Dealer called and said it's a bent pushrod. Seems to be a known issue. I'm under the mileage cap for warranty but missed the cut off of Nov 2019. He recommended calling GM and bitching to help out. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10158866-9999.pdf
Was it JUST a bent push rod? A few months back, I got a 2015 Suburban with a 5.3 (L83, basically the same engine you have), running like shit, general P0300 code, and it had a broken valve spring, which allowed the intake valve to drop down and hit the Piston. Also bent the pushrod. You might be looking at cylinder head removal; pushrods usually don't bend on their own.
You're Goddamed right. You want to know why? 1) There were WAY too many times where I just replaced the part, and then the car started doing the same shit. And then the customer didn't want to pay for it. So I had to find the REAL problem. 2) I was trained by instructors who were dealer techs in the '80s; in the days when EFI first started, but fancy scanners didn't exist. When I took my first electrical class in tech school, we did EVERYTHING with a Fluke multimeter. You have to verify whatever the scanner says with the meter, otherwise you can make an expensive mistake.
As of right now it is. They said another issue they've seen is where the lifter roller bearing seizes and wipes out a cam lobe. So yep, one cylinder head off to start. I called GM Assistance and at least got elevated to supervisor level to due to the mileage being so below the threshold. I'll know more about that part in the next 1-2 days.
Cam and lifters are known problems, the brand new LS engines are having valve springs break causing a valve to drop but those are on 19-21’s. I’ve lost count how many cam/lifter jobs I did at the dealer, I can only think of 2 that bent a pushrod, if the lifter has damage to the roller then it needs a set of lifters and a new cam, period. You may need a VLOM as well if metal flakes came off the cam/lifter. Do not let them talk you into throwing a lifter or two back in it because “the cam looks ok”, you’ll just end up paying them again to replace everything as a set, that’s a bandaid at best. Also when your getting your oil changed never run a Delco filter with an “E” at the end, these are absolute garbage filters and will bite you in the ass.
Thanks for the info Dixie and flat_rate. I've been running Mobile 1 synthetic and WIX filters Based on your guy's knowledge, am I sitting in a time bomb or should it be ok after this? I've been a GM guy my whole life and have owned a ton of trucks. 1963, 1977, 1984, 1990, 1995, 2007 & 2014. What truck line up would you guys recommend?
I’m pretty biased towards GM products but that is just because I am a former dealer tech that is comfortable fixing them, I did a cam and lifters in the brother in laws 14 and he has almost 100k on the new set, if they swap them out for you it should be good to go. With that being said the new GM stuff without an LS engine in them I would avoid like the plague, I don’t hear anything good about them from the few guys I know still working on them at the dealers.
When my wife wanted a Yukon Denali, one of my demands was that it not have the 6.2 after I researched that engine. Thankfully, she decided to keep her Element. The rate we put miles on it, it should last another couple of decades.
I am the parts guy for a maintenance shop. Including apprentices we have 24 heavy duty mechanics, 23 crane mechanics (electrians / mill rights) and 2 auto mechanics. Since it isn’t their money you wouldn’t believe how many parts changers we have.
They just called and said a lifter failed but there is no damage to the cam. They want to just replace the lifters on that side. Does that sound right?
NO. I have never seen a failed roller lifter NOT fuck up a cam. Replace cam and ALL lifters. And do a leakdown test, because I'll bet you a rep point that you've got a bent valve, too.
They said it wasn't the roller that failed. The lifter collapsed. I asked directly if there was any cam damage and they said zero. How do I go about "making" them replace the cam? Edit- It's not under warranty (and IF GM decides to cover it, the dealership still gets paid) so wouldn't they want to do more work? Like if they even had an inkling the cam was damaged, I'd think they'd want the repair & parts money.
Oh. Well, if the roller isn't damaged, then I guess I'd just go ahead and do as they say. I'm still kinda suspicious about the cause of failure, though.
Roller is ok then it should be fine to slam a set of lifters in it, the collapsed lifter happens but it not anywhere near as common as the roller being damaged and wiping out the cam.
Truck is done and now carries a 2 year, unlimited mileage warranty on the stuff they fixed. $2697.98 which GM helped $0.00 with. Assholes.
Oh man, I don't even want to think about that! I took it to the dealer we buy all our GM/MOPAR/Toyota parts from (all the same auto group) and they passed on their "fleet rate" which knocked down the rate from $165/hour to $120/hour and parts at my cost. I'm sure that saved a pretty penny. Thanks for the advice along the way
Holy shit, where I work, it's $89 an hour. And you get me, an ASE master tech doing the work. You never know who you're going to get at the dealer. Sometimes I wish you guys lived down here... But that means y'all would have to live in the fucking Valley. You wouldn't be happy.