This Cadillac Escalade V-8 Failed After Just 4 Miles
General Motors is under investigation for a string of engine failures.
New cars shouldn’t have engines that fail after just a few miles. However, one 2023 Cadillac Escalade suffered a catastrophic failure with just four miles on the odometer. A new video from Dave’s Auto Center attempts to discover why.
It’s bad news right from the start, when a piece of broken connecting rod falls out of the engine during an early stage of disassembly. It’s not until the tech removes the piston that the technicians find a potential culprit—a single wrist pin clip on one of the cylinders is missing. They believe the clip popped off, leading to a chain reaction that caused the shutdown. Whatever happened was bad enough to break the piston skirt.
The 6.2-liter V-8 L87 engine powers various models, including the Escalade, GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Suburban, and GM’s full-size pickups. So a failure like this with so few miles should be an outlier. However, General Motors has been having issues with the L87. Last year, GM announced a program for customers to replace certain 6.2-liter V-8 L87 engines in Escalades due to oversized lifter bores.
Just a few weeks ago, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it would investigate General Motors for engine failures related to the 6.2-liter V-8 L87 engine. This includes the 2021-2023 Cadillac Escalade. However, the NHTSA document says the failures resulted from a failing connecting rod bearing, not missing parts.
The investigation involves an estimated 877,710 vehicles from GM, which includes the 2019-2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra and the 2021-2024 Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon, and Escalade. The agency’s Office of Defects Investigation said it has received 39 complaints related to engine failures. Here's to hoping GM solves the problem.
Look Inside More Engines:
Source: Dave's Auto Center / YouTube
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