EXPLODED! GM 6.2L LT1/L86 Gen5 V8 Engine Teardown. 2015 Escalade Catastrophic Failure Explained

I've made almost 200 videos tearing down blown up engines. Here are some of my favorites:

Today we tear into a very HOT engine. By that I mean, that the demand far exceeds the supply which is why these engines used are $5500-$7000 PLUS core charge, and why the core charge is over $1k! This is an L86 6.2L Gen5 GM V8 from a 2014 Cadillac Escalade. These direct injected, all aluminum V8's pump out a stellar 420HP. You can find these in 2014+ Escalade, Yukon, Silverado, Denali, Sierras, etc. Because of their extremely high core cost, its rare I get one of these in. As well, most of the cores I see on these look like this one, totally pooched! But why are they failing? Why do they fail THIS BAD? What caused this amount of damage? You'll have to watch the video to find out.

Why am I doing this? My name is Eric and I own and run a full service auto recycling business called Importapart. Part of our model includes dismantling blown up and core engines to salvage the good, usable parts. We do not rebuild or repair engines, merely supply parts to those who do.

I really hope you enjoyed this teardown. As always I love all of the comments, feedback and even the criticism. Catch you on the next one!

-Eric

[johnmortison]

The wrist pin yelled "I'm free" and is now relaxing on the side of the road somewhere.

[brianstewart]

best part of Eric's vids! No Adds, No Filler, No 5 minute intro! So happy to not have to watch VPN commercials.

[DJRatAttack]

I can never get enough of your engine teardowns they are the most entertaining videos I watch and I always look forward to seeing the new ones

[jeffreyshepherd]

What it's not Saturday?!?! You spoil us. Happy memorial day!!

[rick_fortune]

Ahhhh the old electrical problem. Yeah electrical. The escaping wrist pin knocked the alternator off :) For as it is written: "He who is without oil, shall cast the first rod". Compressions 9.4:1 :D

[Madpegasusmax]

Some one watching this video : " a ha, now I know where the wrist pin that entered my windshield when I was cruising on the Highway came from "

[TheMhannah]

I don't know what is so mesmerizing about a blown up engine teardown. But I love it!

[rmps]

Never ceases to amaze me how COMPLETELY DESTROYED pistons and rods get when this sort of thing happens.

[FastSS]

Two thumbs up for getting in "banana phone" "Beastie Boys" and "Monty Python" references all in one episode!

[qmechanic]

My L87 engine seized at 12k on my 2022 Yukon AT4 6.2. When torn down found all rod bearings seized and welded to the crank which was discolored from heat. Found only one bad main bearing. When researched found that my issue was very common. Also found that my bearings are same part number as the corvette LT2 engine. My engine uses 0W20 oil while the corvette LT2 uses 0W40 mobil 1. The Corvette LT2 doesn't suffer from my issue. I guess oil is the culprit where it damaged a main bearing which leaked oil pressure and starved the rods.

[santaclause]

Lots of folks these days just don't check their oil. My daughter (age 44) dropped by the other day for a visit. Said her car (an Infinity QX-80, 2014) was making a 'rattling sound' on cold start up. Checked the oil, it was FIVE QUARTS LOW. It holds six. I said, 'hey hon, when was the last time you checked the oil?' She replied; 'oh, the oil light never comes on when I'm driving, so I figured it must be full of oil'. Many people still believe the oil pressure idiot light is the oil LEVEL indicator light.

[johnmarshjr]

You have to have a catch can on Ls/ Lt motors, do a cam kit: trunion upgrade, high volume oil pump, wind age tray. Add a bolt to the oil pick up tube, there’s only 1 holding it in, I haven’t done that yet to mine, but may. 2014 SS 1lE stage 2 cam and the above modifications, stainless headers, exhaust, SLP loudmouth 2 mufflers. Yes it will walk a new Camaro, you can beat the look on their faces, save the manuals!

[braaap]

My friend had his 2015 LT1 vette lock a rod bearing while cruising down the highway. This caused the rod to snap, which turned the rod into a giant machete that annihilated the block, oil pan, piston, and even the cam. One of the most impressive failures I've seen. Car only had 45k miles and was unmodified and properly maintained. These engines had terrible build quality, heard of soooo many catastrophic bottom end failures with these LT motors.

[linuxguy]

That's the beauty of a V8, if one of the connecting rods ejects itself, you still have 7 more!

[sargepent]

The L86 6.2s are hard to come by. Lots of 5.3s, and 6.0s out there. We pay over 500 per core (as long as there's not a hole in the block). On this generation, the vain style oil pump is usually the culprit of failure. So much so that there's an aftermarket option to put the old style pump in, delet the AFM manifold and put in older style lifters. So the AFM features are what ends up killing these. The other issue is extending oil changes while running 0W20 oil in it.

[wudznutt]

I loved the "exploded view' of the destroyed piston.

[vintage]

As a layman I’ve learnt more about engines in watching two of your videos than anything else. It strikes me this is an excellent way for teaching. It’s also something a novice could do at low risk. Buy a blown engine and dismantle and investigate the cause.

[OtherWorldExplorers]

Holy cow that was a lot of part numbers in the oil pan

[rconley]

Back in the day I own a 2004 Cadillac Seville with a Northstar engine (Aluminum Heads). The engine had an internal oil leak & the heads went bad at a 100k miles. All Northstar V8 had this problem.

[robertwest]

You’re spoiling us with these multiple uploads. No complaints from me!