2009 Yukon Denali 6.2 L9H Engine Replacement

[KraftMatic87]

I’m a lucky man to have such a wonderful woman in my life. We will find a way to save this truck. I have a 4 year old son and a 2 year old daughter and they LOVED the Denali. Every day I picked them up from daycare and brought them home they would spend 15-20 minutes in the truck pretending they were driving it and climbing around in the back. My son cried when we sent it away on a flatbed and to be honest I got emotional too. Probably because I have a loan out on it lol. It’s such a heartbreaking situation buying a car that needs to have such substantial amounts of work done to save it. I have never been in a situation like this before. I’ve been driving 10-15 year old cars my entire life and never dealt with an engine replacement before. It blows big time but we will prevail and bring this beast back to life!

 

[Geotrash]

I’m definitely a lucky man to have such a wonderful woman in my life. We will find a way to save this truck. I have a 4 year old son and a 2 year old daughter and they LOVED the Denali. Every day I picked them up from daycare and brought them home they would spend 15-20 minutes in the truck pretending they were driving it. They cried when we sent it away on a flatbed and to be honest I got emotional too. Probably because I have a loan out against it lol. I’m hoping I can afford to have a Jasper 6.2 dropped in with a new torque converter and then I’ll just send it! Where there’s a will there’s a way!

Your kids love it?!? I don't know what you mean...

 

[KraftMatic87]

Your kids love it?!? I don't know what you mean...

View attachment 402430

It’s going to be like Christmas when we finally get this truck back home lol

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@KraftMatic87 I know what you mean man, our Tahoe quickly became part of the family and my wife and kids know I consider it my 3rd child LOL

The kids love the view riding in the middle row and the wife loves the comfy spacious interior, the blasting AC, and heated seats. Our other vehicle is a honda civic hatchback SPORT so it is a night and day difference comparing the 2. The sport civic really should have been my ride it hasn't been a good family vehicle between the size and stiff suspension.

Sorry for you misfortunate luck in your motor, from one man to another that situation would have crushed me on multiple levels, I woulda cried like a baby so your feelings are 100% justified man.

Once you get it back on the road you guys are going to love it! Work on a tool collection, between your garage and the folks on the forum here you should be able to keep that thing on the road for very cheap until your son takes it to college.

 

[KraftMatic87]

.

 

[KraftMatic87]

@KraftMatic87 I know what you mean man, our Tahoe quickly became part of the family and my wife and kids know I consider it my 3rd child LOL

Sorry for you misfortunate luck in your motor, from one man to another that situation would have crushed me on multiple levels, I woulda cried like a baby so your feelings are 100% justified man.

I am definitely feeling pretty down. When I initially bought the truck I was expecting to do the 150,000 mile service early since I was only at 144k miles. I even upgraded the headlights and interior lights with LED's, fixed the cruise control with new brake controller, put new seat covers on, and fixed a leaking exhaust manifold before I realized what was going on in the motor. Unfortunately I learned that there are no lemon laws for used cars in Colorado, and after the first 3 weeks I had the truck I tried to get the dealer to take it back, and he said he wouldn't obviously. I have been robbed before, and the feeling I have right now is the same.

We are getting a quote on Monday from LT's shop for an engine replacement. The service manager said it would definitely exceed $10k unfortunately to put in a new Jasper 6.2. I am bracing myself for a $12k - $15k invoice. I'm still unsure how to move forward. I've had quotes for rebuilds that are half that cost, but I'm afraid then I might still have major engine issues down the road and then be back in the same situation minus thousands of dollars and little to no warranty on the work. Most rebuild shops I contacted would do a 12,000 mile / 1 year warranty. Hard to know what to do but my instinct is to replace the motor, I don't want my L9H anymore since its obvious the previous owner was not changing the oil regularly and was likely using regular gas in it.

 

[Geotrash]

.

I don’t know where the extra $5K+ would come from. List price for a reman L9H is right at $4300 + $900 core charge. R&R shouldn’t be more than $2500 on the high side. This ain’t a Ferrari.

 

[KraftMatic87]

I don’t know where the extra $5K+ would come from. List price for a reman L9H is right at $4300 + $900 core charge. R&R shouldn’t be more than $2500 on the high side. This ain’t a Ferrari.

That's what I thought. I was quoted at other places closer to $10k-ish. I'd hate to not be able to afford the engine swap at LT's shop and have to get it towed somewhere else. I want a Jasper motor though I have heard horror stories about LKQ's and I don't want to mess with them.

 

[swathdiver]

Curious to hear anyone else's thoughts on how to move forward.

Find out from LT exactly what went wrong with the engine. He ought to be curious himself. Whatever you decide which is best for you, it's the cost of the platform. Don't think about book value or any of that stuff. You bought one of the safest vehicles on the road for a fraction of the cost of a new one. You'll quickly come to appreciate the truck in the coming months as you get to drive it more.

 

[Geotrash]

That's what I thought. I was quoted at other places closer to $10k-ish. I'd hate to not be able to afford the engine swap at LT's shop and have to get it towed somewhere else. I want a Jasper motor though I have heard horror stories about LKQ's and I don't want to mess with them.

Well, it's worth finding out exactly what they replace with an engine swap. You may find that they take the time to replace all of the oil and transmission cooler lines, install a new water pump, new overflow bottle, etc etc. Plus the TC of course. An R&R done right by competent people is worth paying a bit more for. If you'd like, I can work up a list of what I would want replaced if I were having it done.