Crank Shaft Failure @ 11,000 miles

[Eric E]

Driving home from the airport last Thursday afternoon I was slowing down for a traffic back up and the truck died. Dash read push start button, so I did and nothing, put it in neutral and tried again the same result by this time I had stopped rolling and put it in park to try and start it and hit the OnStar button for roadside assistance. It was about this Time I realized you cannot even put these things in neutral when they are not running so here I am stuck in the fast lane of a Houston Tollway in 80mph traffic. Somehow in the 35 minutes till police arrived I didn't cause a multi car pileup, but there were several very close calls with multiple drivers not paying attention. Two and a half hours later the Wrecker Roadside assistance send showed up and dropped it at the dealership.

The dealer service department says they will replace the Bearings and crankshaft. I don't have much confidence in the repair or GM for that matter. I've owned over 20 GM vehicles; this may be my last.

 

[ZR2NYC]

Driving home from the airport last Thursday afternoon I was slowing down for a traffic back up and the truck died. Dash read push start button, so I did and nothing, put it in neutral and tried again the same result by this time I had stopped rolling and put it in park to try and start it and hit the OnStar button for roadside assistance. It was about this Time I realized you cannot even put these things in neutral when they are not running so here I am stuck in the fast lane of a Houston Tollway in 80mph traffic. Somehow in the 35 minutes till police arrived I didn't cause a multi car pileup, but there were several very close calls with multiple drivers not paying attention. Two and a half hours later the Wrecker Roadside assistance send showed up and dropped it at the dealership.

The dealer service department says they will replace the Bearings and crankshaft. I don't have much confidence in the repair or GM for that matter. I've owned over 20 GM vehicles; this may be my last.

that sucks..

 

[AXE]

Glad your home safely! Nothing I hate more than freeway traffic. Only stopped in it once and assumed I'd get run over.

I would ask for a new motor or negotiate a new truck. I prefer the latter.

Good luck!

 

[securityguy]

Glad your home safely! Nothing I hate more than freeway traffic. Only stopped in it once and assumed I'd get run over.

I would ask for a new motor or negotiate a new truck. I prefer the latter.

Good luck!

They will fix it and move you along.....

 

[AXE]

They will fix it and move you along.....

If mine goes tits up, I'll have a new one in 24 hours. Either with their cooperation or not. This shit isn't hard, unless you cooperate with them. I've given them all my vehicle money since 1987......I can give it to anyone just the same.

Might even be a Ram or God forbid a Toyota, but there's a truck deal on ever corner. No sense waiting around to see if your junk comes out the way you bought it. Fuck that low rent customer service!

 

[scubatech]

If mine goes tits up, I'll have a new one in 24 hours. Either with their cooperation or not. This shit isn't hard, unless you cooperate with them. I've given them all my vehicle money since 1987......I can give it to anyone just the same.

Might even be a Ram or God forbid a Toyota, but there's a truck deal on ever corner. No sense waiting around to see if your junk comes out the way you bought it. Fuck that low rent customer service!

I agree with you Axe. There should be very few issues with these trucks, especially with the engines. I'm trying to completely trust my ZR2, but I have my doubts! What's scary about these DFM engines is that they just quit running and there you sit. This is a 6 bolt main bearing, long skirt block. That is as strong as it gets! So that tells me the bearing materials are sub - par. I like to do a few road trips in summer and relax while doing it, but????

 

[The_Q]

I have to wonder if the light weight oil and low oil pressure are contributing to these failures. I had set up my cluster to show oil pressure and was shocked at how low the operating pressure seems to be. Being an old school hot rod guy, good oil pressure is key to longevity. I changed my cluster setup after seeing the pressure because it bothered me. I know if I take it in I'll just be told it's normal. With today's Technology, there should be minimal failures.

 

[Eric E]

Glad your home safely! Nothing I hate more than freeway traffic. Only stopped in it once and assumed I'd get run over.

I would ask for a new motor or negotiate a new truck. I prefer the latter.

Good luck!

That was exactly what I told them, they gave me the 800 number and told me to take it up with GM. Started the case file with GM yesterday from the looks of it so far, I'm not walking away from this satisfied. I did finally get a loaner car out of them yesterday after five days.

 

[scubatech]

I have to wonder if the light weight oil and low oil pressure are contributing to these failures. I had set up my cluster to show oil pressure and was shocked at how low the operating pressure seems to be. Being an old school hot rod guy, good oil pressure is key to longevity. I changed my cluster setup after seeing the pressure because it bothered me. I know if I take it in I'll just be told it's normal. With today's Technology, there should be minimal failures.

Q, it's hard to tell with that oil pressure gauge. I'm an old school performance guy as well. I used to build a few engines & diffs. ten pounds per 1K RPM is good with a high volume pump. At around 2K the gauge shows about 1/2, whatever that is? I don't think it takes as much oil pressure to push the 0 X 20 oil. These older LS variants were known for long life and high recorded mileages. I'm really surprised to see this failure.

 

[Eric E]

Q, it's hard to tell with that oil pressure gauge. I'm an old school performance guy as well. I used to build a few engines & diffs. ten pounds per 1K RPM is good with a high volume pump. At around 2K the gauge shows about 1/2, whatever that is? I don't think it takes as much oil pressure to push the 0 X 20 oil. These older LS variants were known for long life and high recorded mileages. I'm really surprised to see this failure.

According to the Shop foreman and others I've spoken to so far it is a pretty common failure on the 6.2 's. Apparently, they are having a lot of issues with the upper end on the smaller engines also.
I'm wondering if GM made a decision to use lesser quality parts during the pandemic supply shortages.

 

[ZR2NYC]

According to the Shop foreman and others I've spoken to so far it is a pretty common failure on the 6.2 's. Apparently, they are having a lot of issues with the upper end on the smaller engines also.
I'm wondering if GM made a decision to use lesser quality parts during the pandemic supply shortages.

i have been using L9 hack to delay what may be the inevitable. if my numbers up, so be it. i have yet to fully beat up my truck out of caution. if my motor is a dink might as well get it over with.

 

[scubatech]

i have been using L9 hack to delay what may be the inevitable. if my numbers up, so be it. i have yet to fully beat up my truck out of caution. if my motor is a dink might as well get it over with.

You have a good attitude. That isn't an easy thing to have with this mess.

 

[scubatech]

According to the Shop foreman and others I've spoken to so far it is a pretty common failure on the 6.2 's. Apparently, they are having a lot of issues with the upper end on the smaller engines also.
I'm wondering if GM made a decision to use lesser quality parts during the pandemic supply shortages.

Yeah, I guess GM's reputation doesn't mean much anymore! Sad!

 

[AXE]

That was exactly what I told them, they gave me the 800 number and told me to take it up with GM. Started the case file with GM yesterday from the looks of it so far, I'm not walking away from this satisfied. I did finally get a loaner car out of them yesterday after five days.

Hopefully they come around! I have had great luck with dealer and getting support from GM, so nothing to complain about on my end. A couple trucks back I had the water pump go out on a Duramax just under 100k miles and just over 5 years. GM gave me the parts and dealer installed for 60% of labor. It would have been about $1300 and I paid about $800 with tax. They could have said sorry your past warranty. Same dealer just gave me $500 store credit cause I wasn't happy with sloppy work they did on the tint and black emblems on my wife's 2023 Tahoe. I turned right around and brought in my Duramax and had them do lower ball joints, drive shaft spline lube, and ac service.....$1500 ish and I paid $1000......everyone was happy.

If it happens to me, I'm going to the GM at the dealer and ask for a deal on new truck. I won't expect full price for my used one, but I'll expect a damn good one. That way, I'm happy and they can fix the broken truck and sell it and their happy. Seems like a no brainer. If I can't get something I like......on to the next one, but I'm not driving a rebuilt 1 year old truck.

 

[securityguy]

i have been using L9 hack to delay what may be the inevitable. if my numbers up, so be it. i have yet to fully beat up my truck out of caution. if my motor is a dink might as well get it over with.

It was confirmed that the L9 "hack" does nothing to prevent this issue.

 

[gwharton]

Driving home from the airport last Thursday afternoon I was slowing down for a traffic back up and the truck died. Dash read push start button, so I did and nothing, put it in neutral and tried again the same result by this time I had stopped rolling and put it in park to try and start it and hit the OnStar button for roadside assistance. It was about this Time I realized you cannot even put these things in neutral when they are not running so here I am stuck in the fast lane of a Houston Tollway in 80mph traffic. Somehow in the 35 minutes till police arrived I didn't cause a multi car pileup, but there were several very close calls with multiple drivers not paying attention. Two and a half hours later the Wrecker Roadside assistance send showed up and dropped it at the dealership.

The dealer service department says they will replace the Bearings and crankshaft. I don't have much confidence in the repair or GM for that matter. I've owned over 20 GM vehicles; this may be my last.

I had the exact same thing happen to me at 6k miles. It's funny that GM acts like they have never heard of this before when I spoke with them.

 

[ZR2NYC]

It was confirmed that the L9 "hack" does nothing to prevent this issue.

figures...like i said earlier, im gonna start driving it like i stole it.

 

[Kaholik24]

figures...like i said earlier, im gonna start driving it like i stole it.

The L9 hack does indeed prevent the DFM from enabling but it absolutely does not prevent the lifters from moving and eventually failing.

I drove mine that way and it lead me right into a new motor at 16K for the same issue the OP has.

 

[canonicom1]

The L9 hack does indeed prevent the DFM from enabling but it absolutely does not prevent the lifters from moving and eventually failing.

I drove mine that way and it lead me right into a new motor at 16K for the same issue the OP has.

You had a problem after driving in L9 or after you drove it like you stole it? I’m yet to try the L9. Im just running Plus level gas and driving like I always do

 

[AXE]

I have to wonder if the light weight oil and low oil pressure are contributing to these failures. I had set up my cluster to show oil pressure and was shocked at how low the operating pressure seems to be. Being an old school hot rod guy, good oil pressure is key to longevity. I changed my cluster setup after seeing the pressure because it bothered me. I know if I take it in I'll just be told it's normal. With today's Technology, there should be minimal failures.

My wife's 2015 Tahoe 5.3L with AFM was the first rig I've had running 0W20. The first time I poured that oil out of the jug, I thought it was diluted as it poured like water. They went from 6 quarts to 8+ for an oil change, no doubt cause that watery shit couldn't handle the heat as well a thicker oil. We ended up putting 90K on it and ran just as good and strong as when it was new. I think they are more prone to cam and lifter issues after 120k miles. It blows my mind that decades of building motors and there are problems like this shit.