BREAKING: GM is officially recalling the L87

[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!