Execs and designers say "this is the car. This is what has to go in it. Make it fit, make it work, make it look integrated, and make it simple enough a wild baboon can operate it. You have 6 weeks" oh and "do it as cheaply as possible "
I drove a 1976 Oldsmobile with a 350 Rocket in it for over a week with no bearing left on several rods. I beat the SHIT out of that car forever, and it finally spun a rod bearing at 176,000 miles. It started with a slight knock, and the engine would seize up when it was driven long enough and it got hot. Let it cool down for a few hours, and it would fire up again. I drive it to work 2 miles away for a week like this. The knock got louder, and louder, and pretty soon it actually hurt your ears. What finally killed it was when a few of the rod bearings were completely gone, and the big end of the rod started to wear big enough, the rod actually contacted the oil pan and the bolts scraped a gouge through the pan, and all the oil drained out. It tossed 6 of the rods very shortly after it lost all of it's oil. What a broke ass teenager will do... That engine was a TOUGH mo'fo though. 😂
@carlbernard4197 It SURE did... Went for quite a bit longer than I thought it would have with spun bearings. I was bummed when I pulled the engine down to remove the camshaft, (I had earlier installed a decent sized Comp cam, and wanted it back) and when the rods broke they took some large chunks out of the cam lobes. 😟 🍻
If you noticed the #2 cylinder when you removed the piston had a broken compression ring, it probably lost its oil thru that cylinder out the exhaust, "the def fluid filter system would have caught most of the smoke" then when the oil was depleted it lost pressure and jumped time, the rest was a downward spiral from no oil pressure. Great video!
Did not notice I have a truck with this engine and I’m largest concern was the reliability and it seems good but I’m going to look out for that failure as well as going back to look at the video and see if I can see the breakage.
@@daltonnewbold5874same here, I have 2021 with 3.0 and it’s been great engine, so far. I will be monitoring all posts to see if there’s anything lurking in the engines future. Tear down shows how impressively tight the engine is built. Did you notice the metal oil pan? looking at you Ford!
@@joedfaziothat pan was literal tin metal, could poke a hole in it with a flathead screwdriver. Warped beyond reusability just by force of separating it from the silicon holding it to the upper pan. How is that any better than plastic?
The wet oil pump belt has a 150k mi interval on the LM2, but its second gen version the LZ0 has the interval bumped to 200k mi. Same p/n belt too. As for it not running, that component on the high pressure pump is the pressure regulator. When the pump (or regulator) is replaced, there is a procedure with GDS2 called a High Pressure Fuel Variable Reset that must be performed. If not done, the ECM can trip all sorts of DTCs, which would explain why when he put the old regulator on the new pump the truck fired up as it knew the values from the old regulator. I'm thinking oil consumption which theory is attributed to the aluminum pistons. LZ0 now has steel pistons.
So it would seem that they should get an oil pump belt when the transmission is removed for repair. It will be interesting to see how many miles they get before breaking as we know customers are going to push the ragged edge.
I work at a GM dealership and I HATE working on any vehicle with these, once it's fully dressed there's so much stuff crammed in the engine bay. You have to pull the cab to do major work on them, absolute nightmare otherwise
In order to reduce the cost of the engine by maybe $50, GM decides to use a belt for the oil pump that requires a $2k service to replace at 150k miles. If the belt breaks, it's $8k engine replacement. So they not only save money up front, but make more money on servicing the vehicle as well. In business, that's what we call a win-win.
Modern diesels are expensive AF upfront and over their useful service life. Unless someone is extensively towing, the fuel economy alone doesn't make up for it; TCO is higher. At least the HD pickup diesels do better in this aspect. Even the VM Motori's (Fiat owned) have been around since like '13 in the Ram and I wouldn't get an EcoDiesel. Ford abandoned this space altogether in half-tons, so that's pretty telling.
I appreciate this video and comment section, just wished I’ve knew this before my recent purchase of this engine. 20k miles preowned, been in shop 4x in 40 days of ownership. Both front and rear crank seal was leaking, transmission was clonking, but engine was quiet and smooth. After service, transmission is fine, both seals replaced, but the engine is loud and rough, as if it’s stuck in regen mode, dealer says it’s fine, but I know it rides differently, and feels like the truck is 10 years old. File lemon claim, waiting for a buy back from GMC. I’d say…STAY AWAY FROM THIS ENGINE COMPLETELY!!!
As a BMW tech who's has the unfortunate displeasure of doing many timing chains on the newest BMW inline 6 diesel the N57, it is unbelievable how architecturally similar these two engines are. Wouldn't be surprised if the cam followers swapped directly over
Is there a common cause for these N57 timing chain failures? My 2014 535d with the N57 has 125k miles and I change the oil every 5,000 miles. Problem free so far, and hoping I don't have to worry about this grenading my engine any time soon.
@@jmaner89seems like it really depends on itself. I’ve heard of them going out at 60k to them never going out. Just stay consistent on oil changes and don’t drive like an a hole 24/7. Take care of it and it’ll take care of you.
you're always going to have to be worried - its bad design. Use good oil, and delete it ASAP. TBH with this engine, the chains are the least of your worries @@jmaner89
Every time the water pump goes flying, I remember being stranded with a broken water pump on Sunday evening in a small town with very little money left and a car full of passengers. And a scrap yard which did have the needed water pump, in a bad condition, but still working...
The tensioners being powered by oil pressure but needed from the instant the engine starts turning really seems like an insane design choice and makes timing failure all but inevitable in my mind.
I was going to add: if it requires the oil pressure operated tensioner system to hold chain slack from allowing piston/valve contact how does it escape valve interference during cranking/startup ?
An oil pressure tensioner is like a one-way valve... it let's oil in under pressure, but not back out. As the oil pressure pushes the rod out of the tensioner, up against the chain guide to keep the chain tight, the oil gets trapped in there and the rod can NOT go backwards back into the tensioner, even when the engine is shut off and the oil pressure is gone. If your tensioner rod is able to be easily pressed back into the case, it's shot.
@@davelowets how well is this going to work if you have a LPOP fail for any reason? now you'll have to check time any time the LPOP goes out to make sure its still good... this was DUMB DUMB DUMB...
Eric, you're at 272,000+ subscribers. I remember, it wasn't that long ago that you got to 200,000 and you were saying on the podcast at the time that you never thought you'd get to that plateau. Not only that, but you've had 357,000 views in 12 days. So, double congrats on getting this many of us to subscribe and view this vid. You have put together a tremendous format and we enjoy every episode. One thing they all show, is that engines do much better when they get regular oil changes and other maintenance, as if we need this advice. We look into engines every week on your show, and they're showing us what happens.
Jumping time due to a missing rod bearing is absolutely a thing, even without losing oil pressure. Take the bearing surface and shell out of the rod and you've increased the piston's TDC height by that much, and since it's loose and moving fast it increases TDC dwell by a GREAT amount. Since most cam timing has overlap periods the valves are still opening and closing at TDC between the exhaust and intake stroke, that piston gets flung up there into the still moving valves, which tries to close the exhaust faster and stop the intake from opening. Meanwhile, the camshaft is still being driven... and whatever drives it just took one hell of a shock load. It can be enough to force a tensioner open if an engine has that system, or can simply load a belt or chain up enough to climb a tooth and hop over, if it doesn't just outright snap or bend the camshaft. I don't think you'd get so far as to crack a keyed pulley or break a cam nose or lobe though, it's all in the valvetrain geometry though. I bet you can find other motors that have shelled rod bearings with concurrent bent pushrods and rocker arms, if the valves are strong enough and angled little enough to avoid bending. Targets, hrmm.... gonna be a work engine of some sort. I'll digress from there.
My stance was that the loss of oil pressure both caused the rod bearing failure, and the loss of pressure on the chain tensioner. Other than the chains, tensioner, and oil pump belt being at the back of the engine where they are impossible to service, this teardown video has shown me this engine looks quite solid. Its much simpler than many other modern engines.
It boggles the mind - timing chains, but an oil pump *belt* on the back side of the engine, requiring removing the transmission to access for inspection/replacement. An oil submersed rubber-based friggin belt amongst other chains. Tell me engineers don’t hate technicians and customers; or maybe it’s the accountants who do. Impressive valve imprints on the piston tops 😮
I was a heavy line technician at Chevrolet from 78 till 1984 I actually purchased a diesel pickup from Chevrolet as I was the diesel technician The vehicle was such a disaster that I had to lemon law it and the process that general motors put me through was hideous. The factory reps were even sending their problem child diesels to me that other dealers couldn't properly diagnose. After fighting with general motors for 11 months and 48,000 mi and two other dealerships tried to fix it. It became obvious to me that general motors just screws the consumer so I decide to quit working for general motors and I bought a 1993 Dodge pickup with a 5.9 Cummings in it and I'm still driving it today with no issues other than maintenance. In my opinion general motors prefers beer can technology over cast iron strength and they tend to design failures into their vehicles as they were busted for all small block Chevrolets from 1969 to 1982 because they deliberately did not heat treat number 5 exhaust lobe on their camshafts. This would usually cause a failure between 80 and 120,000 mi and most customers would just buy a new car thinking it was just a glitch
As an owner of a 2020 Silverado with the baby durtymax, this is super informative. I currently have 60k on the clock. I check my oil level at every fill up, which is every 500 - 600 miles. With zero smoke or drips, it uses 1/2 quart on average. Fellow LM2 owners, check your oil often. I would love one of those pistons.
My 2020 has 19,000 miles and has never used a drop of oil.. First oil change at 1000 miles then 5000 after.. I use the PPV oil filters on mine.. Next oil change will switch to Amsoil 0-20 Dexos D oil... Same prices as the GM oil.....
It's really interesting the difference unit to unit. I have a 2021 LM2 with 28k on it, my oil consumption has been less than 1 quart between each oil change, 4 so far.
This is why this channel is very important to me regardless if the fault was the owner or the design of the engine failure. To me this is another example not to buy a vehicle with this engine and a applaud you for this channel to let the public know what vehicles or trucks to avoid buying I personally thank you sir for this channel. This is like the Ecoboost that was transverse mounted with the water pump buried under the timing chain cover which was a nightmare idea 💡. When a consumer is thinking about buying a truck or vehicle find out what engine that’s in it and find it here on video. Nick thank you sir and Greetings from Silverstreet South Carolina.
I have watched a lot of these tear downs. what is most astounding is the amount of money poured into the engineering, design, the making of tooling. mold making for the aluminum parts , the dies for metal stamping, tubing bending, all for a engine that won't be around in 10 years. oh and the BELT for the oil pump!!. I like my 20 year old 6.0L and my 60 year old dauntless v6.. great show thanks!!
This engine will be around in 10 years. They put it in tons of small box trucks in Europe (Opal branded) and GM is expanding what they put it in here. The new LMZ version has forged pistons and crank with over 300HP. I remember the 6.6 Duramax had horrible overheating issues initially and they figured that out and it is still around. With EPA mileage requirements this engine will undoubtedly be around a long time. The oil pump belt is a 200K interval maintenance now on the LMZ, with the money someone saves on fuel at 25 MPG it is a non factor.
@@alfredocarpaneto5976if you didn't hear, Holden also sold the same diesel engines before they went bankrupt. All of these small GM diesels have a lot of issues, especially the diesel astra / cruise / Captiva.
One of the things I see in common with the low mileage failures.. is a very complicated timing chain pattern, with a lot of tight corners requiring lots of tensioners... Look at a Toyota 4 cyl. a simple V shape from crank to the cams... with very little deflection of the chain where it contacts the tensioner guides.. With this engine.. they should have done a gear drive, to all the components, or a straight shot for the timing parts.. from crank to cams.. and separate chains over to the injection pump and the oil pump... the Timing should be primary concern, if that fails the engine is DONE.. loose the inj pump... it could be repaired. Using a belt for the oil pump.. and having all the timing on the back of the engine... was just absolutely stupid. Unless they went gear drive.. that should last forever. The head design and top part look very well done.. easy to get everything off the engine.. the cam plate design INSIDE the vavale cover so as not to need sealant... the VERY impressive head bolts, the nice big needle bearings on the rollers.. all that looks REALLY nicely designed.. Leave it to GM to spend millions developing a new engine.. to then only use it for a short few years... and to handicap it with high maint costs and problems that could easily have been avoided. Especially on a diesel.. they are going to get lots of miles put on them.. that's why you buy one... such a shame..
GM upped the original inspect/replace interval on the oil pump belt from 150K to 200K after they were not showing any significant wear. I own a 2022 LM2 truck and change my oil every 5K like clockwork.
The newest model engine is forged now. Which actually gave the engine more horsepower and torque because the heads are now smaller, which makes the rod longer.
The state of modern diesels is sad, didn’t make 150,000 miles. Friend had a International truck with Detroit 6v71,went 385,000 before it had an in frame overhaul then went another 150,000 before he sold it.
The common high mileage number I'm seeing in RU-vid videos for engines designed in the last 10+ years seems to be ~150k miles. For european manufacturers, it seems much less. Apparently, according to them, cars shouldn't last more than 10-12 years.
Almost every european diesel engine last well over 300k miles if oil services are done. Many will last to 600k miles. I have Opel with 1.7L commonrail diesel, it has over 320k. No issues, runs like new. 6V71 should last near 700k without overhaul, compared to European truck engines...
@@adam9936 No, it's just amazing that the impact was able to instantly pound the rod bearings right out of the rod like that. No matter WHAT the pistons are made out of. I've worked on MANY engines that have dropped a valve, or lost time, and had pistons and valves crash, BUT I've NEVER seen a rod bearing pounded out like that when it happened. 😳
It's the rubber that deteriorates on belts. You've just got to pick the right rubber. Dry belts use EPDM rubber. Wet belts are likely HNBR. The wet belt benefits from less UV and ozone exposure. You have likely noticed gaskets on newer non-German engines are often like new on high milage engines. It's all in the rubber specification. The same applies to hoses as well.
Love this channel! Thank you for recording and posting your adventures. Your content should be required viewing for all powertrain “engineers” around the world. SERIOUSLY! I couldn’t believe the condition of the pistons when you removed the head.
Best parts on the entire engine. As long as they are, G.M. probably recommends replacement, not reuse if the head ever needs to come off due to possible stretching issues. Probably cost around 50-75 bucks each. The engine is a joke.
You remember the rule of thumb. Diesels are always torqued down extremely tight because the compression would pop ordinarily torqued bolt. The timing appears to be advanced a bit
It's the vibration from diesels that require the excessive torque on absolutely everything to keep from buzzing loose, not necessarily because of compression.
I'm not familiar with these, but that was my exact feeling also. Low pressure reduces the tensioner push. Maybe jumped teeth on the T belt?? Makes total sense on worn parts.
Everyone told GM that all these chains would be a problem and then to add insult to injury they put all the chains in the rear of the engine.dumbest idea ever!
I had a 2020 Silverado with this engine. Just traded it in in August with 146000 miles on it. It was making a knocking noise from the back of the engine on start up. The tech at the dealership said there’s a TSB about the oil pump belt tensioner bolts can back out and destroy the engine. Having other issues with the truck (glow plug codes, turbo leaking oil, and DEF problems) I decided to trade it in before I had to buy an engine.
Something surprising I DIDN’T notice…. An oil level sensor. My Denali with the LM2 has 70k and it uses about 1.5 quarts of oil between oil changes. I’ve never let it get lower than a quart low but I always assumed it had a low engine oil indicator. Guess not!! I really like my Baby D-Max. Especially 30mpg combined city/hwy.
At 15:00 when the rear covers are off you can see the upper timing chain tensioner is already completely extended to its limit. Timing chain stretch is likely the issue for valve-piston interference, as well possible timing offset. These engines run very aggressive AI50 (50% burn point of the combustion process) which is likely the cause for the upper con rod bearing shell wear. Looks like number 6 piston also shows a crack in it.
You're killing my desire to buy one of these trucks! You're saying even with religious oil changes the con rod bearings are going to get beat up due to the aggressive timing the engine runs to hit it's efficiency target?
you would think Capri, gearwrench , mac, matco, snap on or any tool seller would sponser your vids as their educational and learning experiance! your ability to add humor without downgrading the product is huge as some motors are ticking timebombs !!!!
I can't imagine that the recommended 0W-20 oil is helping these engines last especially in Florida or Texas summer heat. I have used either Triax Euro 5W-30 or Amsoil's 5W-30 Dexos D for 6000 mile oil changes ever since mine was out of warranty and engine fully broken in. 206,000 miles currently and still going strong
Funny story about this engine. There was this guy on RU-vid that had one of the lead engineers that designed this engine on a livestream. He directly referenced the wet oil pump belt. He also referred to the "clean slate" GM gave them for this engine. People watching the video gave him down the road for it. Said RU-vidr posted a follow up video shilling for the engineer saying the critics don't know anything, yada yada. Was quite an amusing situation altogether.
The Honda 2000i and 2200i generators have these belts to drive their OHC...and carry oil up into the head. One owner ran his 24/7 for 17,000 hours straight (off grid; only source of power). See James Condon vid re tearing one down. Then he ran the same engine with the replacement belt another 17k hours... then sold it to his friend and it's still going...heading towards 35k hours.... As the GM tech said in another comment in these comments the same belt in the LZ0 engine is now rated at 200k miles before replacement....
@@JohnSmith-yv6eq you can try to justify GM’s stupidity all you want. Honda small engines don’t impress me either. I’ve worked on a ton of Honda GC and GCV engines. Using a wet belt for the little plastic cam. It’s cost cutting. One instance doesn’t equate to it being an engineering marvel. A gear driven pump is less likely to fail over a belt driven pump in every circumstance.
I was fully expecting the “valve reliefs” to have been a result of the rod bearings disappearing. The clearance between the head and the piston on diesels is typically the thickness of the head gasket (sometimes not even that much) so rod bearing failure almost always causes the pistons to hit the heads on diesels (and some gas engines). But, doesn’t look like the case on this one since it was only the 1 bearing that disappeared. If I owned one of these, I would not be happy. The timing drive on the rear of the engine is dumb enough as it is, but putting a belt drive back there is literally designing the engine to fail, but in an especially evil way: one that can be blamed on the customer. Nobody is going to pay $3000 to pull the engine/transmission and replace a belt, so instead, they’ll drive it until it breaks, loses oil pressure and destroys the engine. GM will say “well, we told you to replace the belt” and avoid any blame for their idiotic engineering.
Agreed. As an owner of this engine, very frustrating. Making me considering jumping to an HD and going cummins 6.7. Although, I will say, this engine is an absolute PLEASURE in my Sierra 1500 half ton.
Yes. There is NO reason that there can't be a chain back there instead of a belt. 🤷 A rubber belt INSIDE of an engine is simply dumb fuckery at it's finest. A belt IS a consumable item, and should NOT be in there. 🤦
I would have used a chain personally, but it’s a freaking 200k interval. Most people spend far more than $3k on everything else. If you can’t allocate that every 200k miles, you shouldn’t be buying a truck. And it should be factored into the value of trucks selling with 140k+ miles
@@BabyGatorsI agree with you. If I still love the truck, I won't have a problem spending 3-4k at my local shop to get me at least another 150k. Wet belt design sucks, but the pros I've experienced with this truck so far outweigh the wet belt con.
Agreed. Pickup Truck Plus SUV Talk has the co-creator of the engine talk specifically about the belt and why they chose it and then said the exact same thing you did.@@BabyGators
I have had 5 different OBS 7.3 trucks get 500k+ without ever having the valve covers off. This new stuff... is horrible. I own a biodiesel plant and my whole fleet of tankers and service vehicles are older than 2000. I trust them, they serve us well, and they make money without failure.
It's funny, everyone (me included) has a bad opinion of that oil pump belt, but I have never heard of one failing and the one he took out of that engine didn't look too concerning for 140K miles.... After this video I am more concerned about that 4 foot long upper timing chain and oil tensioners than I am about the belt... Great video, very interesting to see one of these taken apart.
The way the valves pressed into the pistons takes tons of pressure. Each piston is as the ram in a simple flywheel driven punch press. It would require a 40 ton or greater press to simulate this situation. The crank moves the rod a few last thousandths of an inch, developing that much pressure to "coin" the pistons. The rods and pistons survived. Impressive.
Really enjoy your videos and I especially like that "cracking" sound when you loosen tight bolts. Great job as always and keep your videos coming for your viewing audience.
GM did this for one reason: to harm used vehicle prices. An expensive piece of mandatory maintenance at ~150k miles basically turns a $5000 truck into a worthless chunk of sh!t. Who would buy that?? It's an attempt to force owners to buy new instead of keep their trucks longer.
Nah gotta take the German planned obsolescence approach: "Use only 0w20 and leave it in there for 15,000 miles to ensure proper oil leakage, hard carbon depositing in ring lands, sludge buildup, oil burn-off and chain tensioner slack; We don't make any money if your engine lasts more than 3-5yrs or 100,000 whichever comes first"
Once again we learn that checking your oil is important. Had the owner bothered to take a few minutes when they were buying fuel to pop the hood and pull a dipstick this engine would probably still be in service.
You should see one that drops a valve... if the engine had hypereutectic pistons, they will shatter like glass, into sand, and be completely missing from that cylinder.
Overhead cam engines in general are designed with planned obsolescence in mind. Doesn’t matter how well a engine is made, the more parts there are, the higher probability of something failing and breaking down. Even overhead cam engines with timing chains will have issues at time point in the future. This is why I’ll always be partial to anything that’s push rod and overhead valve, as long as the oil is changed on a regular basis with a push rod engine, will never have issues with anything.
Engine stays in place. Just the transmission is dropped. Not a super simple task, but anyone with a medium mechanical ability can do it... and 22.5 and up (LZO) are 200k replacement on the belt. Lots of of gas vehicles require 60k-100k timing belt replacements that are similar repair costs.
I just started watching this, & I have to say that is one very well built shipping pallet\cradle. Half lapped, doubled up 3/4 plywood(almost thought it was a LVL at 1st) screwed together in that crisscross style is super strong! That thing would hold a Cat 3406e no problem! Wow! Now lets see this lil dirtymax taken apart!👍👌🛠️🔩🔧📐📏⚡💥💨⚠️🤔🤷🏻♂️
24:49 Head bolts on diesel engine heads are serious! There's a lot of compression in the cylinders.....cause compression ignition --No spark plugs! GM\Izuzu must've learned from Navistar to properly hold heads down to the block -- #6.0problems🤷🏻♂️🤔😀
Im glad i watched the teardown of this engine. It would've been nice to see you put it on tdc first to verify timing. This would've confirmed the the timing jump and shown which chain was off.
fun video....just mesmerizing seeing you tear these engines down. I am amazed at how engines have "progressed" over time -- they are sure not easily worked on like the earlier day engines that can be torn down and rebuilt in a short amount of time. Thanks for these videos!
Got to remember Eric, those valve strikes on the top of the pistons were probably a few million in number before that big end failed and "announced" that the engine was absolutely KAPUT!
The Honda 2000i and 2200i generators have these belts to drive their OHC...and carry oil up into the head. One owner ran his 24/7 for 17,000 hours straight (off grid; only source of power). See James Condon vid re tearing one down. Then he ran the same engine with the replacement belt another 17k hours... then sold it to his friend and it's still going...heading towards 35k hours.... As the GM tech said in another comment in these comments the same belt in the LZ0 engine is now rated at 200k miles before replacement....
Check da oil often. Another commenter said that after reading these comments he went out to his Duramax which had covered 3600 miles since the last oil change... and found the dipstick level 1 quart low. H e had never checked his oil levels between oil changes previously..... @@rickreese5794
This channel, along with AVE, has become my go-to when sitting at my desk cleaning guns or rebuilding jet ski engines. Love the content, love the educational value.
I have an LM0 2023. It was great for me to see what my engine pretty much looks like inside it. This video really drove home the point I better keep my oil level up! This video was very informative and enjoyable to watch. Thank you very much!
I’m a Millwright and work on heavy industrial machinery. Sorry I have more faith in belts over chains. We have some high quality Gates belts that endure unbelievable punishment. Chains wear and stretch, belt technology has come a long way.
That upper oil pan loves to leak on these engines in the corner (this engine was a little wet there).There's a guy a few bays down from me who does those pretty frequently. It's a massive job to do in the truck as basically the entire front of the cab has to come off, the transmission, front diff, steering all has to come out in order to access. I really really don't understand the logic of the rear mounted timing system especially that oil pump belt... Engineered to fail since nobody is going to remember the service interval on that thing assuming it hasn't snapped before then. Also I'm surprised the cam followers weren't obliterated from the valves being struck.
Engines are overly complicated today, I had a 69 Chevy with a 350, 2bbl Rochester carb, th350, 4:11 positrack 12 bolt. Got in the 20+ mpg , only had 3 wires to the engine. Never broke down purred like a kitten
@@djmech3871this platform was taken from the international market where it was originally intended for cab-over trucks that are serviced from the rear.
This engine could have been a real masterpiece, if it had a gear drive. It’s clear to everyone it had total engine failure due to jumped timing. A good gear drive would have fully prevented every problem with the engine.
Heavy equipment mechanic. And we have a Fleet of those Chevy's and engines. If you run the recommended oil, you will burn too much oil. 15W40 And it magically stops burning 4 to 5 qt of oil. By the time it needs a recommended oil change. And we ran the recommended lightweight oil junk. The 15w40 gave us no problems By the time it needed an oil change, it only burned a 1/2 a quart.
Looks to me like it was reasonably clean, suggesting cared for. Maybe something failed and caused it to burn all its oil suddenly, and lack of pressure released cam chain tension and trashed the rod bearing.
I own this motor in my truck and in some instances some of the engines have been shown to use oil. In my case, 2,000 mile high speed freeway trip (80+mph,un-loaded and not towing) I used at least 2 quarts of oil. Does not seem to use oil in the shorter trips, towing or around town usage.
@@toddkovalcik332GM would have to re-engineer this engine because a diesel isn't supposed to use oil at that rate. Will ruin the SCR system in a heartbeat. 😊
I think this engine was run low on oil for an extended period. It looks like it had generally good maintenance over it's lifespan - perhaps it always used oil and the original owner kept up with it...then maybe it changed hands and the new guy ran it into the ground. Seen this type of failure a lot. I have a 2011 F150 with a Coyote in it - I bought it new. It has used oil since day 1, but I have always kept up with it. If I ever sold it to someone else, it would probably wouldn't make it one oil change interval before it would fail. lol
I remember people got all sorts of hate for the oil pump belt. So when it was torn apart at the 150k mile life expectency AFTER being starved of oil and no doubt it got hot, the belt looks great. GM techs said it would go at least 150k miles and this shows they were right. Best half-ton diesel engine out there. Minus the new version. Infact now its the only diesel half-ton engine. 😅 Good job GM.
Eric, you're a nut and I really enjoy your character. This engine is by far amazing in the way it hit the valves on the pistons. I'm glad I'm retired from being a GM master tech. I would hate all the newer stuff.lol
Those valve impressions look so clean and deep that if you’d handed me one of them with no explanation I might think the piston was made that way. This is a first for the channel and my eye sockets.
There’s a company out there that makes a larger oil pan that holds an additional 2 quarts of oil. That additional oil capacity would’ve potentially alleviated this problem.
How is an extra 2 quarts gonna do any good? This was pure lack of maintenance. Change your oil often, use quality oil, and you won't have issues. I change my oil every 6 months no matter what. My last oil change only 300 miles on it, but it had been 6 months. Oil is cheap
@@billyparkinson9933 an extra 2 quarts of oil is significantly better for any engine. There is more oil for the particles that cannot be filtered by the oil filter that is diluted in the engine oil among many other advantages.
@@billyparkinson9933also use the correct oil. If the vehicle called for a specific brand and grade use it don't substitute! New vehicles can void warranty if this is not followed. 😊
These engines have proven to be very reliable statistically, far more reliable than the early 3.5 ecoboost or even some of the 5.0 Coyote engines. General rule of thumb, I’m never a 1st year buyer on new engines or transmissions. I’ll buy a new truck model if it’s using previous Powertrains. If I were buying a 1/2 ton pickup today, this engine would be at the top of my list.
This actually made me happy to own an LM2 in a weird way. I went into it knowing about the oil pump belt inspection and what's involved in that. Seeing this engine hold up surprisingly well (no shattered pistons, valves not crushed in) and only having this problem due to neglect has me hopeful for the longevity of one that's properly maintained
right there with ya! it's not all doom and gloom here. I love my LM2, it's a great motor. Some head scratching design decisions, but seeing this teardown and RCA made me even more confident in parts quality and robustness of the internals.
@adam9936 Exactly! There are definitely some questionable engineering choices, but most of the problems with these engines stem from a loose nut between the drivers seat and steering wheel
@cje26 I am in agreement with you and Adam, as an LM2 owner. For the mileage and torque from this little diesel, there are some things to admire after seeing this tear down. Especially if it was low oil or poor maintenance interval on this unit.
Agree. The thing is, the most common 2.8 failure mode is a holed piston from a stuck injector, which sucks hard for the owner, but is pretty boring stuff for Eric's engine carnage videos. I own a 2.8 and always run fuel additive and also installed a 2 micron CAT 1R-0750 spin on filter to a NAPA head after the stock fuel filter box to better protect the injectors from fine particles. It has run that way the last 40K miles with no issues at all. Other than the injector issues that can wreck it, that the 2.8 is a pretty solid engine. The 2.8 does have the usual diesel emissions issues, which is why everybody who could get away with it deleted them or at least runs an emissions system intact tune which turns off EGR. EGR and PCV oil mist really wreaks gummed up havoc on the 2.8's intake system. I run a Provent catch can on my 2.8's PCV system. The 3.0 is much better in this regard as it filters EGR through the closely mounted DPF first, the engine in the video's intake ports looked good. If not for user error the 3.0 in the video would have run another 146K no problem.
It's truly amazing that it jumped time and continued running long enough to indent the pistons like that. There's a lot to say about the design of the engine but I agree that synthetic oil pump belt isn't one, what an absolute boneheaded idea, I would say they didn't intend these engines to last as long as a traditional diesel. Considering that the block is AL, the cyls. are sleeves, if someone had a cracked block casting your block casting might be of some use to them.
The Honda 2000i and 2200i generators have these belts to drive their OHC...and carry oil up into the head. One owner ran his 24/7 for 17,000 hours straight (off grid; only source of power). See James Condon vid re tearing one down. Then he ran the same engine with the replacement belt another 17k hours... then sold it to his friend and it's still going...heading towards 35k hours.... As the GM tech said in another comment in these comments the same belt in the LZ0 engine is now rated at 200k miles before replacement....
Diesel timing belt failure in VW diesel engines (1.6 and 1.8)at speed (which had vertical valve travel ) resulted in the valves actually hitting the piston so hard they would displace the piston metal. Looked to be melted into the piston. The pistons would distort in the bore and the valves would distort enough to break the guides up and actually the stems would grow thicker!! Everything was trash!! Cams and cranks for the most part survived. Used many cranks over again. Some rods would bend too. Fun times!! Easy engines to replace and disassemble. Today Ford, GM, and Crysler need redesigning. To have to pull a truck cab to do engine work is ridiculous!! Also....belt driven oil pumps!! How ridiculous!! An external dry cog belt I could see but internal in oil...... playing with disaster. I ran VW diesels to 500k miles no problem. Replaced pistons, rings , and rod bearings and ran them another 400 to 500 k. Engine life today is a joke...... planned obsolescence!!
This specific engine, the LM2 is discontinued. It was replaced by the LZ0 which is pretty much the same engine with minor tweaks/improvements. Power is up from 277 hp to 305 hp and 460lbft of torque to 495lbft of torque.
The 3.0L Duramax uses really thin (0W-20) oil and is known for burning/using oil pretty quickly. The factory puts eight quarts of oil in the crankcase from the factory yet states that seven quarts are to be added when changing the oil and filter. I've had to add a quart of oil to my LZO after just a few thousand miles of driving. Pays to check the dipstick every so often.
Big oof. I just put 5w30 in my 03 escape, calls for 5w20 and used that the last 120k miles. Burnt 2 quarts per 3k. On 5w30, hasn't burnt anything over 2500 miles. I would never run 0w20 in a diesel unless I lived in Antarctica. The mpg gain is not even there. 5w30 in my 2018 tundra and I still get the same mileage as I did on 0w20 when I tried it. Engine is MUCH happier, quieter and smoother.
Any freshly manufactured engine will burn oil and they are ALL over filled at the factory. A low mile/hour engine hasn't had time to break in and seal the rings.
I had a 2020 GMC 1500 with this motor and was in the shop 4 times with about 30K miles. At 3k miles it had a rear main seal that went out. After the 4th time in the shop, i finally had enough and sold the truck and got a Jeep Gladiator. Lesson learned, don't by the first model with a new motor. A huge disappointment to say the least.
These engines are pretty reliable. Cheap insurance is just check your oil levels. You should check your oil level from time to time in any engine anyway.
Except checking the level won't prevent the wet belt from deteriorating. Frequent oil changes and then every 100-150k replace both the belt and the chain might be the insurance you're looking for.
Holy, i thought chevy came out with a new design for this eng. That is impressive... I've never seen a train engine blow a piston , until i worked at the BNSF yard. they kept one around. what an exit that had to be..
