Engine and transmission

On cars of the GMT800 platform, engines with volumes of 4.8 were installed; 5.3; 6.0 and 8.1 liters. Models with volumes of 4.8 and 8.1 liters are not widely used. The GMT900 platform also used 4.8 engines; 5.3; 6.0 and 6.2 liters.

A description of the design of engines, the principles of operation of systems is described in the chapter. It can be noted here that the introduction of a variable valve timing system on engines since 2006, one might say, is a little behind the times, since almost all automakers have installed it en masse since 2000-2002. Therefore, the installation of a variable valve timing system on engines for the new platform became obvious.

The engines began to use a cylinder deactivation system, which is more rare in the passenger car and SUV segment. Its purpose is to reduce fuel consumption by switching the engine operating mode according to the V8 scheme to the V4 operating mode. The system works only on certain driving and load modes. The system, or rather this GM technology, is referred to as DoD - Displacement on Demand. Since 2007, GM has introduced this technology to the market under the brand name AFM - Active Fuel Management. The 6.2 liter engine, and therefore all Escalade vehicles, has an AFM system. The use of the system on 5.3 and 6.0 l engines depends on the configuration. The presence of this system is encrypted in the vehicle identification code.

The design of the engines themselves has not changed much, only on GMT900 models is installed «new» 6.2 liter all-aluminum engine, obtained by increasing the diameter of the cylinders. The use of aluminum cylinder blocks is somewhat alarming in terms of maintainability. But cast iron cylinder blocks also remained in production. That is, when buying a car with a 5.3 liter or 6.0 liter engine, only knowing the decoding of the identification number, you can understand which cylinder block is used - cast iron or aluminum.

Also used with the new 6.2L engine is a new six-speed Hydra-Matic 6L80 gearbox. With engines of 5.3 and 6.0 liters, the old proven Hydra-Matic 4L60 four-speed automatic is used. Of course, there are small design differences from those installed on the previous platform. The main differences relate to the automatic transmission control system, which, together with the engine management system, must meet modern requirements.