2009 Yukon Denali 6.2 L9H Engine Replacement

[KraftMatic87]

Necessity is the mother invention

Get busy becoming a DIYer.

I grew up middle class. I had an older brother that was always tearing up his cars. Dad told him "you broke it you fix it". So, even before I had a DL and my own car to tear-up I was becoming a DIYer mechanic helping my brother do the work. Dad wasn't paying someone else to do it.
Soon as my brother grew up and had $, he's never worked on a car since.

We have done ok financially but none of our cars vehicles (6) goes to a garage to be fixed. Saves us a bunch of $ so we can blow it on other stuff. and I retired at 51.

Good for you! I grew up in a middle class background too, and for the most part I’m used to fixing things myself, especially around the house. Once I get out of this mess I’ll be investing in some tools and a hydraulic jack so that whatever pops up next I’ll be able to tackle on my own or with some help in my driveway. I’ve actually done work on previous cars I’ve owned (replacing compressor, radiator, alternator, brake pads and rotors, etc) but I knew I was out of my depth here. I also have a 4 year old with autism and a 2 year old so finding time to wrench is harder these days than when I was younger. LT at Courtesy Automotive took a look at my truck and advised a rebuild might not be the best way to move forward since I have damage on the bottom end of the block. When they cut the oil filter open it looked like they had gone panning for gold, so that wasn’t great. Lesson learned but any future repairs to this truck I’m gonna definitely be doing on my own!

I have a meeting with the general manager of the shop (Lee Myles Boulder) that did my pre-purchase inspection next week and I'm hoping they will do the right thing and compensate me for part of this outrageous repair bill. If they don't I have a friend who would represent me pro bono in small claims court if we sued them. If we subpoenaed camera footage and other repair documents that might scare them enough to just cough up some dough. Hoping it doesn't come to that but at this point I'm so deep into this mess I have nothing to lose. I should be getting the truck back by July 21st so I'm just excited to get it back on the road.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Good for you! I grew up in a middle class background too, and for the most part I’m used to fixing things myself, especially around the house. Once I get out of this mess I’ll be investing in some tools and a hydraulic jack so that whatever pops up next I’ll be able to tackle on my own or with some help in my driveway. I’ve actually done work on previous cars I’ve owned (replacing compressor, radiator, alternator, brake pads and rotors, etc) but I knew I was out of my depth here. I also have a 4 year old with autism and a 2 year old so finding time to wrench is harder these days than when I was younger. LT at Courtesy Automotive took a look at my truck and advised a rebuild might not be the best way to move forward since I have damage on the bottom end of the block. When they cut the oil filter open it looked like they had gone panning for gold, so that wasn’t great. Lesson learned but any future repairs to this truck I’m gonna definitely be doing on my own!

I have a meeting with the general manager of the shop (Lee Myles Boulder) that did my pre-purchase inspection next week and I'm hoping they will do the right thing and compensate me for part of this outrageous repair bill. If they don't I have a friend who would represent me for free in small claims court if we sued them. If we subpoenaed camera footage and other repair documents that might scare them enough to just cough up some dough. Hoping it doesn't come to that but at this point I'm so deep into this mess I have nothing to lose. I should be getting the truck back by July 21st so at this point I'm just excited to get it back on the road.

I really hope they do the right thing for you and your family. Good luck my friend.

 

[KraftMatic87]

I had a conversation with Thomas the service advisor today because I realized the torque converter I wanted to be installed wasn’t on my quote. All the other shops I contacted about engine replacements said it would be no problem to throw one in while the engine was out and it would cost about $300 with no labor.

When I asked Thomas about this he said the fluid in my transmission looked really clean, and there was no metal in it at all. He said it wasn’t necessary to throw one in, but even more puzzling was he said they were difficult to find and usually not in stock anywhere? I literally said ok and just ended the conversation but I’m not gonna lie this sounds silly after all the research I’ve done about the stock TCs failing.

Every other shop I’ve talked to about this recommended I throw a new TC in while the engine was out to prolong the life of the 6l80. I would like to not worry about transmission problems for as long as I can after spending this kind of money on the vehicle.

@NickTransmissions do you have any input here?

 

[NickTransmissions]

I had a conversation with Thomas the service advisor today because I realized the torque converter I wanted to be installed wasn’t on my quote. All the other shops I contacted about engine replacements said it would be no problem to throw one in while the engine was out and it would cost about $300 with no labor.

When I asked Thomas about this he said the fluid in my transmission looked really clean, and there was no metal in it at all. He said it wasn’t necessary to throw one in, but even more puzzling was he said they were difficult to find and usually not in stock anywhere? I literally said ok and just ended the conversation but I’m not gonna lie this sounds silly after all the research I’ve done about the stock TCs failing.

Every other shop I’ve talked to about this recommended I throw a new TC in while the engine was out to prolong the life of the 6l80. Am I being crazy here for wanting one thrown in? I would like to not worry about transmission problems for as long as I can after spending this kind of money on the vehicle. It seems unwise to me not to throw a new one in while the engine is out but maybe I’m missing something here.

@NickTransmissions do you have any input here?

I'd like to try some of whatever your service advisor is smoking/drinking...

That said, yes - replace that POS converter while your engine's out with one from Circle D, Yank, Florida TC, TCI or any number of other well known converter manufacturers. Make sure the clutch itself is at least .050" thick. The factory converter's clutch is only .020" thick. Add a billet cover if you will be doing anything heavy duty or performance oriented as the factory cover will warp under high power/torque...

 

[KraftMatic87]

I'd like to try some of whatever your service advisor is smoking/drinking...

That said, yes - replace that POS converter while your engine's out with one from Circle D, Yank, Florida TC, TCI or any number of other well known converter manufacturers. Make sure the clutch itself is at least .050" thick. The factory converter's clutch is only .020" thick. Add a billet cover if you will be doing anything heavy duty or performance oriented as the factory cover will warp under high power/torque...

Ironically he said he quit drinking 70 days ago lol. He told me because I said I needed a gallon of whiskey to sleep every night since I bought this damn truck lol. Good for him but yeah WTF man I just want to protect my 6l80 and not have it take a dump on me so soon after replacing my engine. I want to trust this service advisor but this comment REALLY left me scratching my head and frankly worried me a bit. I’m willing to spend a few hundred dollars to make sure my trans lasts as long as possible after replacing my engine. I think I can skip the billet cover bc I will never be towing or doing anything requiring high performance spec.

I’ll call tmrw and be as nice but firm as possible about throwing a GM reman or something comparable in. Thanks again @NickTransmissions

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@KraftMatic87 Before you proceed with this shop I might get a second or third quote. This torque converter situation might be foreshadowing of how the rest of your experience will go.

I would also look into having a AFM deleted engine installed if you aren’t already.

 

[KraftMatic87]

@KraftMatic87 Before you proceed with this shop I might get a second or third quote. This torque converter situation might be foreshadowing of how the rest of your experience will go.

I would also look into having a AFM deleted engine installed if you aren’t already.

This shop actually had the most competitive quote for all the work my truck needed. The service advisor has been pretty great up until this comment but some of the other shops quoted me $15k - $16k+ for the same Jasper reman install, CV axle replacement and rack and pinion assembly replacement. I had one shop quote me $7k for an LKQ motor with a 1 year / 12k mile warranty like why would I do that when a Jasper is basically the same price? I have an Excel sheet with 16 different quotes and this shop was actually pretty reasonable considering the work needed to be done.

Courtesy Automotive was recommended to me by some guys on this thread. I’m willing to work with them if we can figure the TC replacement out it’s a pretty minor detail cost wise considering what I’m about to spend. I spent weeks getting quotes and I’m ok with them and the shop owner, Lawrence Tolman, seems like a great guy who’s already weighed in on his opinions on how I should proceed.

Also I confirmed my remanned Jasper 6.2 will NOT have AFM. My L9H that’s coming out didn’t either. So don’t have to worry about the dirty DOD delete!

 

[j91z28d1]

I forgot you had a year that didn't have afm. man talk about unlucky.

I'd kill to know what happens to this engine. almost all of the failures I read about are afm related. man if I was rich I'd buy your core off you just to take it apart and see what happened, well that and build a stoker ls3 out of it for my car haha.

hope it all works out, definitely get the converter. a service writer not trying to sell you parts he knows you need is not normal. just tell him you read it's a common failure point and tell him to order what nick said above. you don't need to try and be firm, just tell them this is what they are doing. I mean they do work on cars for a living, they aren't doing you a favor. you don't need to convince them of something. you want something done, they do it, get paid for it. end of

I mean service writers are guys that sell 8$ cabin filters to little old ladies for 60$. it's not in their DNA to not make the commission off up selling you parts. giving him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he doesn't get commission and just trying to be a good guy, and doesn't know it's a common failure.

 

[KraftMatic87]

I forgot you had a year that didn't have afm. man talk about unlucky.

I'd kill to know what happens to this engine. almost all of the failures I read about are afm related. man if I was rich I'd buy your core off you just to take it apart and see what happened, well that and build a stoker ls3 out of it for my car haha.

hope it all works out, definitely get the converter. a service writer not trying to sell you parts he knows you need is not normal. just tell him you read it's a common failure point and tell him to order what nick said above. you don't need to try and be firm, just tell them this is what they are doing. I mean they do work on cars for a living, they aren't doing you a favor. you don't need to convince them of something. you want something done, they do it, get paid for it. end of

I mean service writers are guys that sell 8$ cabin filters to little old ladies for 60$. it's not in their DNA to not make the commission off up selling you parts. giving him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he doesn't get commission and just trying to be a good guy, and doesn't know it's a common failure.

I was so excited about this truck because it didn’t have AFM. The dealer posted the VIN on the ad and because the 8th digit was a 2 it meant it had a L9H. Once it got the bullsh*t clean inspection I dived right in and unfortunately got burned real bad. I figured with a non-AFM motor with 140k if it had been taken care of properly it would last a while before I’d need to put major $$$ into the motor. Boy howdy was I wrong! Because it had a bad rear main seal leak combined with a leak around the oil pan i think the knocking was caused by an oil starvation issue. The same thing happened to my 2013 Subaru Outback that I sold at auction to buy this truck. It was leaking around the cam seals real bad. It would occasionally knock when the oil light came on and I just kept topping it off every 3-4 weeks and the knock would go away. Almost ironic I’m back in the same boat with a different vehicle now.

I’ve been talking to this service manager (Thomas) at Courtesy Automotive for weeks bc my truck has been there since early June. I like him but the only other time he gave me a weird answer was when I asked about getting a 6.0 iron block instead of a 6.2 installed and he said I’d need a new wiring harness. I knew that wasn’t true because multiple other shops told me it was possible to use the same wiring harness. LT the shop owner weighed in and said it might save me a little money upfront but I would lose a lot of horsepower. I decided to stick with the 6.2 replacement.

Honestly if we can just get my TC replaced with a trans fluid replacement and filter change I won’t have any other issues and I’ll just wait for my truck to get repaired. If it comes down to it I’ll ask him to consult the shop owner and get him to make a recommendation but I’m certain replacing the TC is a good investment at such high miles.

It is kind of annoying when I have to do so much research to make sure the service manager is giving me sound advice lol. So glad I have this forum though, y’all are the only thing keeping me sane through this entire process!

 

[wjburken]

I'd kill to know what happens to this engine. almost all of the failures I read about are afm related. man if I was rich I'd buy your core off you just to take it apart and see what happened, well that and build a stoker ls3 out of it for my car haha.

I figured with a non-AFM motor with 140k if it had been taken care of properly it would last a while before I’d need to put major $$$ into the motor.

Non-AFM doesn’t eliminate the risk of lifter failure, just greatly reduces it. Back in 2010, I bought our 2007 Denali XL with 100K from my work. No AFM either. It had been maintained well as the guy at work responsible for taking care of it was very particular about vehicles. There was showroom ready and then there was Steve Doud ready. Come 150K, and I was in the same boat as you. Loud knock, wouldn’t run. Dealer said it was likely a lifter failure and found metal in the pan. Put in a GM reman with 100K warranty. Fast forward to 272K, and I get a nasty noise in the motor that sounded like a lifter had gone bad. I tore it down myself because I wasn’t going to put another motor in at 272K. Found that the roller on the #5 intake lifter had locked up and was scrubbing the cam. No metal in the pan or filter. Was able to swap out the cam, replace the lifters and all the associated parts and drive it for 25K more miles and traded it.

I’m not trying to add to your worries. My point is, any vehicle, no matter how well they are taken care of, can have stuff like this happen. Stop kicking yourself. You took the steps needed to try and avoid this, and life happened.