2007 GMC 1/2 Ton 6.0

Summary:

The engine in this truck is a lemon

Faults:

Lost oil pressure at 90,000. Under warranty the dealer said the engine had a notorious problem with a dual lifter system. They replaced the lifters. I questioned the repair as a "band-aid"... as oil pressure is in the rod and cam bearings. Sure enough, it lost oil pressure at 200k and now I've found that not only are the lifters broken and not functioning, but the engine has a cracked crank... so far... the dealers have dropped this engine.

General Comments:

I can't repair a motor that was never supposed to work. They no longer make it and parts are not available... even thru the dealer. The 6.0 Vortec max was junk from the get go, and I cannot even find one used. This is what I bought? What am I to do... I use it for work, and for now I'm walking.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 20th September, 2013

21st Sep 2013, 08:23

Welcome to the world of GM... I had a couple of their vehicles, both had problems and GM and their dealerships leave the customer hanging... Sorry to hear about your misfortune.

I have since quit buying anything remotely associated with GM.

22nd Sep 2013, 08:13

Sounds to me like the owner neglected to maintain his engine. If you had low oil pressure, you should've had an oil analysis done to be sure the oil wasn't getting contaminated with gasoline. A leaky fuel pressure regulator will contaminate oil and cause it to lose viscosity, causing a low oil pressure condition. Also this may seem petty, but use an AC Delco oil filter when you change your oil. The other brands cause dry start conditions. Change your oil regularly. Good luck next time.

22nd Sep 2013, 14:38

Well, 200k miles is a lot; expect some problems at that point with any truck. The older GM trucks with 305 and 350 engines were bulletproof reliable. I prefer those instead.

23rd Sep 2013, 00:02

G.M. produced hundreds of thousands of 6.0 Vortec engines, and you can't find a used or re-built one, nor any parts anywhere? You must not have looked very hard. This review is not credible to me.

In reply to 23rd Sep 2013, 00:02

23rd Sep 2013, 09:02

Some people ignore the gauges and keep driving. Might have just needed a new oil pump. I saw this on a C5; rare, but it can happen.

In reply to 23rd Sep 2013, 09:02

24th Sep 2013, 22:17

I change the oil on my high mileage GMC truck at least every 5,000 miles with synthetic and quality filter, to avoid oil starvation conditions. If I put on 30,000 miles annually like the reviewer, that would be 6 services a year. Did the reviewer do this? No engine with such high mileage can survive without proper maintenance. You are correct, the engine would've shown gradual signs of a problem, and rushing from job to job, to meet his daily quota, the reviewer probably ignored them.

As for the 6.0 Vortec being "junk", the only design problem was cold start piston slap in the 1999-02 versions, that was fixed by reducing piston-cylinder wall clearance.

The only reason that there could be that there's no market for re-builds or parts (according to reviewer), is that virtually all of these engines are still in the trucks they left the factory with, and are performing well enough to not need replacement.

2007 GMC 1/2 Ton SLE 5.3L

Summary:

Pretty good truck, but for the price I had hoped for more.

General Comments:

There are many things I like about my truck. The looks, I am constantly getting compliments on how nice it looks. I have 8000 km on it, and have had no issues with things not working. The on star phone is very handy and a lot safer than fumbling with a cell phone.

There are a few things that I am not happy about. First of all the comfort of the seats. We have a bench seat in the front, and the middle seat is very hard and too low even for kids to ride in. We recently took a 4 hour trip, we had to switch the kid riding in the front middle because of the discomfort. The wife and I were both stiff and sore from the uncomfortable seats on each side of the front seat. Maybe the buckets are better? The other thing that I do not like is the fuel economy. I am averaging 15l/100 km. I think that is about 15 - 26 miles/ gal. All the salesmen and reports I read claimed we would be getting 22-24 miles/gal. I have the 5.3litre motor and 4:10 rear end. I was told that some people were getting up to 27 miles/gal. Of course by a salesman. I was told that with the "Active Fuel Management System" I was told that 4:10 gears would not affect the mileage much because it would switch to 4 cylinder mode more often. OK OK so I fell for the sales pitch.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th July, 2007