NHTSA opens preliminary probe into more than 870,000 GM vehicles

[jfoj]

Not sure the oil pump is too small?? But I think it is a combination of factors. I am just starting to research the prior generation 6.2l L86 which is very similar, main difference is AFM vs DFM but there may be others, I never studied up on the L86 as I never owned one.

Seems that a few things are contributing.

1. 2 stage vane style oil pump. Maybe?? GM dropped the oil pressure on the low stage compared to the L86?? The 2 stage pump is likely for fuel economy reasons, but is not so good for long term reliability IHMO. Oil not only lubricates, but it also cools. Also if for some reason air is getting in the oil supply then this is not good either.

2. Low viscosity oil and Auto Stop/Start. You end up introducing more dry or partially dry engine starts based on a fuel saving feature. I would rather use more fuel and have the engine last!

3. The vane style oil pumps seem to lose their prime quickly. Clearly overnight they will lose their prime, but what about during Auto Stop/Starting? With the lower viscosity oil, then the loss of prime will be quicker and more frequent than with a slightly higher viscosity oil. Will the oil pump eat itself sooner with 0W20 vs 5W30 when losing prime? Who knows.

4. Higher viscosity oil tends to drain back and out of bearing journals slower than lower viscosity oil. So there should be a slightly more protective oil film left in the oil pump and on the bearing journals when compared to 0W20.

Hell, maybe GM recall the 6.2l and reprograms the OLM/OCI and reprogram the ECU to only run the oil pump on the higher stage. I just do not see GM taking drastic action like Toyota and just replacing engines that have not failed, this is not in their playbook from my experience.

 

[kmcintosh]

Are there any known warranty issues if you go with the 5W30 oil? Instead of the manufactures recommendation?

 

[mountie]

Are there any known warranty issues if you go with the 5W30 oil? Instead of the manufactures recommendation?

Don't tell anyone at the dealer...... They won't know the difference. I doubt they will bother to check.

 

[jfoj]

First, is the dealer going to test the oil? No, they are going to pull the filter and drain the pan looking for the glitter and they will not even likely pull the oil pan with the track record of the 6.2l failures. Additionally with the track record of the 6.2l failures, there is no way they could claim a slightly higher viscosity oil could have lead to these failures. They could try, but I think at this point history is not on GM's side. The more I search and the more I read about all the 6.2l failures I am guessing they are into the 5000 range based on just the numbers I am finding an this is not all that have been reported.

Best thing you can do is document date, mileage and engine run hours for every oil change you perform. If you want to go above and beyond, obtain oil samples from either Blackstone Labs or Speed Diagnostics so you also have supporting information about how the oil condition was during changes. I would also log date, mileage and engine hours when oil was checked and if any oil was added between changes.

May want to consider a GM extended warranty (GMPP) to go beyond factory powertrain warranty coverage just so you have something to fall back on in case GM and/or the Class Action Lawsuits do nothing for you. Usually Class Action Lawsuits get the lawyers rich and will give you $500 your next GM purchase!

 

[jerry455]

I am using 0W30 Mobil 1 in my 6.2 with 81,000 miles.

 

[jfoj]

I am using 0W30 Mobil 1 in my 6.2 with 81,000 miles.

Good, better than 0W20.

So some questions:

What year vehicle?
Did you buy vehicle new?
Is this the original engine?
At what mileage did you start with 0W30?
How many miles do your change your oil or do you follow the OLM/OCI?
Any oil consumption between changes and how much?
How many hours are on the engine?
Do you use the Auto Stop/Start feature?
Is the Auto Stop/Start feature bypassed?
Do you have any sort of AFM/DFM disabler?

 

[Silverado4x4]

First, is the dealer going to test the oil? No, they are going to pull the filter and drain the pan looking for the glitter and they will not even likely pull the oil pan with the track record of the 6.2l failures. Additionally with the track record of the 6.2l failures, there is no way they could claim a slightly higher viscosity oil could have lead to these failures. They could try, but I think at this point history is not on GM's side. The more I search and the more I read about all the 6.2l failures I am guessing they are into the 5000 range based on just the numbers I am finding an this is not all that have been reported.

Best thing you can do is document date, mileage and engine run hours for every oil change you perform. If you want to go above and beyond, obtain oil samples from either Blackstone Labs or Speed Diagnostics so you also have supporting information about how the oil condition was during changes. I would also log date, mileage and engine hours when oil was checked and if any oil was added between changes.

May want to consider a GM extended warranty (GMPP) to go beyond factory powertrain warranty coverage just so you have something to fall back on in case GM and/or the Class Action Lawsuits do nothing for you. Usually Class Action Lawsuits get the lawyers rich and will give you $500 your next GM purchase!

You can log all you want if do your own oil changes your going to need a recipe also to prove your oil changes and the recipe will show what type of weight oil you purchased.

 

[jfoj]

I will worry about that when the time comes, I will also have oil analysis for every oil change and I will also have a separate ziplock bag for the oil filter that is removed at each oil change and cut open stored in a ziplock bag with date, mileage and engine hours written on the bag.

If these motors were not timebombs, I could see it being a fight, but there are easily a few a week that are mentioned over a few forums, Reddit and social media. The 2024's are also having problems as well as the hand built supercharged 6.2l engines in the Cadillac Type V, I do not factor in the Corvettes too much due to the dry sump system they are running.

I just performed my 2nd oil and filter change at 3484 miles with 76 hours on the engine for an oil change mileage of 2940 miles since the first oil change. The OLM was at 53% which I did not reset at the first oil change, so somewhere between 3000-4000 miles I will expect the OLM to be around 50% depending on driving conditions. I reset the OLM today when I performed this oil change. I am planning to perform oil changes about every 3000-3500 miles or when the OLM gets close to 50%. No need to try and find out how long I can stretch an oil change out.

I have a J&L catch can on the truck as well. I checked and emptied it today, it was about 1/2 full of oil and had probably a bit over 3/16" water below the oil. No oil consumption for this distance that I could perceive.

Will see what the oil analysis indicates and plan on around 3500 miles for the next oil change.

Will also benchmark my oil pressure after I get about 100 miles on the new oil using an advanced scan tool that can read the oil pressure from the ECU rather than trying to figure out the oil pressure from looking at the dash gauge. This will be used to compare to future oil changes as well.

Not much more a person can do to try and keep one of these engines running. Between a short OCI, Filter Mags on the oil filter, magnetic drain plug and a catch can, checking the oil ever fill up or every other fill up, anything else is on GM.

 

[RG23RST]

Changing the oil more often or to a different viscosity won't help you. The issue is with the bearings in the bottom end of the motor. Again, same design oiling system exists in the 5.3 and 6.6 and neither have this issue.

 

[RG23RST]

Basically,, the oil pump is too small. not great news... especially at a lower rpm. bummer.

The vane-style pumps fail to high pressure/high(er) volume if the pump control solenoid ever fails. They also are less prone to aeration issues and deliver more consistent performance than the older gerotor style. Transmissions have used this style of pump for decades.

 

[jfoj]

Changing the oil more often or to a different viscosity won't help you. The issue is with the bearings in the bottom end of the motor. Again, same design oiling system exists in the 5.3 and 6.6 and neither have this issue.

I believe the other engines are having some similar issues, not as many as the 6.2l. Unclear what the percentage of the 6.2l is compared to the 6.6l and 5.3l. I would say the failures before 7500 miles are not going to be solved with more frequent oil changes, but I expect the problems that are happening between 20,000 and 35,000 miles may be avoided by more frequent oil changes.

 

[jfoj]

GM's Broken 6.2L V8s Are Stranding Owners for Weeks as Replacement Engine Pipeline Dries Up

The situation has left dealers struggling to source new engines and owners with no clear repair timelines, and it's especially dire for people who need their trucks for work.

www.thedrive.com

 

[DontTaseMeBro]

GM's Broken 6.2L V8s Are Stranding Owners for Weeks as Replacement Engine Pipeline Dries Up

The situation has left dealers struggling to source new engines and owners with no clear repair timelines, and it's especially dire for people who need their trucks for work.

www.thedrive.com

This is starting to pick up steam in the news. Also seeing a lot of videos popping up all over YouTube covering this announcement.

 

[Vladimir2306]

In Russia, unfortunately, the GM warranty does not apply, so engine repairs are done at the expense of the owners. So far, there is an opinion in the services that the cause of breakdowns at low mileage is a violation of clearances. The piston does not move freely in the cylinder. Even having bought a new engine and disassembling it, we measured the gaps, they were lower than those required by the specification. This causes disruption of the crankshaft and destruction of the connecting rod bearings.
Therefore, in Russia, when buying a new engine, servicemen disassemble it and sharpen the hone, increasing the gaps. and then the engine runs without problems.

 

[jfoj]

Vladimir,

Interesting info.

Are you stating that the Pistons are too tight and/or the Piston Ring End Clearance is too tight?

What are they finding about bearing clearances?

Info might be useful to understand failures.

 

[Vladimir2306]

Vladimir,

Interesting info.

Are you stating that the Pistons are too tight and/or the Piston Ring End Clearance is too tight?

What are they finding about bearing clearances?

Info might be useful to understand failures.

Our services are divided in opinion, one service believes that the fault of engine breakdowns is the connecting rod liners, another service believes that the smart oil pump is to blame. But the third opinion is closer to me, it is that the clearances in the engine are too small, this just breaks the engine from the inside. Here is a video of the new engine and how the cold piston moves in it, and what will happen when it warms up? And I post photos of engine measurements 6.2 with a mileage of 3000 km. They are in Russian, but with a smart camera and translator it is not difficult to understand what is there))

Видео

 

[B-train]

You can log all you want if do your own oil changes your going to need a recipe also to prove your oil changes and the recipe will show what type of weight oil you purchased.

I think people are overthinking the oil thing here. When mine was under warranty andni got the 2 free changes, I just told them I wanted 5w-30 instead of 0w-20 and they didn't bat an eye at it. If you're doing you own, just run what you want. IF they ever say anything, tell them to look at their service literature for the 6.6L gas motor - nearly identical architecture (minus CAFE garbage) that have 5w-30 on the fill cap.

I've been running a LT 6.2L for 125k on 5w-30 without any problems.......granted it's one of the good ones - 2017. LOL

 

[Vladimir2306]

I think people are overthinking the oil thing here. When mine was under warranty andni got the 2 free changes, I just told them I wanted 5w-30 instead of 0w-20 and they didn't bat an eye at it. If you're doing you own, just run what you want. IF they ever say anything, tell them to look at their service literature for the 6.6L gas motor - nearly identical architecture (minus CAFE garbage) that have 5w-30 on the fill cap.

I've been running a LT 6.2L for 125k on 5w-30 without any problems.......granted it's one of the good ones - 2017. LOL

On the 6.2L 21+ engine, you cannot use 5-30 oil categorically, only 0-20. Oil 5-30 simply does not pass at the right pressure of the oil pump when starting, with thicker oil, the owners themselves kill the engine

 

[Jay P Wy]

On the 6.2L 21+ engine, you cannot use 5-30 oil categorically, only 0-20. Oil 5-30 simply does not pass at the right pressure of the oil pump when starting, with thicker oil, the owners themselves kill the engine

BS... The Corvette & Camaro 6.2l engines are the same and they use other than 0w-20 oil (including the supercharged ones). The cam & programing are where the engines differ. The 0w-20 oil in the trucks is purely for CAFE and emissions.

 

[Vladimir2306]

BS... The Corvette & Camaro 6.2l engines are the same and they use other than 0w-20 oil (including the supercharged ones). The cam & programing are where the engines differ. The 0w-20 oil in the trucks is purely for CAFE and emissions.

The engines can be the same, but they are used in different modes, a sports car drives at high speeds, Tahoe or Yukon drives at low speeds. For high revs, the oil should be thicker and the oil pump should be programmed to thick oil, and the Yukon tahoe oil pump should be programmed to work with 0-20 oil