For anyone who owns this engine, let it be known that they are VERY picky about their oil and maintenance. They do not tolerate neglect like some other engines would. You MUST change your oil every 5k miles or less and you should always keep the oil level at the top, or they will not last. If you always do this and maintain them perfectly, they will easily make it past 250k miles reliably.

I had an Enclave with this engine. At 1500 miles it started ticking then locked up a few seconds later, and yes, I was accelerating aggressively when it did it. It got replaced and ran for another 120k until the 3rd dreaded problem these are known for occurred, wave plate failure on the transmission. In between it puked a radiator, both cv shafts, multiple blend doors and the ac compressor...twice. So, yeah. GM did a great job with these.

“Next, we are going to cam the crack caps loose” Haha, I actually laughed out loud when you said that. I get my words mixed up all the time as well, I feel your pain.

Any Holden commodore owners😂

I spy a Chrysler penastar in the back ground

When you see the torque converter still on, you know it's going to be good.

GM has a TSB for trigger wheels on the 3.0 and 3.6 engines slipping on the crank like that. It's actually way more common than you might think. These engines were/are absolute junk. Plagued with problems.

Great vid as always. First time I've ever seen anyone "cam the crack caps loose" -- proof one can never be too old to learn something new.

Yummy yummy yummy

I feel like this checks all the boxes. Piston McNuggets, malice in the combustion palace, excessive crankcase ventilation, capping the cam cracks loose (or is it cramming the crack caps loose?), throwing timing chain guides, your "alternative" technique for turning the crankshaft, and fighting with the dipstick tube. The only disappointment was that there wasn't a "perfect" water pump for you to toss across the shop.

Your sense of humor is fantastic and your work is excellent. I quit being a mechanic 10 years ago after 10 years as I was sick of how crap everything was becoming. Your videos are bringing me back great laughs and memories thankyou. Peace and love

Back in my auto shop owner days we used to see two sides of the 3.6 story. First we’re folks that thought 10k mile oil changes would suffice (no help from GM’s olm suggesting this) and many times the engine would plum run out of oil by then (or have very little). The second we’re the well maintained units. A local company ran Chevy traverse’s and all got traded in at 200k, of the 22 they had only one needed a engine (and it had a leaky water pump and overheated). Hit and miss, look after them and they seem to last, they don’t tolerate poor maintenance well.

The timing issues were ✨mostly✨ sorted out on these after MY2013 with updated guides and tensioners. The reluctor wheel slipping are quite commonplace with the LLT and LFX RPO's. HPFP & cam follower failure is another issue. I have personally seen a fair amount of valve spring breaks to call it something to look out for - though I don't exactly recall why they fail.

Oh, a tip for you if you ever see this comment. An old run-flat tire makes an excellent engine holder for engines with deeper sumps or ones without pallets. They're really stiff so they hold the engine up pretty well but also the rubber is pretty grippy on the engine and on the ground or work surface so they don't slide around as much. Have you considered using ratchet straps to hold the engine pallets down to your work platform?

I really like the "beat the hell out of it" technique. I usually follow that with the "I just need a larger hammer" maneuver, but does not work for assembly nearly as well. Thanks for sharing, love the tear down. See you next week!

You have the only channel where I'll willingly watch another man handling his dipstick.

The lack of bounce in that oil pan was a testament to how full of stuff it was

Thanks for choosing this engine. This was one of the most entertaining videos per "unit view time" I've seen in weeks. I'm chalking this destruction up to youthful exuberance. Sequence of events: 1) past redline, 2) neutral to drive drop, 3) squealing tires, 4) laughter, 5) BOOM CLATTER SILENCE, 6) "Oh shit, Dad's gonna beat me hard this time..."

"Ring. Ring. Someone answer the phone."

The GM 3.6 direct injection motor... by the time they get to TAE, it's usually the timing chains worn out (low oil light ignored by indifferent driver), VVT system jammed by dirty oil (CEL ignored by indifferent driver) or incorrect valve timing by reman facility, or poor electrical connections (worn pin tension or burnt connectors, usually at the fuel rail pressure sensor) or incorrect assy (did ya know that GM used the same 2 pin connectors on the HP injection pump solenoid and the EVAP valve and either connector will reach either component?) I have not yet seen a mechanical failure on this level, but then again, those hardcore mechanical failures don't usually end up at an electrical shop... thanks again Eric for a most entertaining and informative tear down video!