Stunned!! Denali 6.2 spun a rod bearing at 25k..

[Geotrash]

I don't want this thing back, that's the problem. I was obsessed with the truck until now. The interior of that thing is stunning. And so was the acceleration until the engine blew. The dealer did try to fib and say it wouldn't affect resale value when I brought it up.

I think the dealer that we've bought cars from for over half a century should buy it back from us somewhat near what we paid for it, or switch us into a demo for minimal cost and then they have one with the second engine as a demo. Minimal loss for us out of loyalty. Like I said, at least a million and a half bucks in cars from us...same salesman even. They can take a couple grand loss for our loyalty. Who has even heard of using a place for that long? Lol.

Guess I'll get that LC500 convertible I wanted. LX570 won't ever break, I guess that will be my only truck for now I guess.

I totally get it. The worst thing most of us can imagine with our cars is being stranded on the side of the road feeling exposed to unknowable risks or having our loved ones at risk. Not to mention having a trip interrupted and then dealing with the aftermath. It sucks and probably feels like a betrayal of your loyalty to the brand.

As others have said, reports of 6.2 bottom end failures in the current generation of trucks is all over the internet. Word on the street is that it's poor quality control in the bearings that's causing the problem. Normally, such QA problems are limited to a specific supplier and not an indicator of future problems with the rest of the vehicle once the core defect has been fixed. I would wager that GM engineering has been watching this problem with main and rod bearing failures unfold, and has taken steps to ensure that new engines are going together right, with properly machined bearings and tolerances.

Toyota has had their share of problems as well, and again limited to a specific part on a specific engine. The 2AZ-FE 4 cylinder comes to mind. It came with defective rings and pistons that make it prone to burning too much oil, in turn causing the catalytic converters and the engines themselves to fail early. Lots of folks not used to owning a Toyota that needed regular checks of the dipstick, had engine failures from oil starvation early in the cars' lives. I remember reading comments from owners in shock and awe that their Toyota broke down on them.

Long story short, the odds are in your favor of never having another engine problem once that engine is replaced. It'll take some work for you to feel comfortable about that, but since you love the rest of the truck, perhaps it's worth the time and effort.

 

[DontTaseMeBro]

I totally get it. The worst thing most of us can imagine with our cars is being stranded on the side of the road feeling exposed to unknowable risks or having our loved ones at risk. Not to mention having a trip interrupted and then dealing with the aftermath. It sucks and probably feels like a betrayal of your loyalty to the brand.

As others have said, reports of 6.2 bottom end failures in the current generation of trucks is all over the internet. Word on the street is that it's poor quality control in the bearings that's causing the problem. Normally, such QA problems are limited to a specific supplier and not an indicator of future problems with the rest of the vehicle once the core defect has been fixed. I would wager that GM engineering has been watching this problem with main and rod bearing failures unfold, and has taken steps to ensure that new engines are going together right, with properly machined bearings and tolerances.

Toyota has had their share of problems as well, and again limited to a specific part on a specific engine. The 2AZ-FE 4 cylinder comes to mind. It came with defective rings and pistons that make it prone to burning too much oil, in turn causing the catalytic converters and the engines themselves to fail early. Lots of folks not used to owning a Toyota that needed regular checks of the dipstick, had engine failures from oil starvation early in the cars' lives. I remember reading comments from owners in shock and awe that their Toyota broke down on them.

Long story short, the odds are in your favor of never having another engine problem once that engine is replaced. It'll take some work for you to feel comfortable about that, but since you love the rest of the truck, perhaps it's worth the time and effort.

Yup, same with the 2ZR-FXE - found in the 3rd gen Prius and Lexus CT200h. They had to redesign the pistons and piston rings to prevent oil consumption. Not to mention head gasket failures and clogged EGR.

 

[Doubeleive]

IF anything a new engine will INCREASE your resale value or at the least increase the value to you.
hell mine got a brand new crate motor at 82k, I aint cutting loose of it anytime soon I am ahead of the game.....
that's just like erasing the chalk board and starting over from scratch

 

[petethepug]

Can’t really tell. Did he buy the Denali pre owned?

 

[91RS]

25k is a good life for one of these.

 

[muncie21]

OP, I think you just happened to draw the short straw. With only 25K on the powertrain warranty, I expect you'll get a new/rebuilt motor from GM and hopefully an extended warranty. My 2017 C7 (purchased new) spun a rod bearing at 10K, for no apparent reason. Always used premium gas and had oil changed at the dealer. GM rebuilt the motor and it's still going strong 3 years later. I have a Yukon Denali also and would definitely push the Denali before driving a Ford or Toyota SUV.

 

[ALT1345]

Long story short, the odds are in your favor of never having another engine problem once that engine is replaced. It'll take some work for you to feel comfortable about that, but since you love the rest of the truck, perhaps it's worth the time and effort.

I'm starting to think this way as well, today I was thinking "watch this motor be fine last 250k (which I'll never get to)."

I do miss the thing and want it back, but I expect a free new powertrain warranty from scratch, and I will not accept a rebuilt engine... that is crazy. The engines are backordered but my dealer got a hold of one. The top tech to install it is on vacation, as soon as he's back the new motor goes in.

It's just hard to swear by GM your whole life and have a disappointment like this. GM, in general, is known for strong and durable powertrains. I'm the biggest 3800 fan on the planet. Loved the 5.3 in my old GMT800, slow now but it was a great engine that powered it fine before everything went insane power wise.

I also see what another poster said about erasing the chalk-board.

I'm gonna take it back. I miss the thing. But I'm a little nervous about it, sort of how in a heart transplant it can cause all kinds of complications with other stuff with your body. Is the transmission next? Motor mounts? A/C?

Obviously my license plate was a fail though. I'd like my truck back, to forget it and move on.

And yes Toyota definitely had crap engines with sludge but I do think the best V8 truck engine all around is the 5.7. Million mile motors. Never known for failures. Will never get rid of my LX570 either, along with this.

I can forgive GM for this. But unfortunately I won't be able to forget it.

 

[stevedonato]

I'm still in disbelief. I was the biggest die hard GM V8 fan in the world until a few days ago. I bought this truck FOR THAT (basically) CORVETTE MOTOR. Do you know how hard it is to see all these trucks around and not like them anymore???? Damn.

They offered Enterprised but our family has plenty of cars.

We think the PO never used premium, bc it was a company car, and it knocked *bad* on regular. Would that have anything to do with it? Still though, 25k? We've put 2,000 miles on it. It just died on the interstate.

Still, so disappointed. Turns out the best truck V8 was the Toyota 5.7 IMHO. My LX570 with 135k you could put a brick to the throttle and let it bounce off the limiter for a whole tank of fuel over and over it's such a beast. It's a gas guzzler and a little behind power wise, but still nevertheless 383 hp is enough and it's just stupid reliable.

Forget GM, it has gone down the tubes for many many years now. Remember their Trucks had inferior fuel lines for over 15 years and always had to be replaced by the owner. I still have my 21 year old 2003 Lexus LS430 V8 with 155k miles and Zero repairs (normal maintenance of course). Engine knocks from gas were eliminated 20+ years ago when they started using Knock sensors (I use regular gas in my Lexus V8 never a difference in running). Sadly, I think auto engine design engineers in America no longer exist. In the 90's GM still made decent trucks. My 1996 GMC Sierra 4x4 pickup just started to get a rod bearing knock at 260K miles. Not a difficult job to fix but at 260k a rod bearing knock, hay no big deal..

 

[Hiebs]

I don't want this thing back, that's the problem. I was obsessed with the truck until now. The interior of that thing is stunning. And so was the acceleration until the engine blew. The dealer did try to fib and say it wouldn't affect resale value when I brought it up.

I think the dealer that we've bought cars from for over half a century should buy it back from us somewhat near what we paid for it, or switch us into a demo for minimal cost and then they have one with the second engine as a demo. Minimal loss for us out of loyalty. Like I said, at least a million and a half bucks in cars from us...same salesman even. They can take a couple grand loss for our loyalty. Who has even heard of using a place for that long? Lol.

Guess I'll get that LC500 convertible I wanted. LX570 won't ever break, I guess that will be my only truck for now I guess.

This is and has been a know issue with these motors, lifter take a crap because of the AFM. I have a 2022 Denali sitting a 1000 miles away at a dealership waiting for a motor. It has 27000 miles on it changed oil at 4500-5000 mile intervals. Premium fuel has nothing to do with it. If you look there are plenty of posts on line about this. The dealership replaced both banks of the lifters on mine, drove it a couple of miles and it started making more noise. They found metal shavings in the oil and said something in the lower half of the motor had now gone. This is on top of the 4 or 5 times I've had it in for water leaking from behind the driver's side dash, which if you look on line, water leaks are another known issue. Pretty much unacceptable for a truck that cost $85,000. The best part is, many motors that they are putting in as replacements are having the same issues. What type of warranty were you able to get from GM, they are not being helpful to me at the moment, they are saying the replacement motor will have a 2 yr unlimited mile warranty ( which means 2 yrs to me ) so it's still going to fall under the original motors warranty, nothing is being extended. I also lost 4 days of my vacation because this happened on my vacation and I had to deal with this while on my first vacation in 4 yrs. No vehicle for 2 days as it happened on a Saturday (;first day there ) , then sat at dealership for the whole day on Monday, and spent half a day driving to another city in one rental, to pick up another rental that I could actually drive home. GM has basically told me they're going to cover my rental..... The dealership that the trucks at has been great, but GM, not so much. It's very maddening that the consumer has to deal with this, and GM keeps putting these motors out, knowing that it's happening.

 

[ALT1345]

----------^

I am sorry man, that's awful.


Alright, update.

The salesman and dealer we have used for 55 years did exercise some pull to GM, or they're taking a loss themselves.

There is a brand new engine in a crate, waiting to go in because the head tech is on vacation. I told them rebuilt was unacceptable and I wouldn't take the truck back, buy it back from me.

There will be a brand new warranty, or a powertrain warranty that starts over... Customer loyalty is paying off here. Our salesman is just as disappointed as we are, he's been a family friend for 55 years. The service department is excellent there (but damn, for 80-100k trucks we need Lexus like dealers and loaners...come on) but this salesman is even better than them.

I stopped calling the service department because I'd rather just talk to him. He's 83 or 84 years old, just as good as he always was... he just talks slower.

This may sound like a pipe dream, but for example... when I found this truck, the Bose logo was popped off of the speaker driver's door. He ordered an entire new interior door panel, brand new.... just for a Bose logo that popped off before it got delivered.