Someone calm my 6.2 fears...

[DHW]

Hey guys,

As the title states, I'm looking for some good news to calm my fears of my 6.2 dying on me. I've had my 2022 AT4X for about a year now, bought it used with 19k miles, just hit 28k. Only issues I've had were the leaking rear window and a weak tailgate dampener, both of which I fixed myself. I always run premium and, based on advice from here, change my oil every 4k miles.

Except for it being a bit too big for downtown Atlanta parking, I love the truck. That said, almost every time I'm on here I see a post or comment with someone else complaining of 6.2 failure. Just before posting this I read a comment where someone called the 6.2 a "ticking timebomb". Each time I see something like that, I wonder if I should trade the truck. I had originally planned on keeping this truck for a while, but now it seems like keeping it past pt warranty expiration isn't a good idea.

I know the 6.2 issues are bad, but are they blown out of proportion to any degree? Every article I read seems to say something different. On the plus side, it seems like a recall is likely, especially with the NHTSA investigation, but then I worry there'll be a shortage of engines if that happens. So, what are the chances my 6.2 makes it to 100k miles while remaining intact?

 

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[myrez]

Maintain it regularly like you are but with the addition of a quality oil catch can like the the JL seperator. Combine that with driving in L9 and I feel like that's the most any one can do. I feel confident that my 6.2 will last.

 

[Leo581]

It's almost impossible to tell if you have a good engine or not or exactly how many are bad. One thing you have to remember is most people come to forums like these to problem solve, so almost everything you read is going to be people expressing their problems. I had my engine replaced at 7200 miles but I'm going to hang onto the truck.
The NHTSA investigation might help once they finish it, but I doubt that will be anytime soon. And it looks like these engines are already backordered so that problem will only get worse if they issue a recall.
I would just enjoy the truck and hope for the best and cross that bridge if/when you come to it like I did.

 

[jakrbt]

I'm on my 2nd 6.2L and have been so far pleased, except fuel mileage. But I knew that going into it. Traded my 2021 AT4 6.2L in with 57K on the clock and really didn't do anything other than regular oil changes, air filter and 93 octane fuel (after the first year I got curious about the knock I was hearing). My 2024 has been just as reliable so far with just under 21k on the clock in a year with mostly inner city stop & go traffic driving. In town I'm usually in L9 and then on road trips I'll keep it in D.

 

[cynistersix]

I have two vehicles both running 91 octane only with a 6.2L each with 16k miles or more on them and no issues what so ever. I do not change oil every 4k miles thats pretty short duration IMO and not worth it unless you're really revving the shit out of the motor.

EDIT: my Yukon just died at 19k miles. Waiting on diagnostics for Monday.
EDIT 2: Engine needs replacing on the Yukon. In a loaner since 4/3 - down since 3/21. No ETA on parts.

I also don't drive in L9 on either vehicle, I do manually turn off the auto start stop by hand if I'm in stop and go traffic.

Roll your own dice but know that tons of people who own these vehicles do not even know this forum exists and will not talk about 100k miles plus with no issues but I can tell you I've had other GMC vehicles and never had an engine or drive train problem once.

 

[Don S]

A couple of things......this website represents probably less than a quarter of 1% of all 6.2L engines in operation. As noted above, people don't come here to exclaim how well their engine is working, they come here when there is an issue.

I tow this truck and my previous truck, a 2019 Ford Raptor, behind my motorhome. There were several reports that the Ford transmissions were jumping out of neutral while being towed. It was a concern, but I towed mine over 20K miles without issue.

The only thing that concerns me about this truck and the 6.2L is cylinder drop out (DFM/AFM) to save mileage. I think that is a problem waiting to happen. I run one of the OBDII defeaters (Carbyte) to stop the engine from dropping cylinders to save on fuel. I'll pay for the extra fuel and like tat it also turns off the AUTO STOP.

Lastly, I like to watch the various Motor Trend TV shows and one in particular, Engine Masters. There was an episode where they tested air cleaners and gas octane. It was very surprising. First, the variety of air cleaners all worked the same with NO notable change in horsepower. The ONLY difference they found was when they added too many turns to the air cleaner ducting. Minimal turns caused the least HP reduction.

The second thing they demonstrated, was there was NO difference in HP when using 89, 91 and I think they also used 93. That really surprised me. The only stipulation, it did help when running a turbo but did nothing for naturally aspirated engines like the 6.2L.

So, for the diesel turbo guys, use the higher octane.

Because my Raptor had twin turbos, I religiously changed the oil every 5K. I changed my own oil on my cars and RV's until I was about 55 years old and had just retired. I was done with crawling under the cars, I started paying Ford and Acura, for our MDX, to change the oil. It was no longer worth it to me to change the oil when the dealer did a complete service for $100.00 and washed the car. I still change the oil in my diesel pusher as it takes six gallons.

Not only was it worth it to have the dealer do the service, but there is also no argument as to who has been servicing and maintaining the truck, should a warranty issue arise.

Just like the Raptor, I'll have the Sierra serviced by GMC every 5K miles.

 

[R467X]

I stand by my comment - ticking time bomb. Does this engine blow up happen to every 6.2 or even every other 6.2? No. But it is happening frequently enough times that if I had one then I would sell and get something else. Maybe the 5.3 or the 3.0 if set on GM.

I can't trust a vehicle when far too many people have the same exact issue, enough to get GM under the radar of the feds. It is dangerous to have an engine grenade out of nowhere like to the guy from a couple months back that had thousands of pounds in tow at the time.

No one has the actual destroyed 6.2 figures from GM. I suspect it's a significant amount when people have to wait at least a month / backordered for a new engine to arrive.

Supply can't keep up with demand.

 

[LegalBrief]

Buy the extended warranty (search this site) and then drive it, you will be fine…

 

[Azgasser]

What changed with these current 6.2s? I have had 3, Camaro, 2018 Denali, and a C7 corvette and never a hiccup. All had the cylinder delete functions.That being said the failures have been raising concerns. Auto manufacturers don’t make an excessive number of blocks/engines for post production replacements so any increase in immediate needs can take time. It appears that over 900K 6.2s fall in the category of potential failures.

 

[TripleB]

My 2019 at4 6.2 at 90k miles was drinking 2.5 quarts of oil every 2k miles, check engine lights. She was about to go before trading.

 

[Njcam26]

Hey guys,

As the title states, I'm looking for some good news to calm my fears of my 6.2 dying on me. I've had my 2022 AT4X for about a year now, bought it used with 19k miles, just hit 28k. Only issues I've had were the leaking rear window and a weak tailgate dampener, both of which I fixed myself. I always run premium and, based on advice from here, change my oil every 4k miles.

Except for it being a bit too big for downtown Atlanta parking, I love the truck. That said, almost every time I'm on here I see a post or comment with someone else complaining of 6.2 failure. Just before posting this I read a comment where someone called the 6.2 a "ticking timebomb". Each time I see something like that, I wonder if I should trade the truck. I had originally planned on keeping this truck for a while, but now it seems like keeping it past pt warranty expiration isn't a good idea.

I know the 6.2 issues are bad, but are they blown out of proportion to any degree? Every article I read seems to say something different. On the plus side, it seems like a recall is likely, especially with the NHTSA investigation, but then I worry there'll be a shortage of engines if that happens. So, what are the chances my 6.2 makes it to 100k miles while remaining intact?

I started getting the tick right at 20k miles, was in the shop for a month an half. According to the paper work, Cylinder 5 had a misfire, so they had only replaced that cylinder. Two weeks after I got it back it started ticking again. Now it is back in the shop, and last I spoke with the service advisor, they mentioned the possibility of putting in a new motor. Personally, once that warranty is up I'd consider trading it in.

 

[Glava2876]

My 2025 6.2 has 890 miles and I’ve had absolutely no problems

 

[PhilMont]

I had original engine replaced at 51000 miles because of oil consumption and Carbon had scored #6 cylinder beyond repair. I always used oil monitor to determine oil changes and dealer performed all of the services. At 5,000 miles on the new engine, I got "check engine oil level" indicator on dash.......no oil on dipstick. Dealership changed oil and put my new engine on the "oil consumption" routine. I have given up on dealer and am checking oil level every 1,000 miles. At 1500 on the new oil change (this is the first oil change since replacement engine was installed), the oil level is perfect. Personally, I am suspect of the oil that GM uses and its vaporization rate. I was working with a really crappy service department therefore I have abandoned dealership and will be using another ASME certified shop for documenting service. I will also be changing oil brand and viscosity (I've had excellent results on previous vehicles with Castrol 5w30 synthetic) to see if oil consumption may be more controllable. On a side note, I've even looked at GM recommendations/specs for the Corvette engines of same year and found they are calling for a heavier viscosity for those engines over a truck-spec engine. Makes me wonder why? I like my AT4 and I like the 6.2L engines but I think some over-engineering (and over-thinking) has created a monster for GM. Good luck to all and I agree that Routing or early maintenance on these is more important than earlier design engines.

 

[ShortMag]

Well over 200k miles over the last 11 years with 3 different trucks with the 6.2. Never an issue. I drive them for about 5 years and 90k-ish miles and trade them in. 2014 Denali, 2019 at4, 2024 at4x

 

[jakrbt]

Well......I started hearing some sort of ticking/tapping on my way in to work this morning. I pulled in my parking spot at the office and put it in park then decided to try to duplicate it. Rev'd up the engine a bit and the ticking gets way more pronounced. I'm assuming I got bit by the lifter tap.....F&*!