6.2L L87 Powertrain Engine Noise (Lifter Failure) Question

[clowe1243]

Need a little advice here before I just trade the truck in for a 2500 6.6L L8T and SPA it.  Really dont want to be left with a broken truck and lose value.
 

Just replaced my oil lines due to leaking, never leaked more than half a quart between 5k oil changes (barely noticeable on dip stick).  Afterwards, hopefully just paranoia, I hear a distinct powertrain noise.  Could have always been there, but now paying more attention.  Pretty sure the leak wouldn't have caused some kind of oil delivery issue to some of the internals.

I really don't think its the direct injection system, as that is still pretty distinct.

Took the truck into the dealer, and specifically asked for someone who has worked on the L87 (6.2) lifter failure, and they stated if it was the lifters/cam failing or making that noise, I would have a CEL and misfires/performance decrease.  Which I do not.

 

2019 L87 6.2L 10 Speed 56k miles (Outside Warranty)

[2020truck]

At what percent or miliage do you change your oil?  You should be changing it at 5k miles, I don't care what anyone else says.  

 

Personally if I were you,  trade it before you have transmission problems.  

 

I have a 2020 6.2l 10l80 112k miles.  93k trans idler bearing gave out and started whining. At 112k transmission failed. Well, slight slip then fishbite but dealer said needed a transmission. So about 14k worth of trans work at the dealer.  

 

 

 

 

[clowe1243]

4 hours ago, 2020truck said:

At what percent or miliage do you change your oil?  You should be changing it at 5k miles, I don't care what anyone else says.  

 

Personally if I were you,  trade it before you have transmission problems.  

 

I have a 2020 6.2l 10l80 112k miles.  93k trans idler bearing gave out and started whining. At 112k transmission failed. Well, slight slip then fishbite but dealer said needed a transmission. So about 14k worth of trans work at the dealer.  

 

 

 

 

5k always...maybe twice did it go ~100 miles past waiting for royal purple to be delivered.  I really doubt an oil quality issue.  Today, at a bar, a GMC mech, so who knows how valid; suggested switching to 5w40 (the lifter failure "fix") which is still in court.  I honestly just need, but probably wont get, it's not a lifter failure, as a response.  If trans failure on the 10 speed, going 6.6L, it would be the same problems.  For all of that, I'd go Ford Godzilla motor.

[newdude]

8 hours ago, clowe1243 said:

5k always...maybe twice did it go ~100 miles past waiting for royal purple to be delivered.  I really doubt an oil quality issue.  Today, at a bar, a GMC mech, so who knows how valid; suggested switching to 5w40 (the lifter failure "fix") which is still in court.  I honestly just need, but probably wont get, it's not a lifter failure, as a response.  If trans failure on the 10 speed, going 6.6L, it would be the same problems.  For all of that, I'd go Ford Godzilla motor.

 

 

The oil is NOT a lifter failure switchover.  You are mixing up two separate things.  The 0w40 had to do with protecting engines built from 2021-2024 which is the 6.2 "recall" range and special coverage for engine machining and manufacturing defects with the crankshafts and connecting rods.  

 

 

[BIGDOGx]

57 minutes ago, newdude said:

 

 

The oil is NOT a lifter failure switchover.  You are mixing up two separate things.  The 0w40 had to do with protecting engines built from 2021-Current which is the 6.2 "recall" range and special coverage for engine machining and manufacturing defects with the crankshafts and connecting rods.  

 

Sorry had to fix it for you, lower end 6.2 issues are still happening because the parts is still being made at the same Mexican sweatshop. Why should anyone expect anything other then failure when you have people being paid 5 bucks an hour to make crankshafts for your premium engine. The oil weight has beyond nothing to do with this issue, it has to do with paying near slave labor wages to make important engine components.

 

I think the Oil debate was just a stall tactic and a throw it against the wall change to see if the thicker oil helps prolong engine life to get out of warranty. I have watched tear downs of never run 6.2 engines and all the finish surfaces were trash but like i said you get what you pay for!

[clowe1243]

Well...went to drive to work this morning, and it kicked the bucket.  Its at the another dealer now; dont trust the previous one that just said "You do have powertrain noise.".  Hopefully just lifters and pushrods.  Fingers crossed they dont rape me, but I'm sure it will be 10k rebuild or 13k for crate.  Just sad this happened at only 56k miles.

[2020truck]

On 5/1/2026 at 12:29 PM, clowe1243 said:

Well...went to drive to work this morning, and it kicked the bucket.  Its at the another dealer now; dont trust the previous one that just said "You do have powertrain noise.".  Hopefully just lifters and pushrods.  Fingers crossed they dont rape me, but I'm sure it will be 10k rebuild or 13k for crate.  Just sad this happened at only 56k miles.

Sorry to hear that bud. Any updates?   

 

Also have you thought about going to an independent shop, ordering a DOD deleted rebuilt engine and have the shop tune it?  I bet it would be cheaper and more durable than another DOD engine with the same trash lifters.  It's the lifter quality, not necessarily the design that is causing the issues.  There is a brand of lifter The Car Wizard recommends if you go back with the DOD. 

Edited May 5 by 2020truck

[clowe1243]

18 hours ago, 2020truck said:

Sorry to hear that bud. Any updates?   

 

Also have you thought about going to an independent shop, ordering a DOD deleted rebuilt engine and have the shop tune it?  I bet it would be cheaper and more durable than another DOD engine with the same trash lifters.  It's the lifter quality, not necessarily the design that is causing the issues.  There is a brand of lifter The Car Wizard recommends if you go back with the DOD. 

 

Dealer called back, not just lifters, but the shavings in the oil pan, can pay them more diag to tear it down, but would cost another 3-5k.  So decided new motor, 13k comes with 3 more years of warranty.  So said screw it.  Got to get it fixed to be worth anything.  Can upsell the new motor a bit for the 43k quote from the dealer after repair.  Going to see how that goes.  Looking at the 2026 Chevy 2500 ZR2 6.6L gas, but really dont like the price tag.  Maybe something else will come out in the next year or two that will

I did think about going independent and having them pull the motor and rebuild without DOD (with some upgrades of course), came out to about 10k (Lifters, cam, pushrods, crank, etc).  Of course that assumes my block doesn't need machining.  It will cost me more if they tear it down and the block isn't good.  Same as dealer.

 

So in the mean time, I'm done with DOD and the 6.2L in the near future; all of the trucks (RAM, GM, Ford, Toyota) have issues because of it.  Going to buy this cheap, but good on gas, 2016 Miata tomorrow to get around town.  Tired of riding the bike in the rain just to get the milk.

 

WHO KNOWS, MAYBE GM WILL REIMBURSE ME BY 2035!  56k miles and a bad engine just doesnt make sense to me.  Even if I would have got the extended warranty, it would have ran out too.

[BIGDOGx]

5 hours ago, clowe1243 said:

 

Dealer called back, not just lifters, but the shavings in the oil pan, can pay them more diag to tear it down, but would cost another 3-5k.  So decided new motor, 13k comes with 3 more years of warranty.  So said screw it.  Got to get it fixed to be worth anything.  Can upsell the new motor a bit for the 43k quote from the dealer after repair.  Going to see how that goes.  Looking at the 2026 Chevy 2500 ZR2 6.6L gas, but really dont like the price tag.  Maybe something else will come out in the next year or two that will

I did think about going independent and having them pull the motor and rebuild without DOD (with some upgrades of course), came out to about 10k (Lifters, cam, pushrods, crank, etc).  Of course that assumes my block doesn't need machining.  It will cost me more if they tear it down and the block isn't good.  Same as dealer.

 

So in the mean time, I'm done with DOD and the 6.2L in the near future; all of the trucks (RAM, GM, Ford, Toyota) have issues because of it.  Going to buy this cheap, but good on gas, 2016 Miata tomorrow to get around town.  Tired of riding the bike in the rain just to get the milk.

 

WHO KNOWS, MAYBE GM WILL REIMBURSE ME BY 2035!  56k miles and a bad engine just doesnt make sense to me.  Even if I would have got the extended warranty, it would have ran out too.

Did your dealer just tell you there is nothing they can do? Usually with that low of miles they might be able to secure a partial amount to help off set the cost or something, perhaps call the gm service line. I know it's a long shot but heck even getting a grand in gm accessory's gifting would help with the sting of this.

 

I take it the 13k is a for a direct crate replacement engine? I wouldn't blame you because I'm sorry the independent shop route is a bumpy one imo. There are FAR more hack mechanics out there then good reliable ones imo, and finding a go fast shop that does good solid work is very very very hard to come by imo these days.

[GMCustomerService]

Unfamiliar noises can definitely cause concern, Chris. We are glad you were able to get connected with your dealer about this and would like to offer a layer of assistance between you and them to ensure this gets addressed. Please fill out our support form here https://s.chevy.com/support-request  so one of our advisors can follow up with next steps. 

[BIGDOGx]

19 hours ago, GMCustomerService said:

Unfamiliar noises can definitely cause concern, Chris. We are glad you were able to get connected with your dealer about this and would like to offer a layer of assistance between you and them to ensure this gets addressed. Please fill out our support form here https://s.chevy.com/support-request  so one of our advisors can follow up with next steps. 

Looks like a bit more going on here then unfamiliar noises..... His motor let go on him @ 57,000 miles and GM clearly thinks that is an acceptable outcome. How about actually doing something and work to help secure him at least partial coverage here?

[clowe1243]

On 5/11/2026 at 2:00 PM, GMCustomerService said:

Unfamiliar noises can definitely cause concern, Chris. We are glad you were able to get connected with your dealer about this and would like to offer a layer of assistance between you and them to ensure this gets addressed. Please fill out our support form here https://s.chevy.com/support-request  so one of our advisors can follow up with next steps. 

 

What do you mean, like another middleman?  Really needed my truck this weekend to pull my trailer, but after almost a month, its still not done.  Service advisor is at least going to put me in a 2026 Colorado today that cant even pull my trailer.  I feel like putting someone else between the dealer and I would just delay things further.

What really needs to happen, GM needs to drop the suit, accept they messed up, and start paying for their mistake.  Or is it only acceptable for us (The taxpayer), to bail GM out.

Ended up having the buy a cheap, but reliable 2018 Maxima, and it feels like I'm going to grow a uterus.  Now all the sudden a vehicle is available.  So now I'm 18k for the car; 13k for the motor.  And who knows what else they will try to delay and add on.  This truck is going to be sold immediately, and GM will never see another dime from me.

[clowe1243]

Got the truck back today.  Called them yesterday to get an update, and miraculously my truck is finished?!?!

The $13k out the door was complete bullshit!  Ended up being over $14k.  They added some bullshit service bulletin that I cant even find, where they replaced my radiator without telling me or asking me, and charging me for it.  Need to do more research into it, cause they leaked the first delivered radiator was ran over by FedEX.  Sounds like bullshit to me.

2.5 Months for an engine swap, which ended up being remanufactured, not new; ****ing ridiculous.  Brakes are squishy as hell, not sure if its from sitting.  Will give a couple days to see it that figures it self out.  GAVE IT BACK TO ME WITH 1 GALLON OF GAS!  Just filled the tank the day before drop off, more bullshit.  My dash cam SD card was formatted, not really much I can do about that.

3 year, 100k GM warranty at least.  Time to sell it and say **** off to GM.  Bad experience.  Cant wait for the survey email to come through.  Overpriced Raptor R, here I come!

[newdude]

1 hour ago, clowe1243 said:

Got the truck back today.  Called them yesterday to get an update, and miraculously my truck is finished?!?!

The $13k out the door was complete bullshit!  Ended up being over $14k.  They added some bullshit service bulletin that I cant even find, where they replaced my radiator without telling me or asking me, and charging me for it.  Need to do more research into it, cause they leaked the first delivered radiator was ran over by FedEX.  Sounds like bullshit to me.

2.5 Months for an engine swap, which ended up being remanufactured, not new; ****ing ridiculous.  Brakes are squishy as hell, not sure if its from sitting.  Will give a couple days to see it that figures it self out.  GAVE IT BACK TO ME WITH 1 GALLON OF GAS!  Just filled the tank the day before drop off, more bullshit.  My dash cam SD card was formatted, not really much I can do about that.

3 year, 100k GM warranty at least.  Time to sell it and say **** off to GM.  Bad experience.  Cant wait for the survey email to come through.  Overpriced Raptor R, here I come!

 

 

Engine failure requires radiator replacement per GM if it contains an engine oil cooler.  They do NOT want them flushed.  Radiator replacement is also required for the 6.2 recall if the engine fails.

 

Here is the TSB the dealer is referring to - 22-NA-074 1..2 

 

Its a slightly older version, but the current version of it covers all model years 2000-2026.  So if enough failure debris was present, it gets an oil cooler.  If that is part of the radiator, it gets a radiator.  Also, same for oil cooler lines.  Those get replaced.  

 

Now something like a 2.7 Turbo which uses an oil to water heat exchanger for the oil cooler, the radiator would be left alone but the oil cooler would be replaced, as well as any lines.  

[clowe1243]

On 7/21/2026 at 2:42 PM, newdude said:

 

 

Engine failure requires radiator replacement per GM if it contains an engine oil cooler.  They do NOT want them flushed.  Radiator replacement is also required for the 6.2 recall if the engine fails.

 

Here is the TSB the dealer is referring to - 22-NA-074 1..2 

 

Its a slightly older version, but the current version of it covers all model years 2000-2026.  So if enough failure debris was present, it gets an oil cooler.  If that is part of the radiator, it gets a radiator.  Also, same for oil cooler lines.  Those get replaced.  

 

Now something like a 2.7 Turbo which uses an oil to water heat exchanger for the oil cooler, the radiator would be left alone but the oil cooler would be replaced, as well as any lines.  

Fair enough, I can see that being a reason.  That bulletin was released April 2022.  They had 2.5 months to give me a call letting me know the 13k out the door was BS.  They also did not tear down my old motor, so really not sure how they inspected the bearing.  Either way, truck now having idle issues.  I anticipate it going back within the week.