Feds Widening Investigation Into GM Trucks and SUVs Powered by 6.2-Liter V-8s, Even After Recall

Story by Emmet White

Feds Widening Investigation Into GM Trucks and SUVs Powered by 6.2-Liter V-8s, Even After Recall

Hysterical fears that V-8 engines would be wiped from the Earth by tightening emissions regulations have yet to come to fruition, but one of General Motors's newer eight-cylinder powerplants is now facing a different kind of federal scrutiny. Specifically, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced a new open investigation into a specific run of L87 engines after an unusual amount of engine failures have occurred.

Investigation documents claim that federal regulators have received 1157 reports of engine bearing failure from the 6.2-liter V-8s, which power 2019–2024 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups, 2021-2024 Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe SUVs, GMC Yukon units, and Cadillac Escalade vehicles. These vehicles were included in a recall earlier this year, stemming from connecting rod and crankshaft defects—but NHTSA documents claim that more than 170 reports of engine failures due to other engine construction defects have also rolled in."ODI continues to receive a significant number of reports of engine failure in vehicles outside the scope of 25V-274. This presents a potential safety risk that warrants further investigation," the investigation announcement reads.

The initial recall, dubbed 25V-274, claimed that rod bearing installed in nearly 600,000 GM pickups and SUV were prone to damage from sediment in the oil galleries. General Motors also said that its crankshaft dimensions were out of specification and lacked the appropriate surface finish, increasing the likelihood of metallurgy wear and engine failure. GM said that most engine failures would be preceded by knocking, hesitation, and on occasion a check engine light. NHTSA's original chronology report for 25V-274 cites 28,000 potentially related field complaints; all told, GM says it identified 12 alleged crashes and 42 alleged fires that were potentially related to the original recall.

New data from an additional 173 engine failures indicates there could be extraneous engine bearing issues causing a new kind of metal wear. Introduced in 2019, the L87 is one of the latest LS-engine variations to be produced. It built on the emissions-focused cylinder deactivation scheme of its predecessor, the L86, by offering 17 different alternating firing orders that help it vary the number of cylinders active at once. Unfortunately for GM, it seems this high-tech, modern V-8 isn't panning out as well as they'd hope, at least not from a reliability standpoint.

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Maybe GM should stop wasting time and resources on cylinder shutdown technology and instead put that effort into designing an engine that is actually reliable and durable, like the old days. I don't think they have to worry much about CAFE at this point, so it's time to change gears.

 

Administrations change. While CAFE may not be a huge hinderance today, tightening guidelines may be back on the Horizon in a few years.

 

If only GM had exercised such foresight before committing so deeply to the "electric scam" championed by the previous administration, perhaps they could have allocated those funds to fix some of the lingering design issues with DoD/AFM as well as other durability issues exposed in this recall.

 

Why fix something when you can force people to trade in their depreciating asset with a blown engine on a new and improved model. GM has been producing crap engines since they invented DOD.

 

Wonder if my GM crate LS3 built 5/23 has the same bad crank finish issues?