2021 GMC Sierra V8 Lifter Damage

Greystone21 · May 11, 2021

Had my 2021 GMC Sierra SLT 2 wheel drive 5.3L V8 towed to dealership yesterday as one of the lifters is damaged. Not sure of the extent of the damage to engine. Told by service advisor that they have had 4 so far this year and two required complete engine replacements. Very disappointed. Working with my sales advisor to discern options to have GM buy truck back. Very frustrating as i love the truck otherwise. Just don't like the idea that the engine (heart) has had issues already and will always have hyper sensitive concerns going forward. I usually keep my vehicles until at least 100k. Good news is i purchased extended warranty of 7 years or 100k so i should be good but still...really?

Wanted to get this out in the public space to see if this is an on-going issue for other 2021

elcamino · May 11, 2021

Yes, known issue. GM out sources these parts, Melling.

Quote

Some 2019-2021 Silverado, Sierra; 2021 Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon and Escalade models equipped with the 5.3L V8 engine (RPO L84) or 6.2L V8 engine (RPO L87) may have a misfire condition with a bent pushrod that leads to a collapsed lifter or the lifter comes apart. Misfire DTCs P0300 – P0308 may be set.

If Service Information diagnostics lead to a collapsed lifter and/or a lifter that has come apart, it is recommended to replace the valve lifter guide and the four lifters. (Fig. 23) It is not necessary to replace the oil control solenoid valve.

Edited May 11, 2021 by elcamino

lapoolboy · May 11, 2021

What is it lately with all this talk of "buy backs"? Isn't a warranty's purpose to take care of these types of repairable issues? I imagine automakers have to "buy back" vehicles on rare occasions when there is no other option, but I can't imagine they jump right to buying back a used vehicle just because it has a repairable fault. What am I missing here? The powertrain warranty on most (if not all) new cars nowadays exceeds the bumper-to-bumper warranty anyway.

ericarenee · May 11, 2021

I do not think there are more issues with Vehicles then in the past. I actually think they are more reliable. The difference is Everyone has the internet, Even in the palm of there hand . Well even like you and I here reading this thread of yet another Failure. What we do not hear thou is all the 100s of thousands of Happy Truck owners who have absolutely no Problems are issues . I am glad that people do get online and post about there issues and how how the Stealerships deal with them. It helps everyone in the long run.

With the above said. Yeah asking for a buyback because of a Repairable issues that is Not as common as what people might think. I will bite my tongue on that one. I Would be a mad Woman if my Truck broke with a major issue. But only if it was not repaired Properly and in a timely manner ..

This is Just my Opinion.

As far as if the repaired engine will last.. Its Mechanical if the broken parts and put back to spec it will be good as or better then new.

Greystone21 · May 12, 2021

Lapoolboy. its really simple. you buy a new vaccuim from costco and the motor fails. you return for full refund and have option to repurchase or go elsewhere. this fail is not a window motor but the key component of vehicle. maybe you dont have a problem shelling out $55k and okay with engine failure before your first oil change

lapoolboy · May 12, 2021

11 minutes ago, Greystone21 said:

Lapoolboy. its really simple. you buy a new vaccuim from costco and the motor fails. you return for full refund and have option to repurchase or go elsewhere. this fail is not a window motor but the key component of vehicle. maybe you dont have a problem shelling out $55k and okay with engine failure before your first oil change

So the new vehicle warranty is worthless then? I'm sorry, but GM isn't going to buy back a truck that a couple of lifters and pushrods will fix. Even if there's cylinder damage, they'll just drop a new engine in.

CamGTP · May 12, 2021

You can return anything to Costco and I mean anything. They don't care about when,why or how, they will just refund the money and that is not how someone like GM operates.

My work takes me to Costco quite often and I've seen stickers on returned items like generators and pressure washers that just say "hard to start or won't run". Of those, 9/10 are because the user is an idiot and Costco just gives them their money back anyway.

BigdaddyoCan · May 12, 2021

I have to say I am one of those that has been reading of late on these forums and saw the bulletin on the tranny recall on GMAUTHORITY site so all this does make nervous. I have '21 5.3l 1500 with 8 speed and so far so good. Although I did experience low speed hard shift in the parking lot the other day a couple of times.

Any advice on maintenance I should do to help avoid some these issues you guys and gals talk about? Makes me miss my simple '06 I had I loved my old '06 and experienced some hard shift with it too so not overly surprised to see it still happens.

Dunn · May 13, 2021

Extended warranty is for after inital one expires....your factory warranty takes care of it being a 2021

And yeah they will try and fix it....they don't buy back vehicles easily ive seen...and long process......if parts are replaced and motor is checked be good as new

Edited May 13, 2021 by Dunn

elcamino · May 13, 2021

On 5/12/2021 at 12:27 AM, CamGTP said:

You can return anything to Costco and I mean anything. They don't care about when,why or how, they will just refund the money and that is not how someone like GM operates.

My work takes me to Costco quite often and I've seen stickers on returned items like generators and pressure washers that just say "hard to start or won't run". Of those, 9/10 are because the user is an idiot and Costco just gives them their money back anyway.

I know a lady who works in CS at WM and same thing, they will accept anything return. She told she had a customer once who returned some seedless grapes he bought days before because the tasted bad. She refunded his money no ? asked, a whopping $2.50.

Gangly · May 27, 2021

On 5/11/2021 at 6:08 PM, lapoolboy said:

What is it lately with all this talk of "buy backs"? Isn't a warranty's purpose to take care of these types of repairable issues? I imagine automakers have to "buy back" vehicles on rare occasions when there is no other option, but I can't imagine they jump right to buying back a used vehicle just because it has a repairable fault. What am I missing here? The powertrain warranty on most (if not all) new cars nowadays exceeds the bumper-to-bumper warranty anyway.

A buyback from GM is not a big deal for GM. Once they "repurchase" the vehicle from the owner, the dealership will take it, turn around and sell it as a Certified Pre-Owned. If anybody has ever had a vehicle "bought back", do a registration search on the VIN and you will find that your "lemon" was sold to another person.

My father had repeated issues with an early 90's Chevrolet Astro van after purchasing it new and eventually GM bought the vehicle back as a lemon. Not a week later my father was on the sales lot of the dealership that took it back as a lemon and saw the vehicle for sale as a used vehicle with no warnings of any kind that it was bought back from the original owner for unfixable issues.

Don't think for a minute that your "lemon" is in a large vehicle graveyard rusting from old age and neglect. The dealerships have probably re-sold almost every lemon ever bought back by a manufacturer(GM, Ford, RAM, etc.) under the guise of "Certified Pre-Owned".

Jac365 · May 30, 2021

On 5/27/2021 at 12:49 PM, Gangly said:

A buyback from GM is not a big deal for GM. Once they "repurchase" the vehicle from the owner, the dealership will take it, turn around and sell it as a Certified Pre-Owned. If anybody has ever had a vehicle "bought back", do a registration search on the VIN and you will find that your "lemon" was sold to another person.

My father had repeated issues with an early 90's Chevrolet Astro van after purchasing it new and eventually GM bought the vehicle back as a lemon. Not a week later my father was on the sales lot of the dealership that took it back as a lemon and saw the vehicle for sale as a used vehicle with no warnings of any kind that it was bought back from the original owner for unfixable issues.

Don't think for a minute that your "lemon" is in a large vehicle graveyard rusting from old age and neglect. The dealerships have probably re-sold almost every lemon ever bought back by a manufacturer(GM, Ford, RAM, etc.) under the guise of "Certified Pre-Owned".

I have seen used vehicles for sale that have been bought back as "lemons". This fact is usually attached to the vehicle title. (Such as salvage) A inquiry into the title will usually reveal this. (Car Fax etc)

elcamino · May 30, 2021

I have a 2021 6.2L Sierra Denali (new 12/07/20). I wonder if the start/stop has anything to do with engine problems. I usually turn if off every time I start the truck. But on a few occasions its slipped my mind and when start/stop occurs, the engine jerks when it comes back on. So bad at times a passenger even commented, what was that? She felt the jerk from the passenger seat.

MAC21 · June 14, 2021

So...the SAME thing just happened to me. I have a 2021 6.2L High Country purchased in February. 9000 miles and Pop, pop, pop then tick, tick, tick, tick. Lifters crapped out. Had it towed to the dealer. Confirmed problem and now waiting for tech to evaluate damage. Can’t even look at it for 12 days! Sooo question is, is this a lemon? Will I continue to have trouble with this thing? Once this thing is fixed, will it stay that way or will it continue to have issues.

Any luck in the buy back? I’ll move up to a 250O, anything not to have to go through the HELL of a crappy truck!

TahoeDissapoint · July 14, 2021

Given the apparent widespread nature of this lifter/rod failure, I don't think it is sufficient to be "satisfied" with the warranty and wait for repair. First, there are significant delays in getting parts and a common side issue is the lack of loaners available. Second, it is insane to think it is normal for these expensive vehicles to need a top end job at 3k, 5k, or 7k miles, with NO ASSURANCE that the issue won't happen again. My Tahoe was plagued with warning lights issues on three different occasions which I think was the pre-game warning (i.e. misfire of cylinders prior to failure).

Has there been a recall issued? Is GM standing behind the explanation that it was a faulty batch of parts from a supplier? I've never received official notification of a recall and my lifters/rods failed at 7,000 miles on my nearly $80k Tahoe High Country 4WD. There was no communication from GM. But the Service Advisor at the dealership was well-versed on the issue ("yep, we've got another one. Hate to tell you it could be weeks for parts"). The only service bulletin i've seen on the issue says repair damaged parts on affected cylinder bank and send the parts to GM Engineering for evaluation. Is this common practice? Or does it suggest that GM is still trying to understand the failure mode. If it is the same "faulty parts" in the other four cylinders, why not proactively replace those while the top end is off the engine?

Until GM takes the public position that it is a batch of faulty parts (via recall), it is going to be hard to convince me that this isn't a design issue, potentially linked to cylinder deactivation. There are some interesting videos on YouTube about the potential cause of this failure. The guys at the dealership I bought my Tahoe admitted they have seen quite a bit of this on Tahoes, Silverados, and its the same for Yukons and Escalades.