BREAKING: GM is officially recalling the L87

[backwaterchile]

Safety Recall Report

Thanks for this. Based on the numbers, there were ~28,000 reports through February out of about 590,000 affected vehicles for a rate of 4.7%

 

[KMeloney]

Questions: Other than confirming the date of manufacture of the new engine and the proper oil to use in the new engine, please advise me on what other questions/areas of inquiry I should discuss with service manager. Your help is appreciated!

If the ‘25s are truly free of this failure issue, then I’ve got to believe that GM knows a) that there was a defective parts problem, and b) knows when those parts were no longer installed in engines. With the issuance of this recall now, GM would have to be [even more] insane to put a new engine in your truck that they know has/could have faulty parts in it. So, I’d feel pretty confident that you’re going to get a reliable engine.

…And if the failure issue is truly a defective parts situation, then it’ll be interesting to see which weight oil they put in your new engine, since sticking with the 0w-20 would be an admission that the heavier weight oil recommendation in the recall is just a stop-gap of sorts.

 

[KMeloney]

but GM wants to only take care of the ones failed, and apply a band aid to the survivors...

If your truck is on the list, then it could very well get a new engine. The ones that had engine failures prior to the recall (and were still under warranty, at least) are already getting new engines. So the recall is for trucks that HAVEN’T failed yet but that GM believes are prone to failure.

What else would you want GM to do?

 

[viven44]

So the recall is for trucks that HAVEN’T failed yet but that GM believes are prone to failure.

There are 3 types of trucks from what I am seeing

- Already failed (engine replacement)
- About to fail and set the P0016 code (engine replacement)
- The ones that haven't set the code yet (survivors). The survivor ones are still a spectrum with ones ranging from "walking wounded" to healthy.

Survivors will get the band-aid with a 0W-40 ... but the "walking wounded" survivors could still fail soon even with 0W-40....

See my concern ?

 

[Aggie76]

Ouch, you need to change the oil by at least the 50% OLM.

Hopefully you are not in a colder climate.

In this case I would probably consider implementing the REVERSE WARM UP. Start the car and drive the short distance to the event, then in some cases leave it idle as it is at least partially warmed up. This is where an Oil Temp gauge like the 2025 units would come in BIG TIME HANDY. It is not about the engine temperature, it is all about the oil temperature.

I think I may need to look back in my Logs to see if I can somehow map Transmission Temperature to expected Oil Temperature. At least this would give the driver some idea if the engine oil still needs to simmer some more.

For those of us who live in cold climates what's your advice? I'm in a small northern MN community, on the Canadian border, with temps averaging below freezing for nearly six months of the year.

 

[KMeloney]

There are 3 types of trucks from what I am seeing

- Already failed (engine replacement)
- About to fail and set the P0016 code (engine replacement)
- The ones that haven't set the code yet (survivors). The survivor ones are still a spectrum with ones ranging from "walking wounded" to healthy.

Survivors will get the band-aid with a 0W-40 ... but the "walking wounded" survivors could still fail soon even with 0W-40....

See my concern ?

I do see your concern. I just haven’t seen info about a P0016 code being a prerequisite for engine replacement yet. Where is this stated? (And have all of the blown engines thrown this code? If so, how soon prior to the failure?)

 

[jfoj]

For those of us who live in cold climates what's your advice? I'm in a small northern MN community, on the Canadian border, with temps averaging below freezing for nearly six months of the year.

That's a tough one. Hopefully you can garage the truck most of the time. They make silicon oil pan heaters that you can stick on the bottom of the oil pan and plug in to warm the oil. Then the question is where you can park when you are out are 120 Volt power outlets available for plugging in? I know some Northern areas this is common.

I would plan on oil changes in the 3k mile range running in the Winter months. One thing I try to do with my vehicles even though I am not it the super cold area, is usually before the cold temps roll in, change the oil if over 1000 miles so I start the Winter out with fresh oil, so it has more of a window to last before getting put to death by fuel and water vapor.

When possible plan trips that are not too short, but if you get somewhere you may not stay long and it is safe, you might leave the engine running after you have driven say the 4-8 miles. At this point the engine oil has warmed up a bit, but not fully and allowing the then engine to idle a while may be better than shutting off and allowing the oil to cool down again. Kind of a judgement call based on how far you had driven, if there is no plug in and if you could safely allow the car to idle. I cannot recall if you can lock these vehicles with the engine running and if you can does the engine turn off automatically after 15 minutes?

On my 2005 Yukon Denali with the 6.0l, I take the dogs with me in the Summer and lock the car with the A/C on and let it idle for a while, but the oil is already warmed up, but with 275,000 on that 6.0l every additional minute or a mile is a bonus from my point of view!

 

[jfoj]

So there is a smoking gun with the crank and rods/rod bearings. I guess the Cold Test Spintron did not pick anything unusual up. But come on, even the engine assemblers should have seen something, I know they are in a Union shop, but maybe Union politics kept staff from speaking up. What happened about pulling every 50th engine and doing a full tear down and inspection? This would have been a bargain at this point.

So here is the real question, what oil will be recommended for replacement engines?? I know this is going to be an interesting conversation.

So 0W40 for vehicles with engines that have not failed, yet. What is put in the replacement engines? 0W20 or 0W40? But hey we have been told that you cannot put a different oil in the engine than spec!

Shake my head. How long with the Recalled engines last that were not replaced and 0W40 was recommended? What coverage do any of us have beyond the powertrain Warranty. Hell GM Warranted the Valve Bodies out to 15 years/150,000 miles. How about at least extending the engine Warranty for folks. If GM thinks the 0W40 will keep them alive then extending the Warranty costs GM $0.00.

I am not changing anything I am doing, I guess I am lucky as my engine build date was July 15, 2024, outside of the magic window where things were "fixed". My vehicle is not likely going to be Recalled, nothing yet. For everyone that does not get a replacement engine, change your oil when the OLM get close to 50% and possibly consider oil samples to determine if you need to dump the vehicle or push for a replacement engine.

What a show, freak show this is. Then all these recalled engine owners need to wait for valve body problems. Such a bad ending to a promising and once fairly reliable product.

Sell any GM stock you have.

 

[viven44]

I do see your concern. I just haven’t seen info about a P0016 code being a prerequisite for engine replacement yet. Where is this stated? (And have all of the blown engines thrown this code? If so, how soon prior to the failure?)

https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/N252494001-Bulletin.pdf

That shows that the P0016 would trigger a quarantine (which means engine replacement I would hope... if not a major rebuild at least)...

Blown engines throw a code prior to complete failure ? GM apparently thinks so as they have investigated presumably enough out of the 10s of thousands of complaints / allegations

GM’s investigation identified 28,102 field complaints or incidents in the US potentially related to failure of the L87 engine due to crankshaft, connecting rod, or engine bearing failure, of which 14,332 involved allegations of loss of propulsion.

 

[viven44]

How about at least extending the engine Warranty for folks.

Yes, all the 'survivors' should be entitled to extended warranty IMO. I think that is a fair compromise... but that would technically signal a "hey we are not sure about this fix" and may not meet NHTSA recall requirements if done as part of the recall. However, if that extended warranty was in response to a lawsuit or done as a "customer satisfaction" program, that would decouple it from NHTSA investigation.

guess I am lucky as my engine build date was July 15, 2024

I hope you are right but I am seeing that cranks/connecting rod manufacturing improvements were done on or before June 1, 2024, so any crank/rod made after June 1st is safe... now we don't know if your engine has that crank or rod.

'A series of crankshaft and connecting rod manufacturing improvements implemented on or before June 1, 2024, addressed contamination and quality issues.'