LZ0 Article & Video - Durability Issues

[2024 White Tahoe]

Here is a brief article and 6-minute video about durability issues developing on the LZ0 Duramax engine: https://gmauthority.com/blog/2026/05/gm-technician-shows-problem-with-lz0-duramax-engine-video/

 

[Fless]

The article is about the LZ0.

 

[2024 White Tahoe]

The article is about the LZ0.

Thank you.

Post edited.

 

[Fossil Fool]

Here is a brief article and 6-minute video about durability issues developing on the LZ0 Duramax engine: https://gmauthority.com/blog/2026/05/gm-technician-shows-problem-with-lz0-duramax-engine-video/

I have been following the reports. I just sent an oil sample for testing. I have 8500 miles on my 2026 Yukon Ang changes the oil at 5000 miles. Hopefully I get a good report.

 

[dukecharmary]

Where did you send your sample for testing, please.

 

[Jus Cruisin]

I have the LZO in my 2025 GMC 1500 Sierra Denali and I had the engine sieze while driving with about 5,000 miles on it. There were no warnings, no drama. I started to accelerate away from a roundabout and it "shut off". The dash said to place in park and restart. We'll, it didn't. Engine was replaced and no issues since. I'm going to order it in the 2027 GMC Yukon. I'm sold on the great economy and it pulls my enclosed car trailer great.

 

[NW-99SS]

I would drop the first oil by 1000 miles - and according the The Motor Oil Geek sampling on YouTube, it's imperative to prevent early engine failures.

FTR - I did change the oil on our 26 Yukon LZO at 1000 miles.

 

[genestoy]

I would drop the first oil by 1000 miles - and according the The Motor Oil Geek sampling on YouTube, it's imperative to prevent early engine failures.

FTR - I did change the oil on our 26 Yukon LZO at 1000 miles.

I just did the same at 1000 miles on my 2026 Yukon AT4 LZ0 and also had the dealer fill with Mobil1 and install my PPE oil filter for some added protection.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

I have the LZO in my 2025 GMC 1500 Sierra Denali and I had the engine sieze while driving with about 5,000 miles on it. There were no warnings, no drama. I started to accelerate away from a roundabout and it "shut off". The dash said to place in park and restart. We'll, it didn't. Engine was replaced and no issues since. I'm going to order it in the 2027 GMC Yukon. I'm sold on the great economy and it pulls my enclosed car trailer great. View attachment 487201

You're a brave man to buy another one after an engine failure. When my 5.3-liter lifters failed, I got the truck fixed and got rid of it right away. Why run the risk until they get it straightened out?

 

[Stbentoak]

I would drop the first oil by 1000 miles - and according the The Motor Oil Geek sampling on YouTube, it's imperative to prevent early engine failures.

FTR - I did change the oil on our 26 Yukon LZO at 1000 miles.

While I did the same thing because I just do it as a general rule on all new engines, if you have poorly manufactured or incorrectly installed thrust bearing, changing the oil sooner isn't going to change any of your outcomes. Oil in these vehicles is proven/tested valid even beyond 7500 miles. I go a min of 5k after the 1k and don't give it another minute of thought... I can't say I've ever seen an engine fail purely because of "oil" unless it's improper, way low on oil, or ran WAY longer than recommended.

Plenty of people have religiously changed their oil on their 6.2's including viscosity... and they still failed. You can't "Out Oil" defective/ out of spec critical components.....

 

[Jus Cruisin]

You're a brave man to buy another one after an engine failure. When my 5.3-liter lifters failed, I got the truck fixed and got rid of it right away. Why run the risk until they get it straightened out?

Really not brave. I looked at it as being no different than if your a/c compressor craps out. You get the defective replaced and continue on. My neighbor has had the 3.0l for a couple of years and his brother has put over 100,000 miles on them. I just had a fluke. The new one has had no issues and I really don't worry about it. I had the 6.2l in a 2023 and ditched it before the official recall. I'm much happier with the better economy and comparing diesel to premium that the 6.2l uses the fill up cost is similar.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

Really not brave. I looked at it as being no different than if your a/c compressor craps out. You get the defective replaced and continue on. My neighbor has had the 3.0l for a couple of years and his brother has put over 100,000 miles on them. I just had a fluke. The new one has had no issues and I really don't worry about it. I had the 6.2l in a 2023 and ditched it before the official recall. I'm much happier with the better economy and comparing diesel to premium that the 6.2l uses the fill up cost is similar.

I had the LM2, which didn't have thrust-bearing issues. It was more fuel-efficient than the gas engines, but I found the seats in the Yukon to be very uncomfortable.

Sadly, I don't think it's a fluke. It's more widespread than you realize. I hope you don't have the same issue with the next one.

3.0L Duramax: Thrust Bearing Failures | Diesel Dudes Blog

2025-2026 GM 3.0L Duramax thrust bearing failures explained. Early engines failing before 10k miles with P06DD codes. What you need to know.

thedieseldudes.com

 

[Jus Cruisin]

I had the LM2, which didn't have thrust-bearing issues. It was more fuel-efficient than the gas engines, but I found the seats in the Yukon to be very uncomfortable.

Sadly, I don't think it's a fluke. It's more widespread than you realize. I hope you don't have the same issue with the next one.

3.0L Duramax: Thrust Bearing Failures | Diesel Dudes Blog

2025-2026 GM 3.0L Duramax thrust bearing failures explained. Early engines failing before 10k miles with P06DD codes. What you need to know.

thedieseldudes.com

Mine wasn't a thrust bearing. No weird noises. Just locked up. Didn't know that when it happened. It was like I turned off the ignition and costed to a stop. GM didn't have the dealer open it up. Just crated it and shipped it back. No warning lights or anything. Acted like the battery died.

 

[PPK_]

I am not fan of oil burners… at the end of the day the lz0 is a 5 year 100k warranty versus the gasser’s 5 yr 60k. You have to go diesel…

Digging deeper… left 1044.jpg is a 5.3 with 700 miles and the other one is an lz0 1k miles. Look at them. Up close. You will see the 5.3 has a lot of contamination in it. That is nov 2024 built yukon. I had an 2018 5.3 that was perfect. Old machining? Poor cleaning before assembly?

The diesel has newer tools building it. Clean first drain. I do not like 0w20 oil.. i change it at 3k.

 

[Jus Cruisin]

I am not fan of oil burners… at the end of the day the lz0 is a 5 year 100k warranty versus the gasser’s 5 yr 60k. You have to go diesel…

Digging deeper… left 1044.jpg is a 5.3 with 700 miles and the other one is an lz0 1k miles. Look at them. Up close. You will see the 5.3 has a lot of contamination in it. That is nov 2024 built yukon. I had an 2018 5.3 that was perfect. Old machining? Poor cleaning before assembly?

The diesel has newer tools building it. Clean first drain. I do not like 0w20 oil.. i change it at 3k.

What am I looking at in the attachments?

 

[PPK_]

Those are oil drains.. bucket emptied with syphon hose so you can see what is in the bottom of the bucket. Left side… you can see where the drain put a lot at the wall of the bucket.. and then as the pan emptied.. you can see all the debris right back to right under the drain. The 5.3 took three or four refills at 500 miles to clean up the drain oil.

The other side is 3.0 liter drain.. not bad. I would not get 5.3…

 

[NW-99SS]

While I did the same thing because I just do it as a general rule on all new engines, if you have poorly manufactured or incorrectly installed thrust bearing, changing the oil sooner isn't going to change any of your outcomes. Oil in these vehicles is proven/tested valid even beyond 7500 miles. I go a min of 5k after the 1k and don't give it another minute of thought... I can't say I've ever seen an engine fail purely because of "oil" unless it's improper, way low on oil, or ran WAY longer than recommended.

Plenty of people have religiously changed their oil on their 6.2's including viscosity... and they still failed. You can't "Out Oil" defective/ out of spec critical components.....

As someone who owned 2 L86 (still have one) 6.2s - which are known for lifter failure...maintenance is key, including "out oil"ing the GM recommendations. For 6.2s AFM/DFM is a lifter killer, and for both 6.2 and the 3.0l the oil change intervals are too long - all the oil sampling found online proves this. What happens when you run contaminated oil with small metal particles in your engine for the GM recommended interval - for the 6.2s, bearing failure - and for the 3.0l, turbo failures and other components that fail as the metal particles enter the oil passages not designed for those particle sizes and using thin 0-20 that doesn't allow for a little more tolerance in between metal surfaces like a 30 or 40 weight oil.

For our 6.2s, we disable AFM immediately, run catch cans, 0W-30 Mobil 1 oil at 5K or less intervals - no issues. I have seen plenty of 6.2 failures due to using 0W-20 at the GM recommended interval with AFM intact, also 5.3s for the same reason.

For our 3.0 - disabled autostart/stop (cooking a turbo at a stoplight without coolant and oil flow is a terrible design), 0W-30 or 5W-30 oil depending on season, and less than 5K change intervals.

The thrust bearing I tend to agree with you on - it's a game of probability for us LZO owners, and you are correct that oil won't affect the failure rate of those.

 

[BlackHC2025]

10,800+ miles on my "ticking timebomb" LZ0.

 

[UsualSuspect]

You have to put this into perspective, GM produces approx 200,000 3.0's per year. The LZ0 was introduced in 2023, ball park 500,000 plus have been produced. The LM2 had over 1,000,000 plus produced (Unofficial GM leaked number is a littler over 1.2 million).
How many of those have failed? No one posts when they walk out, start the engine, go from point A to point B without any issues. If they walk out, it doesn't start, it doesn't make it from point A to point B, they do post about about it.
I purchase at least 100 new vehicles a year, while purchase price is a consideration, cost per mile to maintain them is as much a consideration. There are 17 LZ0's, 2025 or newer, have over 50,000 miles on them, none of them have suffered any mechanical failures. If the LZ0 was such a failure you would not see any in my parking lot. Are there failures, yes, a very small percentage. We will never know the failure rate, manufacturers don't post the rates on their drivetrains for the public to see.
Maintenance is key, every vehicle in our inventory is serviced between 4,500 and 5,000 miles. Oil and oil filters every 4,500-5,000, fuel filters every 3rd oil change, cabin and engine air filters every 4th service. Only use OEM filters.
Things I have discovered were not worth the cost as there were no benefits shown when compared to other fleet vehicles, same year, same power train. Aftermarket dual or smaller micron fuel filters, none of them resulted in less maintenance, but the filters were a higher cost, which increased maintenance costs.
Air filters, while the intakes looked better than the OEM, none of them resulted in less maintenance costs. Tried a few tuners, not one lowered operating costs sufficiently to break even with the cost of the tuner.
Tried the oil collector, did not lower costs either.
Depending on the dealership, some mods will cause the dealer's service department to put notes for the vehicle in the warranty system. Some dealerships didn't care. I always like the rsponse from the aftermarket folks, tell them they can't do that per the Magnum-Moss Warranty Act. Ask them to provide the legal council to fight the manufacturer, they won't, so much for that.