General Motors Faces New Lawsuit: The Reason Behind It

General Motors is now confronting legal proceedings after recalling approximately 900,000 vehicles fitted with its problematic 6.2-liter V8 engine.

Key Points

• A collective legal case accuses General Motors of intentionally selling cars equipped with faulty 6.2-liter V8 engines associated with problems such as damaged connecting rods and improper crankshaft machining.
• The issue impacts 2021 through 2024 Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC trucks and SUV models such as the Escalade, Silverado, Tahoe, and Yukon.
• The plaintiffs allege that GM knew about the problem as early as the beginning of 2023 but did not inform their customers, even though they provided private instructions to their dealers.

A class-action lawsuit initiated in Michigan claims that GM was cognizant of an internal defect and deliberately continued selling trucks and SUVs equipped with engines likely to fail.

The core of the problem involves two distinct mechanical issues: debris buildup within the oil pathways of the crankshaft and connecting rods, probably because of subpar quality control during manufacturing; plus, the crankshaft dimensions do not meet allowable tolerance levels. Any one of these flaws has the potential to cause total engine breakdown.

The lawsuit references internal General Motors documents that supposedly show the company was aware of the problem as early as March 2023. An announcement released to GM’s Techlink platform —a communication channel for dealership service staff—outlined a "no crank" issue in specific model vehicles and cautioned that noises like knocking or thumping might indicate potential issues with the crankshaft bearings.

The 6.2-liter V8 engine, known as the L87, powers numerous large GM models such as the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe, along with the GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, and Yukon XL. This applies to vehicle model years ranging from 2021 up until 2024.

Even though GM has announced a recall The legal complaint asserts that the car manufacturer only acted after numerous owners had already endured expensive malfunctions and repair costs. The lawsuit aims to seek compensation and demands a jury trial.

As GM faces increasing examination of its quality control procedures, it must also contend with declining customer confidence in its most lucrative products—its trucks and full-sized SUVs continue to be the backbone of the company’s financial success. These are the very vehicles financing the development of electric cars that haven’t been selling well to consumers.