maintenance. It's the best vehicle I've had.

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What is your typical Oil Change interval? Do you follow the OLM on the dash?

What percentage of highway use does the vehicle get?

jfoj said:

What is your typical Oil Change interval? Do you follow the OLM on the dash?

What percentage of highway use does the vehicle get?

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For oil changes I go off the dash. I try to change it around 15-20% oil life left.

I'm about 60% highway and 40% city driving.

Nord said:

For oil changes I go off the dash. I try to change it around 15-20% oil life left.

I'm about 60% highway and 40% city driving.

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Assume you are running 0W20 oil?

What state/climate do you live in?

Thanks for the reply. It gives some context.