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General Motors is changing the recommended oil for its L87 6.2-liter V-8 engine, a report by GM Authority found.
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New guidance to dealers recommends Mobil 1 FS 0W-40, rather than Mobil 1 Supercar 0W-40, which has been used since L87-equipped cars were recalled last year.
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A representative for GM confirmed the change in oil to Car and Driver and cited price and availability as reasons for the switch.
It’s been a tough year for GM’s half-ton trucks and full-size SUVs equipped with the L87 small-block V-8. Amid an ongoing federal investigation into the 6.2-liter’s potential catastrophic failure, the automaker is once again recommending that owners use a new kind of engine oil. The updated guidance is the second change for the L87, with the first intended to address a massive recall in April 2025.
Marc Urbano – Car and Driver
That original recall, which followed an initial investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), was upgraded to a full-scale recall of nearly 600,000 L87-equipped models. The fix, according to GM at the time, was to swap the V-8’s original 0W-20 weight oil with a heavier Mobil 1 Supercar 0W-40 oil. According to a report by GM Authority, General Motors has now issued a new bulletin to dealers changing the recommended oil again, this time to Mobil 1 FS 0W-40.
Why the Change?
Given that GM’s new recommendation is for a different 0W-40 oil, what’s the point of the switch? The heavier weight of the Mobil 1 Supercar 0W-40 already takes care of the initial recall, so switching to the Mobil 1 FS 0W-40 shouldn’t make any big performance changes. The answer appears to be as simple as the price and availability of each oil. A GM representative told Car and Driver in a statement that,”GM revised its bulletin to specify the use of Mobil 1 FS 0W-40 because of its wide availability, price point, and performance criteria that meet the needs of the recall remedy.”
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According to the initial GM Authority report, GM advised its dealers to switch to the more widely available FS-spec oil once they run out of the Supercar-branded inventory. The new directive applies to recalled vehicles that were inspected by dealers and determined not to need a replacement engine.
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