Chevy Tahoe / GMC Yukon 5.3 and 6.2 reliability.

For those who own the CURRENT iteration of these motors with the cylinder deactivation. Has the reliability improved? What issues have you had with these engines, especially I’m interested in beyond 100k miles if anyone has that many on the clock.

Also, is the 10-speed transmission any good? Any issues and how many miles do you have on it?

I need to get going on a new SUV later this year. I have been VERY disappointed by GM’s lack of quality and engineering in recent models. It seems like GM quality has back-slid on the truck side for about the past 10 years to the point now where a lot of owners feel like they won the lottery if they get past 100k without the cylinder-deactivation engine blowing up or the tranny sh!tting the bed.

Has GM improved the 5.3 and/or 6.2 and mastered the cylinder deact. issues?

My plan was to dump GM after 40 years of owning nothing but GM pickups/SUVs and instead go to a quality vehicle like the Toyota Sequoia But having looked at the new Tahoe and Yukon, the interiors, looks, and features are still to my liking and, of course, they are cheaper than a Toyota, but mechanically are they any good?

And NO, I will not be going with the 3.0 diesel. No way, no how.

FWIW my tykon xl 5.3 is a 2017, stuck a Range afm/dfm deactivator on it and has been wonderful. Ive posted of it b4, not sure if it’s useful here.

No weird stall, no weird shifting, better gas mileage.

2019 6.2 with 80k. Still runs like new. Coupled with the 10-speed tranny its the best and funnest truck I have ever owned.

Deuces wrote:

FWIW my tykon xl 5.3 is a 2017, stuck a Range afm/dfm deactivator on it and has been wonderful. Ive posted of it b4, not sure if it’s useful here.

No weird stall, no weird shifting, better gas mileage.

Same. Ours Is a nice ride. But the 5.3 is so gutless. The tuner helps, stops all cylinder deactivation, no start stops, but no power lol. Sad compared to the hemi. If going 70 I have to romp on it to pass any one, where my 16 5.7 would just go, and now the 6.4 just goes. I’m very underimpressed with performance of the 5.3. It will be the last one we own. That said it’s for sale

I came from a 6.2 Yukon and yes it certainly is less power but I wouldn’t go as far as gutless. Towed my 19’crestliner, buddies 19′ ranger and had the truck full of kids, gear w a camper trailer pulling just fine. Passed cars w out issue, yeah it didn’t blow anything out of the water but it performs well.

I just had a 2019 6.2 with 38k blow an oil cooler which entails getting a new engine. GM issued a recall in Canada and Alaska but never in the lower 48 for this issue. Installing the afm/dam delete as soon as I get the truck back.

the newer 6.2’s have a lifter issue from a bad batch from the factory. No issues with the 5.3’s from an AT4 forum I follow. I would just get the module to delete the afm/drm crap.

Do the 6.2s even have the AFM in it? I thought it was just the 5.3s but I could be wrong. Anyway, I would go with the bigger motor if it were me. I’m not the biggest fan of GMs 5.3 based on performance while towing.

carver wrote:

I just had a 2019 6.2 with 38k blow an oil cooler which entails getting a new engine. GM issued a recall in Canada and Alaska but never in the lower 48 for this issue. Installing the afm/dam delete as soon as I get the truck back.

the newer 6.2’s have a lifter issue from a bad batch from the factory. No issues with the 5.3’s from an AT4 forum I follow. I would just get the module to delete the afm/drm crap.

Looks like you answered my question.

Deuces wrote:

I came from a 6.2 Yukon and yes it certainly is less power but I wouldn’t go as far as gutless. Towed my 19’crestliner, buddies 19′ ranger and had the truck full of kids, gear w a camper trailer pulling just fine. Passed cars w out issue, yeah it didn’t blow anything out of the water but it performs well.

Pulling my 17ft boat and 2 kids and a lady, I’m going to go with pretty gutless. Makes lots of noise but doesn’t move. I’m used to 2 different trucks , and when I get in the hoe it’s so damn comfortable but needs lots of spendy parts to push power

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Deuces wrote:</div>
I came from a 6.2 Yukon and yes it certainly is less power but I wouldn’t go as far as gutless. Towed my 19’crestliner, buddies 19′ ranger and had the truck full of kids, gear w a camper trailer pulling just fine. Passed cars w out issue, yeah it didn’t blow anything out of the water but it performs well.

Pulling my 17ft boat and 2 kids and a lady, I’m going to go with pretty gutless. Makes lots of noise but doesn’t move. I’m used to 2 different trucks , and when I get in the hoe it’s so damn comfortable but needs lots of spendy parts to push power

I will say this about the Hemi, it builds a lot of power compared to the 5.3 gm. I have had mine for about a year or so now and at work I end up driving several late model gm’s with the 5.3 and they are really underpowered compared to the hemi, so much so I wonder is there something wrong with it. I feel if I had not owned my Ram I would no have noticed the difference is what I am trying to say.

I had my 2014 6.2 grenade at 68k miles. #5 cylinder. Tech wouldn’t admit to the AFM being the issue but the everyone else I talked to looked at all the pictures and says they told a different story.

Long story short I put a crate motor in it, and put in the tuner that Bearcat uses to delete the AFM and increase performance, and it has made world of difference. I have the 6 speed Trans and it has a clunk when it shift from 2nd-3rd sometimes that from what I can tell is common in that unit. The tuner chip has fixed the oil consumption, and the gas mileage is really no different, possibly better depending how hard I drive it. I like the truck, but all these motor horror stories really make me hesitant to own another one. Not a RAM person and don’t know that I will be. I tend to keep and take good care of them at least 10 years and don’t think those trucks are built for looking good after a decade.
I just got my wife a 22′ Nissan pathfinder and it has been good so far, (about a year old). The Nissan Titan will get a look when i update my pickup, as they still offer a full size bed in there XD model.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Also, is the 10-speed transmission any good? Any issues and how many miles do you have on it?

The new 10 speed is absolutely fantastic in my truck. I dont have 5000 miles on it yet, but it shifts so buttery smooth you dont even feel it. Its funny, Ford developed that tranny and traded tech with GM for some other tranny from GM so GM gets to use it but Ford has had problems with theirs while GM has not.
My 6.2 is great and yes it does have cylinder deactivation but this system is far different than previous iterations. They changed it in 2019. It will drop down to 1 cylinder though I dont know how often that actually happens. The biggest thing with these engines is get regular oil changes and dont go by the oil life monitor. Change it at 5k no longer. Buying used you are obviously taking a gamble there because of no idea of service history. The smiles you get from mashing the fun pedal on a 6.2 with the smooth shifting of the 10 speed is priceless.

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Deuces wrote:</div>
I came from a 6.2 Yukon and yes it certainly is less power but I wouldn’t go as far as gutless. Towed my 19’crestliner, buddies 19′ ranger and had the truck full of kids, gear w a camper trailer pulling just fine. Passed cars w out issue, yeah it didn’t blow anything out of the water but it performs well.

Pulling my 17ft boat and 2 kids and a lady, I’m going to go with pretty gutless. Makes lots of noise but doesn’t move. I’m used to 2 different trucks , and when I get in the hoe it’s so damn comfortable but needs lots of spendy parts to push power

It’s all about context…Dueces doesn’t know the domination of a Hemi.

It’s like those Ford guys who think trucks should have V6’s and turbos.

John Rasmussen wrote:

I will say this about the Hemi, it builds a lot of power compared to the 5.3 gm. I have had mine for about a year or so now and at work I end up driving several late model gm’s with the 5.3 and they are really underpowered compared to the hemi, so much so I wonder is there something wrong with it. I feel if I had not owned my Ram I would no have noticed the difference is what I am trying to say.

Its the torque difference not the power. The 5.3 is 355 HP which is plenty, but the torque is not nearly as good as the hemi. THe 5.3 is a fine motor and tows just fine, but it just doesnt measure up against the 6.2 at all. That motor is on Ward’s best engines for a reason. You can build stupid HP and torque with that thing with cheap mods.

A little experience with the 6.2L engine as I have owned 3 different 1/2 ton trucks with it. The early years before AFM was great. The 2014 had lifter issues right at 100k miles. I traded it for a new 2018 and that engine had issues from 3500 miles on. Lifters, camshaft, #7 cylinder bore, high pressure fuel pump, wiring harness. I believe some of the later issues may have been caused by the repair of the early issues but who knows. It was in the repair shop more than my own garage. I finally traded it last winter on a Ram 1500.

yooper2 wrote:

A little experience with the 6.2L engine as I have owned 3 different 1/2 ton trucks with it. The early years before AFM was great. The 2014 had lifter issues right at 100k miles. I traded it for a new 2018 and that engine had issues from 3500 miles on. Lifters, camshaft, #7 cylinder bore, high pressure fuel pump, wiring harness. I believe some of the later issues may have been caused by the repair of the early issues but who knows. It was in the repair shop more than my own garage. I finally traded it last winter on a Ram 1500.

My dad had a 18 and 22 with multiple issues as well that has since been traded. He went back to diesels.

The 6.2’s performance gets impressive marks. The reliability not so much.

I’d personally skip the 5.3 and 6.2 all together.

The Ram 5.7 has been around and seems reliable with good performance. If you want to get the most torque you can, go to the 2023 F150 with 500# torque from the 3.5L. It has more torque than any half ton platform on the market (including the 6.2)

Never an issue with my 16 6.2

My new truck doesn’t have the AFM. No chip available. I said great I will skip that recall.

Yes love the new transmission.

Seems to me like we are beyond the point where any of the engines in any of the makes are bad. It doesn’t even cross my mind anymore.

I know of a 2018 ford with an ecoboost, a 2021 denali with a 6.2, and a 2020 ram with a 5.7 that all are used for towing 18-22 foot walleye boats, and they all have had major issues. Meanwhile my 2011 toyota had 235K miles on the clock, and I am due for an oil change. I suppose I should rotate the tires too, and while the the wheels are off inspect the brakes. other than that, I will just keep driving it. To the original poster, if you plan to keep it past its warranty, and don’t want to miss a weekend of fishing, because the tow rig is in the shop waiting on parts, but a Ram or a Toyota, however I am not sure they make a big SUV in the dodge line. A Toyota Sequoia would be a fine choice.

No personal experience with the 6.2, but my new work truck is a 2023 Chevy with the 6.6 gasser (in a 2500 with a six speed).

Stay away from that thing.

I will say that it’s one of the most disappointing gassers I’ve ever driven. I owned a 2008 2500 with the 6.0 and can say it’s on par with that but yet over a decade newer.

When towing a skidsteer up a small incline, you can bury the pedal at 60mph and it takes over two full seconds for every mph increase. It revs up and tries, but nothing really happens lol

Empty the truck has a bit of zip, towing is another story.

I’d never personally own that engine/transmission combination. It’s another gutless embarrassment to Chevy in their HD trucks.

jbg1219 wrote:

I know of a 2018 ford with an ecoboost, a 2021 denali with a 6.2, and a 2020 ram with a 5.7 that all are used for towing 18-22 foot walleye boats, and they all have had major issues. Meanwhile my 2011 toyota had 235K miles on the clock, and I am due for an oil change. I suppose I should rotate the tires too, and while the the wheels are off inspect the brakes. other than that, I will just keep driving it. To the original poster, if you plan to keep it past its warranty, and don’t want to miss a weekend of fishing, because the tow rig is in the shop waiting on parts, but a Ram or a Toyota, however I am not sure they make a big SUV in the dodge line. A Toyota Sequoia would be a fine choice.

Too bad the new tundra’s are V6 engines.

I miss my 2010 6.2L with no factory AFM Sold it with 254k on the clock and I’ll bet that motor is still turning somewhere. Unfortunately the body around it was disintegrating.

I run a 2016 5.3 with 6 speed. It was embarrassingly gutless with weird trans behavior when I bought it. Add the bolt-ons (intake, exhaust) and had Black bear performance work their magic on it (and shut down AFM in the process). Now it runs great, notably quicker than my 2010 6.2l was due to gearing differences and mods. If GM would program these with some testes from the factory they would be great, but also they effed up the 6 speed by putting in that thermostat; mine has been removed and she runs cool and crisp all day now. I specifically avoided the 8 speed like the plague, and the 10 wasn’t an option for me but I would certainly drive the 10 speed if it were. I also have tune files setup to run 91+ and e85 which really do dial up the fun meter a notch when I want to. Running e85 and the tune setup from black bear I see ~6 second 0-60 which ain’t half bad for the little guy. Could probably get into the 5’s by bolting up a 6.2L throttle body and intake manifold and running regular tires instead of 10 ply.

Wife’s Tahoe is also a 2016, 5.3l with 6 speed trans. Tows a lot nicer than my pickup presumably due to the much better suspension. Had a bad coil pack on cyl 1 at 88k miles, kinda weird but whatever. Still holding strong at 95k. I don’t trust it because we still run the AFM on it, but it’s working fine and I’m meticulous about oil changes. We should put a Black Bear tune on it just haven’t yet because wife doesn’t really care. Gas mileage is excellent for a full size SUV, we regularly see 24-28 on the dream meter which probably translates to 22-23 real world. I got 17mpg towing our Boat 120 miles, that was a nice change of pace over my truck which typically gets about 12.

I should also add that even though it tows nicely, the Tahoe is slow as poop and there’s no fun meter in that stock setup.

Yeah an aftermarket flash for e85 really wakes up these engines. Ive seen the 5.3 get 30 additional wheel horsepower. Just running e85 alone you get a lot more hp. In my last truck I ran e85 one time in the winter and the gauge cluster went nuts with flashing lights and it ran like total crap. Never used it again after that.

I cannot wait to get rid of my 2018 5.3. I’ve got 58k miles and notice an occasional transmission shudder. Looking to trade it in for a ram within the next year. Its not my daily driver so I’m not pressed to do this ASAP but more waiting to find the right truck to replace it with.

Yeah those 6 speeds have some quirks with them for sure.

Find a 2019-2022 Toyota Sequoia TRD PRO and go fishing

I have a ’14 silverado. Has the 5.3. I basically use it as a car. Only has 45k miles on it. With that type of use I think the motor is fine. Solid mileage. Pulls my 18ft boat just fine but most lakes are close to me. The tranny really blows though. Usually notice it when going slower speeds. I live in a town with some hills. Traveling up a hill going town speed limit, it often shifts gears so hard it feels like motor fell out. Seems like it just can’t find gear. I have ’05 ford f150 with the old 5.4 triton motor. Usually pull boat and decoy trailer, hunt/fish with that old dog. 180k miles and runs perfect. Those old 5.4s were pretty good.

^

If I listen carefully and the winds are calm, I can probably hear your 5.4 ticking valve/lifter noise here in SE MN all the way from ND.