GM’s Solution To Recalls Is Shockingly Simple

Issue #174

The GM L87 engine recall drama continues. Now, the automaker says it has listened to its customers and brings a thick solution.

Market News

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• A software update delay means 2.5 million Volvo owners might not have access to features. Find out if your car is in the list. 

• Mercedes-Benz will revert to bolts instead of glue in its manufacturing process. This article explains why it will be more efficient. 

• Toyota invests in hydrogen, seemingly going against the tide. 

• The European Union yields to pressure and will revisit the gas car ban. Here’s more on it. 

Safety and Recalls

• Lincoln recalls Navigators due to flickering light bars. 

• More than 330,000 Jeep vehicles have their rear coil springs fall out. That’s not what you want to happen. Here’s more on the NHTSA investigation.

Car Culture

• Celebrations are upon us! Here are 15 Lego car sets every gearhead wants. 

• Fake exhaust noise makes car updates a nightmare. And it will only get worse, here’s why. 

• The (Woody) station wagon might make a comeback. Read more about this potential return here. 

• Jaguar Land Rover says it didn’t fire its chief designer, but didn’t confirm he still worked there. Here’s more on the soap opera that is JLR right now. 

• Ford will now charge you for a Mach-E frunk. Yes, we also didn’t know “frunk” was a word. Here’s more.

Video Of The Week

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In The Know

GM’s Solution To Recalls Is Shockingly Simple

​GM is still trying to contain the fire that is the L87 recall. Recently, things got much worse when a federal judge consolidated all lawsuits into a class-action suit.

This is critical because such a massive lawsuit could set the precedent for other automakers in the future. You can read more about the case here.

This other article highlights some of the facts in the case. There were more than 28,000 complaints, 12 crashes, 12 injuries, and more than 700,000 vehicles recalled.

So, what’s GM’s solution? It all has to do with lubrication, but there’s some explaining to do.

For decades, GM’s V8s were fan favorites because they were excellent platforms for tinkering and adding power. However, not all GM V8s are created equal, and the L87 engine tries too hard to be efficient. It has too many features, and its high tolerances make lubrication critical.

Originally, both the connecting rod and the crankshaft were to blame, as they failed prematurely. However, by mid-2025, further reports indicated that there were additional construction defects.

These discoveries came at a time when GM was celebrating the return of the V8. In May of this year, the company announced it would invest nearly $1 billion in a new plant to produce V8 engines.

The new 6th generation of the small-block V8 was on the way; GM celebrated with bells and whistles. Besides the 5.3L and 6.2L being gone, there’s no outstanding feature in it, as you can read here.

However, there’s one aspect that catches the attention. GM promises that these new engines will have better fuel economy thanks to the continued use of the DFM, Dynamic Fuel Management, which tells the engine when to shut off cylinders for efficiency. It’s not a fan favorite as this article explains.

Spoiler alert: the DFM was critical in the engine failures happening with the L87 powerplant. It’s so intricate that it’s quite unreliable. Ironically, while the DFM helped vehicles save gas, it also led to increased oil consumption.

Speaking of oil, many GM customers spoke up, demanding that the company return to higher-viscosity oils. Before, the company used lower-viscosity oils to meet fuel-emission standards, but these oils burned faster than thicker ones.

After all, many of the engine failures highlighted here were caused by improper lubrication. It’s a complex back-and-forth topic, and you can learn more about it here.

​Once the company had realized this (although some people say the company knew long before the problems arose), it sent out several bulletins warning users to change to a thicker oil as soon as possible.

Now, they’re doing it before the engine hits the market. The Gen 6 V8 will come with thicker lubrication.  However, it makes us wonder: does it mean that a lower-efficiency engine will be more efficient in the long run? We’ll find out soon.