2009 Yukon Denali 6.2 L9H Engine Replacement

[KraftMatic87]

Glad to see you bring this issue to this forum from FB. THESE GUYS REALLY KNOW THEIR SHIT

I’m glad I did too! I had plenty of people on FB telling me to just do an oil change and send it. My instincts said that was bad advice I knew this is something potentially catastrophic and I’d like to minimize my financial pain in getting it resolved

 

[alpha_omega]

My 09 Tahoe with the same L9H as yours made that noise too. Mine ended up being a valve seat coming loose out of the head. The valve seat eventually broke in half and made its way into a piston and destroyed it. I wouldn't be so sure you have a rod nock, but you should get a good diagnosis of it. If your head is doing what mine did, you're looking at 1k or less in repairs. If yours fails like mine did, it's gonna cost an engine. I'll post a video of what mine sounded like before it blew up

100% NOT a rod knock. The frequency is half crankshaft RPM. Valve train for sure.

If it were mine, I’d pull the heads, have them reworked by a competent shop, replace all lifters and get a good look at the cam through the bores. If any damage noted, I’d put a cam motion stage 2 truck cam in it (3-bolt) and call it a day. Actually more like a weekend

x2 on what both of these guys said. From that first set of videos it also sounds like you have a pulley going out. That’s an easy fix that will quiet things down a bit in order for you to better pinpoint the source with a scope.

Id say you’re better off keeping this vehicle and doing the repairs. Oil cooler lines and trans cooler lines are an easy swap and well worth the investment. From the photos it’s not 100% that you have a leak in the pan. The info you’re being fed by the shops could be because you’re going in there with a laundry list of problems, in which case they will gladly agree with you to pocket any extra cash for something you may not even need to replace. That’s not to say that you don’t have a problem internally, because something in there doesn’t sound right, but a rod knock it is not. At least not currently.

 

[KraftMatic87]

x2 on what both of these guys said. From that first set of videos it also sounds like you have a pulley going out. That’s an easy fix that will quiet things down a bit in order for you to better pinpoint the source with a scope.

Id say you’re better off keeping this vehicle and doing the repairs. Oil cooler lines and trans cooler lines are an easy swap and well worth the investment. From the photos it’s not 100% that you have a leak in the pan. The info you’re being fed by the shops could be because you’re going in there with a laundry list of problems, in which case they will gladly agree with you to pocket any extra cash for something you may not even need to replace. That’s not to say that you don’t have a problem internally, because something in there doesn’t sound right, but a rod knock it is not. At least not currently.

I agree with you and I would gladly get this fixed. My problem like you said is that I keep going to mechanics and they all telling me I need to spend $8k - $10k for an engine replacement. I’ve paid diagnostic fees 3-4 times and all I get is “it’s making a knocking noise”. NO SHIT SHERLOCK! I’m going to get this thing to an engine shop next week instead of sending it to a general mechanic. I want to get to the bottom of this and have peace of mind before I start trying to drive this truck up to the mountains with my family on the weekends.

 

[Geotrash]

I agree with you and I would gladly get this fixed. My problem like you said is that I keep going to mechanics and they all telling me I need to spend $8k - $10k for an engine replacement. I’ve paid diagnostic fees 3-4 times and all I get is “it’s making a knocking noise”. NO SHIT SHERLOCK! I’m going to get this thing to an engine shop next week instead of sending it to a general mechanic. I want to get to the bottom of this and have peace of mind before I start trying to drive this truck up to the mountains with my family on the weekends.

It boggles my mind how any mechanic worth their salt standing next to this engine while it’s running, would conclude that it’s a rod knock.

 

[j91z28d1]

if you could just find someone local to pull the heads and drop them off at a machine shop for you.

more of a small shop or a performance based shop maybe. big name chains just sling parts and don't wanna deal with come backs. swapping an engine is easier, and faster. taking up less shop space as it takes a while to get work from a machine shop these days, these shops and employees only make money when things are moving. it's just the price of engines are crazy now. I don't know how they can justify these prices for stuff the make millions of.


few years back i had some valve guides replaced in a set of aftermarket heads. came to like 800$, I'm like man i paid 950$ for these brand new lol. those days are long gone thou.

 

[KraftMatic87]

It boggles my mind how any mechanic worth their salt standing next to this engine while it’s running, would conclude that it’s a rod knock.

Yeah the fact that two shops said Rod knock and another said lifter failure really didn’t give me any info how to fix other than I need a new engine. I’m taking the truck to Colorado Performance & Repair in Northglenn next week if I don’t hear back from Tolman Performance in Colorado Springs. I’m hoping they can get me an answer and a repair plan to get this truck back on the road so I’m not paranoid about dropping a valve at any moment!

Colorado Performance & Repair | Auto Repair Near Me Northglenn

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[mikeyss]

This is what happened to my valve seat. It probably came loose from the head, and was clacking against the valve for who knows how long. Mine let loose on the way from the parking lot moving to the inside of the shop. I was going to do a cam/lifter swap and put on ARH headers ONLY that day until this happened, haha. The reason I was planning on a cam/lifted away was because of this noise! I thought it was a bad lifter, but nope...
That's what was left after the seat broke. Half of it got wedged in the intake valve, the other half took a trip down to visit the piston.

 

[KraftMatic87]

OMG

 

[KraftMatic87]

View attachment 402078This is what happened to my valve seat. It probably came loose from the head, and was clacking against the valve for who knows how long. Mine let loose on the way from the parking lot moving to the inside of the shop. I was going to do a cam/lifter swap and put on ARH headers ONLY that day until this happened, haha. The reason I was planning on a cam/lifted away was because of this noise! I thought it was a bad lifter, but nope...
View attachment 402079That's what was left after the seat broke. Half of it got wedged in the intake valve, the other half took a trip down to visit the piston.
View attachment 402080View attachment 402081View attachment 402082

Holy sh*t that’s a lot of carnage. Definitely getting a tow where ever it needs to go. Ugh I’m scared lol this really sucks. I’ve lost so much sleep over this the past few weeks I am dying for someone trustworthy to take this job on for me bc I’m not capable of properly diagnosing and fixing this myself. I do have a really bad feeling with it and just want answers. If someone can just properly diagnose I’d at least know the extent of the damage but yeah I am definitely afraid to drive it anywhere at all until it gets looked at again.

 

[mikeyss]

I agree with you, it's better to be safe than sorry. Unfortunately, the only way to know if you are having the same issue as I did, is by having the heads removed and thoroughly inspected.