TikTokers are ridiculing a General Motors engine’s attempt at creating a gas-friendly engine akin to Ford’s oft-maligned Ecoboost line after a mechanic posted how a 2024 GMC Sierra Denali Ultimate’s motor was in “bad” shape after just 16,000 miles.
Snakepit (@shelbymaster20) posted a clip that begins with him recording the vehicle placed on a lift high in the air.
“Here we got a 2024 GMC Sierra Ultimate Edition with 16,000 miles on it and the engine appears to be locked up. So we’re gonna check and see what the oil looks like,” he says at the onset of the video.
“So our moment of truth here, let’s get this drain plug out…and…see what kind of goodies are in here,” he states, taking out the plug from underneath the car to drain its oil tank. Immediately, dark-colored liquid begins spilling out of the vehicle and into a pan. “Oh yeah, that looks nice,” he states as the oil swirls and then pools into a concentrated area.
The video then jumps ahead in time. He holds a container up to the camera, swishing the oil around in front of the lens: “Here’s your forbidden milkshake, look at that,” he says, slowly pouring it out of the container and into the pan.
The TikToker makes it clear that he isn’t just recording some trippy visuals for TikTok. There’s a reason he’s focusing so much on the oil that poured from the vehicle: He’s astonished at what it contains, especially after just 16,000 miles of driving.
@shelbymaster20 #chevy #gm #mechanic ♬ original sound – Snakepit
“I don’t know if you can see all the metal in that…but it is bad. And we had a piece of something real nice,” he says, focusing on what seems to be a shard of something resting on the oil collection pan.
Holding up another container to show off more shots of the oil, he states, “And here is what’s in the oil filter so we will be tearing this engine down,” before the video ultimately closes out.
Viewers weigh in
One user seemed to blame poor engine performance and modern-day breakdown frequencies on the Environmental Protection Agency. “Maybe after chevron has been overturned, we can get the epa out of the car business and go back to v-8 pickups,” they wrote.
This TikToker isn’t the only person to blame the death of the American Auto Industry on the EPA. One Medium writer made an argument about how “misguided environmentalism” ultimately “killed the American Auto and gave rise to imports.” They said that there was a lot of propaganda surrounding catalytic converters at the time they became all the rage: “About a decade ago, EPA brainwashed the nation that catalytic converters would eliminate a vehicle’s dangerous polluting emissions by converting them to harmless carbon dioxide (greenhouse effect?) and water, thus purifying the air we breathe. I even remember posters and advertisements that showed flowers sprouting from catalytic converters.”
Arkansas Energy & Environment has reportedly stated that the earth’s ozone isn’t directly affected by gas-powered automobiles, and the Center for Biological Diversity wrote that “aircraft are one of the fastest-growing sources of emissions” in the United States.
NPR has stated that even though “building an electric vehicle does more damage to the climate than building a gas car does,” the latter type of vehicle is “still worse.” That’s because the production of batteries “upfront” is worse. However, if they can last a significant amount of time without needing to be replaced, the long-term effects of constantly charging and re-charging a battery as a fuel source become more and more efficient and take less of a toll on the environment.
“Imagine building an engine to compete with the ecoboost only to have it less reliable than an ecoboost,” one person commented on the TikTok.
Someone else didn’t seem to have a favorable assessment of General Motors as a car company, writing, “So what’s GM solution, to put the same faulty parts back in?”
Another person who appeared to be an automotive worker wrote, “Let me guess another 6.2 we have 8 locked up waiting on engines!”
The Daily Dot has reached out to General Motors via email and Snakepit via TikTok comment.
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