The issue surrounding General Motors’ 6.2-litre V8 L87 engines is far from closed. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, decided to deepen the case after finding new reports of breakdowns in vehicles that had already undergone corresponding repairs.
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The concern is no less. The 25V-274 withdrawal initially reached about 597,630 trucks and SUVs from Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac, but reports that are still coming now put under review the effectiveness of the applied solution.
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The NHTSA’s Defect Investigation Office had received, as of August 20, 499 complaints related to engines that failed after completing the procedure established in the withdrawal.
Of those cases, 473 vehicles had received the oil change indicated by GM, while another 26 had to receive a completely new engine. General Motors itself a considerably higher figure, with 6,953 complaints for post-repair faults.
The difference between the two records is part of the context that the federal agency now analyzes. The intention is to determine what is happening to the engines that, at least on paper, had already received the corresponding solution.
The case becomes even more complicated because the research is no longer limited to the manufacturing period initially included in the campaign. The ODI found 191 additional reports related to L87 engines produced after the range envisaged in the withdrawal.
The 25V-274 campaign was originally aimed at engines manufactured between March 1, 2021 and May 31, 2024. That there are subsequent reports does not automatically mean that all those propellers have the same defect, but it led the researchers to broaden the analysis.
The aim now is to establish whether there is a connection between those failures and the problems that caused the initial withdrawal.
One of GM’s measures was to modify the recommended viscosity of the oil for certain engines. Vehicles that passed the inspection were also given a new filter and oil filling cover, while those that did not meet the established criteria were subjected to a replacement of the engine.
The recommendation on the oil had already been modified earlier, so the NHTSA seeks to establish whether that change can really solve the problem or whether the flaws have a deeper relationship with internal components.
The original retreat pointed out problems associated with elements such as the cygne and the bielas. Now, new post-repair reports provide the agency with more information to determine what is happening.
The RQ26001 withdrawal consultation was formally opened on 16 January 2026 to assess whether the solution implemented in the 25V-274 withdrawal was working as it should. The analysis has since evolved towards broader engineering research.
For now, the NHTSA has not established that all engines involved have exactly the same defect, nor does it mean that every vehicle manufactured outside the original period is affected.
What is clear is that the accumulated reports are sufficient to keep the case open. GM will have to collaborate with the investigation as the agency tries to determine why some owners have faced faults again even after they have approached the dealership to complete the repair.
