In the ongoing saga around defects with GM’s 6.2L V8 L87 engine, General Motors is faced with another class-action lawsuit, this time from Seattle-based law firm Hagens Berman. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on Monday, the lawsuit alleges that GM knowingly sold and leased trucks and SUVs with defective engines that came with safety hazards. The specific plaintiffs in the case are from Washington and California.
The lawsuit spells out the well-documented defects with the 6.2L V8 L87 engines sold in vehicles from model years 2021-2024. The problem has to do with manufacturing flaws that may lead to rod-bearing damage caused by sediment on the connecting rods and in the crankshaft oil galleries, as well as issues related to the crankshaft specs and finish. When engines have this problem, it leads to loss of propulsion, sometimes requiring an engine replacement.
In addition to the obvious safety hazards caused by this problem, the new lawsuit alleges that it lowers the value of affected vehicles, causing financial harm to the plaintiffs in the case. To recap, the recall pertains to the 2021-2024 model years of GM full-size trucks and SUVs powered by the aforementioned V8. Nameplates included in the recall are the Chevy Silverado 1500, GMC Sierra 1500, Chevy Tahoe/Suburban, GMC Yukon/Yukon XL, and Cadillac Escalade/Escalade ESV.
One of the plaintiffs’ complaints that GM will likely take issue with is the claim that “simply replacing the defective engine with the same type of engine does not address the Bearing Defect and leaves consumers subject to the same undisclosed safety risk.” GM maintains that even though the 6.2L V8 L87 being used for engine replacements is technically the same engine as the one being recalled, the manufacturing defects were remedied for the 2025 model year. Through a detailed analysis of field data and teardown inspections, GM’s engineering team identified a specific build window between March 1st, 2021, and May 31st, 2024, during which an increased rate of engine failure was tied to specific manufacturing defects.
GM’s decision to issue a recall followed a series of investigations, engine replacements, and other lawsuits regarding consistent problems with the 6.2L V8 L87 engine. For reference, the General Motors recall number is N252494001. If you own one of these vehicles with the problematic V8, General Motors will notify you and give you instructions on what to do next.
Comments
Terrible. I’m surprised that a TRUCK motor is throwing rod bearings….and mind you this is supposed to be durable, not like a BMW where rod bearings are maintenance items…….
The fact that 3 investigations opened means they SHOULD have caught and stop sales the 6.2 for certain model years instantly…..they can make many more 5.3s and 3.0s to compensate….but here we are.
Don’t get me wrong….the 5 to 7 years time to FIX the issue itself is a good punishment for them……..
But like all lawsuits I suspect this will drag on for years before reaching a settlement.
Just like Toyota had with the Tundra V6 bearings. I suspect bad supplier. Its not all of them either just a few. People have over done this and now the greedy lawyers will want money. The end user never wins in law suites. GM didn’t not know and they didn’t cover it up. Its not a massive problem. I think the suppliers overseas wanted the bearings to break. I suspect foul play buy the suppliers.
The denialism and enabling of GM’s corporate incompetence is sad but typical.
who is responsible for the decision to outsource?
Who is responsible for the choice of supplier ?
Who is responsible for the quality output of said supplier?
Who is responsible for the satisfaction and safety of its customers?
Yeah. it makes real sense that a supplier would want to sabotage its relationship with the OEM and potentially risk its own financial well being, or even future existence by producing a substandard product. How absurd.
GM made the choice (perhaps w/o proper vetting) and likely allowed the supplier to operate without enough Quality oversight, and then GM and the supplier became complacent in their processes. they made a choice to prioritize $$$ (cost savings) over Quality.
The way class action law suits work is the defendant agrees to pay the plaintiff’s bloated legal costs only if the plaintiff’s attorney agrees to a class settlement equating to pennies on the dollar. The lawyers on both sides get rich, the class (actual persons damaged) gets screwed.
ever heard of contingency fees?
Lawyer bait! Baseless lawsuit! Ironically, this lawsuit will probably do more to hurt the resale value of the trucks than the actual recall, as it will be in the news cycle for months given how slow the courts work vs the quick stop to the dealership to change oil weight to what is essentially the recommendation for Corvettes that regularly race.
An oil spec change seems like a bandaid to me. The defects are reported to be an improperly finished crankshaft, and sediment, ie machining debris left in the parts.
Now there is another lawsuit claiming GM’s advice to the owners of the vehicles in the affected model years who were told to switch from 0W-20 oil to 0W-40 are losing MPG due to the thicker oil once the engines reach operating temperature. If GM is going to charge the insane prices for these vehicles, they had darn well be close to perfect.
And without engines or parts available the owners with broken engines are still waiting for repairs.
When a situation like this arises, all manufacturers get their “beancounters” (Actuaries) involved. With all the facts present, they weigh the costs, both tangible and intangible, and determine whether it is “worth” it to have a total recall of potentially affected vehicles or deal with any and all potential “claims”. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Yes. It always involves cost. This stuff happens more often than most think. This is in no way an excuse. It’s just how business is done. ALL business. Unfortunately this issue affected a very prominent vehicle in the North American market. IMO the facts [Root Cause(s) ] probably didn’t get conveyed early enough cause someone was trying to cover their butt. I’m sure it will or has come to bite them on their A*#. Shame.
I have just one question……whatever happened to the valve lifter failures with collateral damage??
Change the oil to 0W-40 so it will last just long enough to make it past the warranty period, or, remembering the transmission issues, just change to Mobil 1; the problem is solved. Anything they can do to avoid fixing it? My 2022 GMC Yukon Denali is on its second engine now; the latest engine uses 3 quarts of oil between oil changes. My 2021 Cadillac 6.2 is the same. Just don’t buy GM; at least Toyota is actually recalling and replacing, no questions asked, unlike GM.
I was thinking about buying a 2014 GMC Sierra truck with the 6.2 L 87 engine-105,000 miles on the truck so far with no problems. Now I’m not so sure this is a good idea even with the low price. Hmmmm, more research required. Feel free to comment/advise.