BREAKING: GM is officially recalling the L87

[jfoj]

I recently bought a 2019 yukon denali with the 6.2L and 65,000 miles. It's not in the NHTSA recall. What is different about this model than all the recalled ones?

Should I use different oil? I live in hot desert and i tow a travel trailer.

I would in no way run 0W20 in a 6.2l regardless of the year. If you are in a warmer area and are towing I would run something like the 0W40 or even maybe a 10W40. You may have an issue finding a true Dexos approved 10W40?? But the main thing is the oil needs to have a very low Sodium content to help reduce LSPI.

The primary problem with the 6.2l failures is caused by fuel diluted 0W20 oil that has lost a significant amount of its viscosity and the reason the 6.2l are failing so much more frequently than the 5.3l is the Low RPM, High Torque the 6.2l can produce and the fact that the TCM has the engine loading at 70%-100% at 1500-1700 RPM on the highway pulling slight grades. Fuel is solvent and in the crankcase does not do well lubricating and cooling highly loaded bearing surfaces.

If towing, I would not exceed the 50% OLM and change the oil more frequently after towing due to heat and fuel dilution. The goal is to keep the engine from self destructing.

 

[Souvergn41]

I have an early 2021, built in July of 2020 actually. Ran the VIN and I am ok it seems. Are a lot of members here seeing there VIN on the list?

 

[corpnupe85]

I have an early 2021, built in July of 2020 actually. Ran the VIN and I am ok it seems. Are a lot of members here seeing there VIN on the list?

I recently traded an 2018 Escalade for a 2021 Tahoe High Country with only 26,014 in Jan. 2025. Looks like I should have kept the Escalade. On 'My Chevrolet' account, my vehicle is affected by the recall. I will be contacting my dealer.

 

[viven44]

Looks like my friend with a 2015 Corvette LT1 uses 0W-40 and the short block may be very similar to the L87 from what I can tell…. Just clear differences in intake, maybe cam to improve low end characteristics for a truck. I’d be surprised if 2025 recommendations don’t change shortly.

I’ll need to see if the 5.3 has a car or other high performance equivalent and see what that oil type is. May need to start using that after the warranty period ends.

 

[jfoj]

So do your research, the 4.8l V8 which is the same platform as the 5.3l and 6.2l without the DFM is/was spec'ed from the beginning to use 5W30 oil. The 4.8l was a small percentage of sales mainly in the work vans and some other vehicles so I do not thing GM had a large percentage of the 4.8l factoring into the CAFE equation.

As for the "Recall" I would not wait on anything from the dealer, the only thing you might get is a free oil change, but I have to read everything over carefully to see if vehicle already sold get oil and filter or just the oil fill cap and maybe a sticky piece of paper to put in the undersized paper owners manual.

Additionally, I have a 2024 that should be part of this recall and I have checked a number of times and my VIN does not show any recalls. I think GM may have close to 1 million VIN's to process and it may take time to get the data processed and uploaded.

The 5.3l and 6.2l are effectively the same engine. If I owned one, I would not be running 0W20 in the 5.3l. The ONLY reason 0W20 oil was ever spec'ed was for miniscule fuel economy improvements, not for engine durability. The ONLY reason the 5.3l engines have not seen the same failure rate of the 6.2l is the 5.3l DOES NOT HAVE THE TORQUE OUTPUT THE 6.2l HAS. The TCM keeps the 6.2l HEAVILY loaded up at highway speeds on slight and medium grades with the engine power/torque output continuously between 70%-100% engine load in the 1500-1700 RPM range. The engine is "lugging" and putting TREMENDOUS load on the rod bearings. Additionally if DFM is operating under 4 cylinders, again, TREMEDOUS loads are being put on the rod bearings. Add fuel to the oil and you are screwed!

TLDR - DO NOT RUN 0W20 oil in any V8 or Diesel engine from any manufacturer if you expect the engine to last more that 15-30k miles. Change the oil every 3500-4000 miles or on a GM target about 50% of the OLM and see if it falls in the 3500-4000 mile range. Oil is cheaper than steel! Dealers rarely even check the oil level on failed engines and I have never seen them pull an oil sample for analysis. The dealer will have no idea what you had in your crankcase. If you are worried, buy the 0W20 oil, copy/save the receipt and return the 0W20 oil and run the oil that needs to be in a working engine.

 

[viven44]

@jfoj , I hear you loud and clear, and the 4.8L is a very good reference. I'll look that up for sure...

Honestly, I'm not trying to resist... Its just that in my case, the dealer would be doing the oil changes until the warranty period ends, unfortunately I'd imagine they will use 0W-20. It's a matter of principle (mrs. likes and thinks new is better and I'm not working on them, definitely not during warranty lol). and I will not even touch a nut or bolt until the warranty ends... Unfortunately, the first oil change was already a shoddy one and I had to "step-in" a little after the fact...

On my rigs (historically 2006 or older actually)... I just run them to the ground, rebuild the engine or find a parts truck with a running low-mileage engine and swap it in my backyard.... Same with transmissions, axles. I live on a 1/4 acre and limited unfortunately anymore. I'm trying to get rid of parts only rigs. It works well for the rigs I drive as most of the world had moved on from them and I have still been able to find a good supply of replacement parts.

 

[viven44]

The ONLY reason the 5.3l engines have not seen the same failure rate of the 6.2l is the 5.3l DOES NOT HAVE THE TORQUE OUTPUT THE 6.2l HAS.

I don't think that's the only reason.... we discussed transmission shift characteristics of the 5.3L vs 6.2L. One of these days I'm going to buy another scan tool or pay for a software upgrade on the one I have to have compatibility with our 2024 and plot the trans. shift points on our 2024 w/ the 5.3.

In the lugging regime where many perils exist (high loading, pinging), lets say 1500~2000 RPM, the 6.2L isn't particularly any torque monster by usual big block standards nor is it that much of a delta over 5.3L... especially not if its not running on all cylinders.. I have plotted the torque curves below. Its just that the smart guys who thought DFM was even worth releasing didn't realize it is really BAD to be lugging and also be not operating on all cylinders. (Random guess - Some high up in the R&D team had this cool idea so it made it out..)

PS: I don't care what the horsepower numbers say, but the big block's acceleration and pull for a street vehicle is no joke... Torque down low where it matters. Diesel like... unfortunately horsepower math sells vehicles... so every manufacturer has shifted the torque curve close to 5000 RPM, where it doesn't matter for most street vehicles.

 

[LegalBrief]

Not to be that guy, but you're adding to the misinformation. It does not go all the way back to the 2012's.

Yes, fat fingers fixing now. Only vehicles recalled are 2021-2024 6.2L gas

 

[jfoj]

@viven44

Have the dealer change the oil, then pull the drain plug and put what you want in the engine. Hell even the Costco Kirkland Synthetic oil is good and cheap. Again, oil is cheaper than steel.

I am not so worried about Warranty stuff, I am going to pull the transmission valve body on my 2024 with 6k miles and rework it with a decent aftermarket kit probably in the next few weeks time permitting. I have all the parts on hand now. This is a 100% pre-emptive strike for the WHEN not IF valve body problems start.

The 5.3l TCM behaves very differently than the 6.2l, I have a few folks that we have been comparing notes and they are different beasts. While you have the torque curve plotted, understand that the 6.2l is constantly operating in the 70%-100% load range on the highway at slight to medium grades, only downshifting from 10th to 9th gear when it does downshift and this only brings the engine speed up 100 RPM, it is very difficult to feel the 10th to 9th downshift. The 5.3l is jumping from 10th to 8th or 10th to 7th and the engine RPM is jumping up far more and unloading the engine more than the 6.2l.

I agree Torque is KING, I had my share of 500+ ft/lb big blocks back in the day. But while the Torque curve shows approximately 50 ft/lb difference my guess when you load the engine to 100% at 1600 RPM you might see more torque output then running on a dyno for higher RPM horsepower. But the TCM is really controlling the engine torque output these days as the transmission is 100% electronically shifted, so the mapping of the TCM counts quite a bit.

Now for the sad part, while we have ALL been hung up on the bearing failures, the lifter problems have been overshadowed. My guess was these engines accumulate more miles and they are not maintained at a high level and the oil suffers from fuel dilution, we will start to see 6.2l having fewer bearing failures with the higher viscosity engine oil, but we will start seeing lifter failures, more than likely with the rollers and needle bearings. The rollers and cams will start getting flat spots and then this will be the next problem with both the 5.3l and 6.2l probably beyond the 50k mile mark.

We shall see.

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

Something else besides programming and shift points and oil is adrift. 6.2 is in the 2020 pickups, with the 10L80 and the DFM. Those weren’t in the recall or the blowing rod bearings or crank bearings lore…