Spun Rod Bearing - 2021 Yukon Denali 6.2 L

[DFWTX_GMYukonDen]

Unfortunately, our 2021 Yukon Denali with the 6.2 L V8 has suffered a spun rod bearing at 44K miles. The vehicle has been driven carefully, never even used 4WD, maintained extremely well and just recently received (a bit early) all the preventative maintenance/care suggested for the 45K mileage mark.

The failure was observed via pinging/knocking sound on the way home from work, just a mile from home (12/08/24). The next morning I had it towed to the GMC dealership where I've been regularly acquiring service. The Service Department informed me of the failure, which is covered under GM's 5 year Powertrain warranty, and explained that an engine replacement would be required.

Thank goodness it's covered, but what a discouraging situation, especially with my decades of loyalty to the brand, and considering the original purchase price having been well over $80K. Anyways-

QUESTIONS...

The Service Dept. at the Dealership is telling me a "GM Re-Manufactured Engine" will be used as a replacement, but is that typical, or should I have any realistic expectation that a "brand new engine" be utilized as a replacement motor?

Does this issue of engine replacement affect re-sale or trade-in value, at some point in the future?

Should I expect the vehicle to be reliable for future long-term use, or should I expect little/big issues to pop up occasionally in the future because the engine has been replaced?

Thanks for any opinions.

 

[Bigburb3500]

Unfortunately to say, brand loyalty is not a real thing anymore unless you also carry a name-brand last name. But companies only care about loyalty if you are buying thousands of vehicles annually, not 10-20 over a lifetime (sorry, I’m a downer here).

Resale: Eh. Kinda/kinda not. It will likely show on the carfax that the engine was replaced under warranty. It may have some negative impact but more likely when doing a private sale vs trade in at a dealership. I think bigger impacts occur when multiple engine replacements occur. There is another unfortunate person on here with similar issues.

As for the reman engine, idk. I would say my personal preference would be to have new, but if the GM dealership is installing a GM reman and it comes with a GM 100k warranty then I don’t think I would have much issue.

 

[TollKeeper]

Its all about the warranty, what does this reman engine offer? If it comes with a 100k warranty, than I would think you are ok...

Still expect a bill at the dealer when you go to pick it up. Theres always some part or fluid that isnt covered under warranty..

 

[homesick]

Here's a possibly relevant angle, IDK...

Years ago, the 3.0 V6 engine in my wife's Toyota was "replaced", due to a class action suit. What we were told Toyota actually did was attach all the old parts to a new block.

I don't get all the Toyota hype, but that's a different thread.

joe

 

[Antonm]

You'll mostly likely continue to have a series of smaller issues pop up down the road that if not covered under warranty , will bleed your bank account dry.

The main reason is the way dealerships (and most privately owner automotive repair shops for that matter) pay the Mechanics/ techs that do the work.

Dealerships mechanics/ techs are payed based off book time. So if the book says it take 16 hours to change an engine, then they get paid 16 hours of their hourly rate to change that engine regardless of how long it actually takes them.

So if they rush through a repair, use an impact gun on literally every bolt, and don't bother to even look at the parts they are taking off & putting back on, then they can get that 16 hour paying job done in one day, but still receive 16 hours worth of pay for it. Do that again the next day and bam,,, you just got 32 hours worth of pay in two normal working days.

As a result speed is KING in every automotive repair shop out there and when getting the vehicles in and out as fast as possible is the total focus,,,,,well, stuff gets missed and half-*** work is the normal.

So yeah, you'll probably have a few new/ lingering issues as a result of the half-*** rush job the dealer will do to get engine swapped out is my guess.
...

 

[15burban]

Ask or tell them you want your warranty extended.

As far as resale/trade in goes you've already past the biggest depreciation "point" and that's the first year of ownership of a new vehicle.

My opinion is if you're really concerned about the trade in/resale then get rid of it once the new motor is in it or keep it for the long haul where the resale doesnt matter anyways. Just depends on if you if you actually like it or if you need/want a new vehicle every few years.

You might have a chance of getting a little more with the new motor. Where as once you put another 150k or so on it it's not going to matter. Or at least it wouldn't to me. I'd just look at it as a 19xk mile vehicle.

If you keep it hopefully it's a good mechanic doing the swap and takes pride in his work. If I had to pick (I don't like other people working on my stuff) I'd much rather have someone else replace the motor then actually tear into the motor for a fix.

 

[Blackcar]

Here's a possibly relevant angle, IDK...

Years ago, the 3.0 V6 engine in my wife's Toyota was "replaced", due to a class action suit. What we were told Toyota actually did was attach all the old parts to a new block.

I don't get all the Toyota hype, but that's a different thread.

joe

Still going on

Toyota Tundra Engine Recall Lawsuit Filed as Class Action

A Toyota Tundra engine recall lawsuit alleges actions by the automaker won't repair the trucks and the recall does not include all affected vehicles.

www.carcomplaints.com

 

[89Suburban]

What a joke probably better off with a reman imho if “new” ones are failing.

 

[homesick]

Still going on

Toyota Tundra Engine Recall Lawsuit Filed as Class Action

A Toyota Tundra engine recall lawsuit alleges actions by the automaker won't repair the trucks and the recall does not include all affected vehicles.

www.carcomplaints.com

I'm not surprised.

joe

 

[slupie]

I hope they at least do oil cooler and lines flush since there is possibility of glitter (bearing material) in theere after a spun bearing.

 

[Jocko PDX]

A work colleague of mine had the 6.2 go bad and they put in a "remanufactured" engine.. That went bad.. Now he is filing a lemon law case if they won't replace his rig. We will see.

 

[homesick]

I'll never buy another new one, they're way too far down the path from machine to sealed, and spyware laden, appliance for me.

This '07 Escalade is already further down that path than I like; and is my last. If it ever needs an engine, it'll be a crate engine.

joe

 

[West 1]

I can't say if GM is still using this company but AER in Texas had the GM contract to supply long blocks and short blocks to the GM dealerships. They are a first class operation, I have toured the plant and seen their equipment and test facilities.

GM does not do any of the warranty engines in house they farm it out. If the engine is still in production, exact engine you need GM may pull one off the assembly line for these failing 6.2L engines.

At one point AER was rebuilding warranty engines for GM, Ford and Nissan along with many smaller customers. I think they rebuilt 60,000 engines the year I toured the plant. I would be happy to have one of their engines supplied as a warranty replacement unless they have changed ownership and management style. It has been almost 20 years since I toured the plant. They are not small time, the plant is 700,000 square feet.

GM used to source engine bearings from Federal-Mogul and Clevite (made in America) and had almost zero engine bearing failures for many years. I bet GM has now switched and is using bearings from China or India. Bearing failures were pretty much eliminated decades ago in OEM engines. The fact that they are back in huge numbers tells you clearly somebody decided to drop quality for better pricing. Chrysler did it first, went to a low cost provider, (China) and had numerous bearing failures due to this cost savings.
Sad fact. Who knows maybe competition has made Clevite and Federal Mogul move manufacturing overseas also. Engine Bearings might be going the way of brakes. You can't buy a Disc brake made in America anymore. All the major players moved production to China 20 years ago. Even Timken automotive wheel bearings I have seen lately state made in China? Sad to see and now we live with the results of this shift.

 

[GMCChevy]

I can't say if GM is still using this company but AER in Texas had the GM contract to supply long blocks and short blocks to the GM dealerships. They are a first class operation, I have toured the plant and seen their equipment and test facilities.

GM does not do any of the warranty engines in house they farm it out. If the engine is still in production, exact engine you need GM may pull one off the assembly line for these failing 6.2L engines.

At one point AER was rebuilding warranty engines for GM, Ford and Nissan along with many smaller customers. I think they rebuilt 60,000 engines the year I toured the plant. I would be happy to have one of their engines supplied as a warranty replacement unless they have changed ownership and management style. It has been almost 20 years since I toured the plant. They are not small time, the plant is 700,000 square feet.

GM used to source engine bearings from Federal-Mogul and Clevite (made in America) and had almost zero engine bearing failures for many years. I bet GM has now switched and is using bearings from China or India. Bearing failures were pretty much eliminated decades ago in OEM engines. The fact that they are back in huge numbers tells you clearly somebody decided to drop quality for better pricing. Chrysler did it first, went to a low cost provider, (China) and had numerous bearing failures due to this cost savings.
Sad fact. Who knows maybe competition has made Clevite and Federal Mogul move manufacturing overseas also. Engine Bearings might be going the way of brakes. You can't buy a Disc brake made in America anymore. All the major players moved production to China 20 years ago. Even Timken automotive wheel bearings I have seen lately state made in China? Sad to see and now we live with the results of this shift.

Where's the source for Chrysler using Chinese bearings? That's a new one. They never had major engine issues like these ones. Their biggest problem has been the same sort of lifter issue as GMs are having.

 

[jfoj]

Mahle acquired Clevite back in 2006. Like any company that is acquired, problems come up. I have never seen much good come from most European/US mergers acquisitions. The culture differences and engineering philosophies collide and usually the Europeans do not understand the US business operations or consumers IMHO.

What I do know from some very good sources is Mahle/Clevite did have bearing laminate issue around 2021 (COVID era) probably due to supply chain or material issues. Not sure how big of a problem this really was and how soon things may have failed.

The primary problem with the 6.2l failures is caused by fuel diluted 0W20 oil that has lost a significant amount of its viscosity and the reason the 6.2l are failing so much more frequently than the 5.3l is the Low RPM, High Torque the 6.2l can produce and the fact that the TCM has the engine loading at 70%-100% at 1500-1700 RPM on the highway pulling slight grades. Fuel is solvent and in the crankcase does not do well lubricating and cooling highly loaded bearing surfaces.

 

[West 1]

Chryslers problem with bearings was with the 2.7L V6, they were building it with zero issues and then switched vendors for the rod bearings and had many failures due to the switch. I have been out of the business since 2019 so no longer have access to the direct information on who is using what products.
If you have a failed GM bearing on hand the back of the bearing is stamped, the numbers will tell you who made the bearing, the part number, size and date code of production.

I worked for Federal Mogul for 30 years, in the engine bearing development labs they had 26 dynos running 24/7 doing development work for everything from Detroit Diesel to Briggs and Stratton. Up till 2004 you could not sell a bearing to the major manufacturers unless you could prove they met standards in actual running dyno tests, Ford had a standard for Pistons where they insisted on a 300 hour wide open throttle test for a piston to pass. Think about that one, who would run an engine even 1 hour at wide open throttle but they insisted on a 300 hour test for certification.

Edit: The 300 hour test was done at the RPM the engine reached max torque, if that was 4800 RPM that is where it was held for 300 hours at full throttle with the Dyno limiting the RPM to 4800 rpm.

I understand today most of the development of the new parts is all done with computer simulations rather than actual running engines on dyno’s.