2012 Yukon Denali - 6.2 lifter or something else? [Advice/How to Proceed]

[swathdiver]

HA HA - I'm still working on that "know how" not going to lie.... I'm a bit intimidated by the lifter process here : /

Do you live near one of us on here? Louisiana, Virginia, Florida?

 

[j91z28d1]

The noise was caught early and at my house. No check engine light and was questionable while trouble shooting. After checking, rechecking and moving the vehicle it suddenly stopped for 20+min in the driveway. Drove 1/4 mile and the check engine light came on and it was back only worse.

ahh that's brutal, if you were able to catch it before it stuck again it would have saved some hassle. but it's probably good news if you decide to go the release it yourself route. it should pop up for you since it did once on its own already.

 

[j91z28d1]

HA HA - I'm still working on that "know how" not going to lie.... I'm a bit intimidated by the lifter process here : /

I think they posted the video of how to do it earlier, but basically you will pull the valve cover off, either crank it, or start it for a very short time to see which rocker arm isn't moving. that's the stuck lifter. then pull the intake manifold off, the valley cover off that's under that and the rocket arm off that didn't move.

stick the tool down the hole and smack it with a hammer. when it shoot the push rod out, you know it's released. then you follow the oil pressure block off and relief gasket cut instructions, put back together, it will run kinda crappy till you get the tune flashed in the ecm to disable the afm request and then all should be good for another 100k miles.


in theory anyways haha.

I did mine before the lifter stuck, so I avoided having to find and release the stuck lifter. the rest was the same.

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@Pointer 21 You said it yourself, you don't want to cut any corners. Unsticking a lifter isn't doing the job right, it will get stuck again for the same reason it became stuck in the first place.

Do a proper AFM delete because it is worth the money, you should get another 150K miles out of the motor easy so replace any other parts you need to so that you don't have to go back into the motor any time soon.

 

[j91z28d1]

does. anyone here ever just replace the afm lifters and put it all back together and leave 4cyl on?

 

[Geotrash]

does. anyone here ever just replace the afm lifters and put it all back together and leave 4cyl on?

Yup. Some folks have done that. Nothing wrong with that at all. It comes down to managing the risk of another failure.

 

[MWD_CTSV]

Yup. Some folks have done that. Nothing wrong with that at all. It comes down to managing the risk of another failure.

Agree with Dave. If the cam is fine, replacing the AFM lifters should get you about the same lifetime. The advantage being that you have the option to enable/disable AFM.
Technically, I think the VLOM does age, particularly the solenoids and the gaskets, so you will probably not get double the current life unless you replace it in the future, but it is still a future option.

 

[petethepug]

It’s a 300k+ mi motor. It’s likely not going to get there without the AFM hardware taking something else out prior to that. If you’re at this point and going to keep it, do the AFM delete kit like they sell at Texas Speed.

It will actually increase the resale of the truck. Keep in mind used, replacement junkyard 09/10 L9H 6.2L (factory non AFM) motors go for $5-$9k. A trans replacement is another resale increase and Orig Owner commands over-sale resale prices. Families want a L9H or equivalent e85, engine in a full size SUV, especially a 12 Denali updated to accept the integrated A2DP music streaming hardware module into the phone BT module.

Obviously, right now you have predictable issues at hand. There’s no payments, lower Ins rates and assuming you’ve still have the AutoRide/z55, it’s insanely cheap to maintain now with lifetime guarantee struts & pump. There’s no better ride quality or safety factor for the value.

A service contract paid almost $20k in repair and deferred maint on our 08 YXL Denali in we paid $20k for in 14. After 6 years & 40k miles totaling 140k we sold it for $12.5.

It was training wheels for the 09 Esky Plat ESV with the same mileage we paid $14k for in ‘20. It’s at 170k now with a new $5k trans last Mo. When it was out, new motor mounts trans & front diff mounts were replaced. That made the rear main, pan gasket, oil pick up tube cheap to get at and only $1.5k more parts+labor to replace after the $5k trans was out. The front & rear diffs were serviced too thanks to a diesel Indi tech.

Prior to that new OEM injectors and o2 sensors were replaced. It has about $26k into it now. Strangely that’s about it’s current value. Here in CA e85 is $1.85 gal. Fuel savings over our 08 Denali run on premium fuel at almost $5 gal means fuel savings paid for 100% of its repairs and maint.

Just say’n, keep it. Better to keep the repairs and maintenance you know than take on a new, unknown longevity issues of labor/part pricing depreciation. Stick with the devil you know.

 

[Pointer 21]

Bringing this thread back!! OP here.........The vehicle has been at the mechanic's shop for 1 month (he was out of the country and has a ton of other vehicles); however, VERY HONEST.

SHORT STORY LONG - He has driven the vehicle a total of 34 miles and the following is his diagnosis:

The problem/issue is INTERMINENT AND NOT 100% CONFIRMED:

The Following facts ARE Confirmed:

-#1 Cylinder is the issue and has not had any problems in 34 consecutive miles
- Has Ignition, fuel, but CAN'T CONFIRM compression on Cylinder #1 as the engine needs to be turned off to do so

The good news is (as of right now) the lifter is not stuck and he'd prefer to not throw my money until he can confirm that cylinder 1 has compression issues (again he can't prove that right now).

Questions to the Gurus: How to proceed?

I'm thinking AFM delete/BBP tune/Rock on?

Is this the best course of action? If so, can I order a BBP tune and keep going or should I run another trap?

The sequence of events has me a bit confused (and working alot) LOL!!

@Geotrash @swathdiver @Dustin Jackson

As always thanks for all your contributions!!

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@Pointer 21 Start with the BBP tune because you'll need it regardless. Also you'll want the motor running so you can pull your factory tune, and then once you're tuned you can begin to gather your parts and continue to enjoy driving it until it fails or until you can have planned downtime.