L94 6.2 Reliability in 2013-2014 Yukon Denali

[Jettix2]

Looking for a newer ‘Burb for my wife,
$40k tops.

She originally wanted a 15+ but with all the horror stories of buffeting, vibrations, torque converter failures, a/c issues and more, we’re thinking of finding a low mileage ‘13-14 Yukon Denali XL with the L94 6.2 and hopefully mitigating potential issues.

The low mileage examples we’ve found are in the 50-60k mile range. I’ll get a tuner to disable AFM as soon as we get it.

Otherwise, is the L94 a pretty reliable engine? I know there’s been lots more lifter failures due to AFM on the 5.3, not sure if that’s because there are so many more on the road than 6.2s or what???

Any help appreciated, thanks!

 

[Doubeleive]

don't be discouraged but my 2012 has the L94, I purchased it at 82k with apparently a pre-existing problem that went un noticed by the dealer I purchased from out of state. I noticed right away the oil pressure was dropping pretty low and had it checked out by my local dealer turns out it had a bad cam or bad cam bearings and metal was lodged in the oil pump, luckily I had opted to purchase a power train warranty along with the vehicle and I ended up with a brand new factory motor which now has approx. 24k on it and I couldn't be happier. other than what I chock up to being just a bad straw pick there have been no other engine related issue's of any kind at all.

 

[swathdiver]

Great engine and a tune to turn off AFM and tweak the motor and transmission will make it much more enjoyable and efficient to drive. Budget for a Tech2 to go with your new truck.

 

[gooffeyguy]

don't be discouraged but my 2012 has the L94, I purchased it at 82k with apparently a pre-existing problem that went un noticed by the dealer I purchased from out of state. I noticed right away the oil pressure was dropping pretty low and had it checked out by my local dealer turns out it had a bad cam or bad cam bearings and metal was lodged in the oil pump, luckily I had opted to purchase a power train warranty along with the vehicle and I ended up with a brand new factory motor which now has approx. 24k on it and I couldn't be happier. other than what I chock up to being just a bad straw pick there have been no other engine related issue's of any kind at all.

What kind of oil pressure symptoms? My oil pressure gauge reads a bit above 40 when cold and right a 40 when warm and at speed, but when at warm idle drops to between the first mark (20?) and 40

2001 Yukon SLT
2012 Yukon XL Denali
2011 Yukon Denali RIP 5/20/18

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Doubeleive]

What kind of oil pressure symptoms? My oil pressure gauge reads a bit above 40 when cold and right a 40 when warm and at speed, but when at warm idle drops to between the first mark (20?) and 40

2001 Yukon SLT
2012 Yukon XL Denali
2011 Yukon Denali RIP 5/20/18

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

that sounds very much like normal operation, for one if you have the external oil cooler option that pretty much makes it 10 psi less (from what I have read), I was very used to my old nbs reading 60-65 never budged from there it had excellent oil pressure on a rebuild, so when I got this nnbs it would go all over the place at startup it would go to 40 then as you drove it would drop, drop, drop to almost 10 then go up and back down but it was way more than normal, these trucks will go from 40+ down to about 20 under normal conditions, but mine was dropping lower and it eventually would throw a code (low oil pressure) so I had the dealer check the gauge, it was fine, had them check the oil pressure sensor it was fine, so I said "dig deeper" and they tested the oil pressure out of the oil pump and it was fluctuating-so at this point normally what you see on these trucks 5.3, 6.2 is the o-ring on the oil pump either wears out and is sucking air or the oil pump is failing, but in my case when they dropped the oil pan to replace the o-ring or pump if need be they found a metal chunk stuck in the pickup tube

 

[swathdiver]

Gen IV aluminum block motors have an oil pump that flow 1/3 more volume than the pump used in the iron block motors. The bypass spring is set to 36 psi when hot. Normal operation is around 25 psi at idle and doesn't get much over 40 on the gauge when moving.

Some awesome information here:

http://www.enginebuildermag.com/wp-...es/03_01_2012/986163348GMGENI_00000054947.pdf