- The NHTSA is taking another look at GM’s L87 6.2-liter V8.
- GM recalled 598,000 engines after an earlier investigation.
- More failures from outside the recall pool are a big concern.
Recalls are inconvenient, expensive and embarrassing for automakers, but at least once you’ve fessed up and fixed the problem you can move on, right?
Usually, yes, but GM is under the federal microscope again due to reports of grenading V8s, despite having already recalled almost 600,000 trucks and SUVs to remedy the issue.
Not The First Time
The NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) announced last week that it has begun an Engineering Analysis of General Motor’s L87 powertrain, the 6.2-liter pushrod workhorse fitted to vehicles like the Chevrolet Silverado and Suburban, the GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade.
Investigators are concerned that bottom end bearing failures are leading to the death of engines fitted to the 2019-24 utilities.
Related: GM’s V8 Is Fueling Lawsuits Faster Than Ford Can Issue Recalls
The ODI folks have been here before. They already opened a probe, or Preliminary Evaluation, of the L87 early in 2025 and that investigation resulted in GM recalling 597,630 vehicles in April of this year.
However, regulators have continued to receive reports of engine failures, many of them this time from trucks and SUVs not included in the spring recall.
Is GM’s Solution Not Enough?
GM has also been hit by a wave of class-action lawsuits claiming the original recall is inadequate. Plaintiffs argue that the engines have a fundamental design “defect in the connecting rod or crankshaft engine component” that can cause the engine to seize or throw a rod through the side of the crankcase.
They say the company’s idea of a solution – to only replace certain engines and send others packing with some new oil – is not a lasting remedy.
Since the issue clearly isn’t going away, the ODI has got itself a more powerful microscope and stepped up its sleuthing to a proper Engineering Analysis.
This is where investigators stop pushing paper around and get their coveralls and wrenches out to drill down to the heart of the matter. Depending on what they find, the L87 recall that GM thought it had put behind it could become a much bigger problem.
