2012 Yukon XL Denali 6.2L Cam Swap Thread

[wsteele]

I figured you might already have one of these, given your aviation experience, but if you don’t, I can put it in a box and ship it out to you. It makes very clean and short work of opening a filter.

 

[Geotrash]

I figured you might already have one of these, given your aviation experience, but if you don’t, I can put it in a box and ship it out to you. It makes very clean and short work of opening a filter.

View attachment 350242

Thanks for the kind offer! You're right, I do, but it's a different design and is a little bit of a PITA to use, but works.

 

[donjetman]

Small bits of metal coming off the cam/lifters and dropping into the pan will get by the pickup screen and damage the oil pump.
Change the oil pump.

 

[Geotrash]

Small bits of metal coming off the cam/lifters and dropping into the pan will get by the pickup screen and damage the oil pump.
Change the oil pump.

I was really hoping to get by without dropping that fargging oil pan again, but I'm afraid you're right. In the same breath, one more issue and it's getting a crate motor anyway. Then I can have the one that's in it to tear down and build from scratch for a future project beastie. My son is 13 and is starting to understand the value of personal transportation. I can see us putting a project together with that 6.2 at the center. Only problem is they don't build garages in suburbia like they do a few miles further outside of town. We need a real shop space. www.zillow.com.........

 

[Geotrash]

Thought y’all might appreciate seeing a video of the difference between the Vinci lifter tray and a GM factory lifter tray. This is, I believe, why my lifters failed along with the entire cam swap, twice. What really ****** me off is that while I received good support from Roger Vinci throughout the process and he sent me a new cam (that I was ultimately afraid to use), he also continuously denied that any parts he sold me were faulty, even though I was clear I’m not out for reimbursement. I sent him an email about this earlier this week, purely as a courtesy to let him know that he may have a bad batch of trays, and he tried to claim that the trays he sold me are GM lifter trays, and clearly they are not. Conclusion: be very very careful about doing business with Vinci High Performance. And, use only new GM lifter trays.

I’m the kind of guy who will give people I do business with a lot of slack, but once they lie to me, we are done.

 

[Geotrash]

Just gonna leave this right here…

 

[iamdub]

Thought y’all might appreciate seeing a video of the difference between the Vinci lifter tray and a GM factory lifter tray. This is, I believe, why my lifters failed along with the entire cam swap, twice. What really ****** me off is that while I received good support from Roger Vinci throughout the process and he sent me a new cam (that I was ultimately afraid to use), he also continuously denied that any parts he sold me were faulty, even though I was clear I’m not out for reimbursement. I sent him an email about this earlier this week, purely as a courtesy to let him know that he may have a bad batch of trays, and he tried to claim that the trays he sold me are GM lifter trays, and clearly they are not. Conclusion: be very very careful about doing business with Vinci High Performance. And, use only new GM lifter trays.

I’m the kind of guy who will give people I do business with a lot of slack, but once they lie to me, we are done.

I can't conclude from the video, but could those be factory AFM lifter trays? Did you try the lifter fitment in the adjacent holes?

*EDIT* After watching it a few more times, it looks like they are NOT AFM trays. They're not even the same color of plastic and it looks like there's some mold flash on them, indicating lower-quality manufacturing. You can change the cam by removing the rocker arms and spinning the cam so the lobes push the lifters up and the friction fit in the trays will hold them. Of course, you should slide dowels into the oil galleys to ensure none slide down. But them other ones wouldn't hold lifters long enough to get the dowels in.

 

[Geotrash]

I can't conclude from the video, but could those be factory AFM lifter trays? Did you try the lifter fitment in the adjacent holes?

*EDIT* After watching it a few more times, it looks like they are NOT AFM trays. They're not even the same color of plastic and it looks like there's some mold flash on them, indicating lower-quality manufacturing. You can change the cam by removing the rocker arms and spinning the cam so the lobes push the lifters up and the friction fit in the trays will hold them. Of course, you should slide dowels into the oil galleys to ensure none slide down. But them other ones wouldn't hold lifters long enough to get the dowels in.

That’s right. The trays I got from Vinci are black in color and are non-AFM trays. And you’re right, they will barely hold the lifters in place when hung upside down with the lifters fully inserted, and as you slide the lifter out maybe 1/8”, they can no longer hold the lifter at all, and the lifter can easily rock and rotate in the socket. The brand new GM trays are more like a dark grayish brown in color and hold the lifters firmly in place upside down, even with the lifter barely slid into the socket, and they do not permit any rocking or rotation of the lifter at any point in the lifter’s travel.

Those brand new but $hitty quality trays from Vinci cost me 2 cams and another $800 in lifters, plus gaskets and all of the time wasted. It’s partly on me for using them the 2nd time, but after asking Roger about it after the first build and sending him the failed lifter and cam for “analysis”, he assured me that the failure was caused by debris and that the trays were top quality. BS. I trusted him at his word, and that was a mistake. Never again.

 

[swathdiver]

Tie bars next time?

 

[randeez]

Tie bars next time?

yep, with the counterfeit market on ls lifters now a days - link bar lifters is all i plan on using.... decent set is $800+ though. but two ruined cam swaps cost a lot more