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Louis GM Customer Service
I am having the very same issue with the 8 cylinder, lifter, cam....the lingo I don't understand but I only have 138,000 miles on it and I now owe $4500 I don't have to fix. I was sure I would get 200,000 out of it. I see this same issue on many forums from many angry people. My dealership is no help, no concern to them. I need for GM to help me out with this...this is not fair....you all know there is a problem.
bought my 09 Silverado used from the Chevy dealer, bought my used car warranty at the Chevy dealer, had all my services done at the Chevy dealer and now i have the cam and lifter failure at 138,000. almost a week and still no approval for the repair yet. sure wish i had known about the cam and lifter flaw. i would have never guessed my Chevy experience would end this way. might be time to trade away my Silverado and impala! seems to me GM needs to step up and do something about this before they loose all of their customers!
guys you got 138,000 hell some of these truck fail at 60,000 then I bitch over 100,000 cant say much I brought my 2008 5.3 with 80 k now over 100k on it so far so good no oil burning or using oil I shut off afm mode with a I tune programmer by diablosport
I have a 2009 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid. 172,000km. While on a family vacation in Vancouver last month, my Camshaft rods and lifters went. First GM said the repair would be $6000. After my ranting and raving and phone calls to customer service, they lowered the final price to $3000. I am out about $12,000 total with lost wages and expenses of an extra 7 days in Vancouver. This is a flaw in the AFM engine and we the consumers need to band together against GMC to get our money back. I am prepared to pursue a class action suit, or at least contact the media with a list of people who have had this problem. (W5, Fifth Estate, 60 minutes). I am trying to gather contact information from other GMC owners who's camshaft has gone. I have already contacted the GMC executives and I have their attention. Lets work together to go after GMC to acknowledge and fix this.
i have the same issue on my 2009 Silverado 5.3 learning a hard lesson that Chevrolet is not what it used to be! email gear.man.tex@gmail.com i will join your list
well good luck, wish i had known about the AFM! iv'e had Chevrolet's last over 200,000 before selling them so i was expecting the same. i never would have gotten this used truck from the Chevy dealer at 103,000 miles had i known of the problem, and that the used car warranty was crap! 6 days after taking it to the dealership i am just now being told to authorize labor for teardown. i ask why? the problem is internal of the engine and iv'e had all my services done at the dealership!
I have a Suburban 08 LTZ with 140000 miles. One of the lifter is gone and GM told me that it's not covered; So I have to pay $1800 to replace it. If it's a poor design problem GM should take responsibility
Similar story here, I'm meticulous when it comes to oil changes and maintenance (which is why this is extra frustrating)
I had a slightly different result from the AFM/DOD system malfunctioning...
My 2009 Tahoe with the LC9 engine spun a rod bearing at 109k miles thanks to all the engine oil burning up within 1k miles. Apparently that was just the first thing to seize up but the rest of the engine looked flawless aside from burnt oil residue caking the top end.
Seeing that I was 9k miles out of warranty, I opted to just move forward with repair myself. GM has done a great job of creating tons of hoops to jump through in terms of warranty or recall help on this issue.
I pulled the entire engine apart to find the cause, and ended up just finding gummed up control rings and the one spun bearing as potential causes.
I've since installed a new crank, rod and bearings. I've also deleted the AFM system as I believe this to be a partial cause. Fingers crossed.
It sure would be nice for us to all get a class action going in regards to these engines. No doubt there are thousands of us experiencing similar problems for similar reasons.
Oh, and get this.. The OEM oil pan (which had never been removed since I bought the Tahoe brand new in 2009) had a welded patch behind where the filter threads onto the pan. YES, a ****ing welded patch on a brand new vehicle! How the hell does this happen?? I couldn't imagine
Any ideas as to why this would even be something that someone would repair? These pans are only $130 new.
Last edited by socaliguy811; November 20th, 2015 at 12:15 PM.
I put this on another forum. Since this is active, I decided to post here too to let people know of my issue and what little GM has done to resolve it. My issues began on December 6, 2015.
I see now that I am headed for Doom and Gloom. First of all, I would like to say that I am a proud Chevy Owner, but I don't know how long that will last. Here is my story. I purchased my 2008 Chevrolet Avalanche brand new and babied it from day one. I was proud to have this truck. It was my dream truck. Since college, I wanted it and when I became a big boy, I got one of my own. I maintained the oil change intervals with the dealership. From day one, I used Mobil 1 Synthetic. I only traveled with this truck on long-distance trips. This is my show truck whenever I traveled. I kept it in the garage and only took it out when I wanted to enjoy the road with my truck. Besides normal maintenance, not much has been replaced on this truck. I still got OE tires. There was nothing more relaxing than driving my truck down the highway allowing my truck to hypnotize me as she is a smooth ride.
That all changed two weeks ago. I was planning for one of my road trips. I took the vehicle to the dealership for an oil change at 48,262 miles. Never noticed any oil leaks or disappearance in oil. With mobile 1 oil changed, I was headed to the mountains of West Virginia for two weeks, which is about 600 miles from my home. The truck rolled like a champ. Took the hills with no problem. No recorded oil loss. This prior weekend, I decided to take a trip to DC and then to Maryland. Everything was smooth until I got into Maryland. I shut the truck off because I got to my location. When I went to start the vehicle up, the stabilitrak lit up. I figured something was wrong. I pulled my manual. The manual said take the steering wheel at the 9 position, turn it to 3 position and hold it. If that doesn't work then, shut the vehicle off for 15 seconds and restart. If the light does not come back on then the system does not need servicing. I did exactly as the book said. I turned the truck off and started it back up. The light went off; however, the check engine light came on. As I am driving, the truck is riding smooth. When I come to a stop the RPM lowers to 500 but the vehicle does not shut off (vibrating a little). With that said, my trip to Maryland is cut short. I drive the vehicle back to West Virginia and the truck takes the hills with no hesitation. I switch to AFM to see what is going on and I am switching between 4 and 8 cylinders. When I make it back to WV, I come to a stop. The stabilitrak lights turn on and off. I park the truck and the next morning I take my truck to the nearest dealership for a diagnostic check.
I get to the dealership and I tell them what is happening. They pull my truck in for servicing. Later, they tell me that valve #1 is misfiring. They say that a valve is sticking and it is most likely due to carbon deposits around the valve (They tried to hint that I don't drive my truck enough to knock off the carbon). They ask how long am I going to be in WV. I told them till Friday. They said that they want to look further but they will not be able to do so until next Thursday 11/17. They recommended a cleaning and adding detergents in the oil and fuel to combat the carbon. I began doing research and found out about the consumption problem. I picked up my truck and get the documents for the billing (321.00). The docs states that the misfiring was in the number 2 valve. System was cleaned with no change. I questioned it and I was told that they erred in telling me that it was the number 1 valve. I asked if they noticed and oil loss and I was told that they did not. I was told that they pulled the spark plug and noticed excess carbon. They cleaned it and then tried to adjust some locations to get a desired result. I was told that driving it will allow for the detergents to clear up the carbon and release the valve. I was also told that the stabilitrak is lighting up. I am now doing the research and I see that the problem is going to be bigger than I expected. I was going to attempt to drive the truck back home and get it checked out but now it seems that that I am stuck between a rock and a hard place (hills and mountains to be exact).
So... I managed to get my vehicle back home. With the exception of the check engine light, the drive was like I did not have a problem. Primarily, because I didn't come to a stop. Got to the dealership and dropped the vehicle off. I told them my problems and I got the look like I was going to get it. We went out to check the oil - no loss in oil. Dipstick was full. In less than two hours, I received call with a diagnosis - worn camshaft and lifters. For some apparent reason, oil did not get where it needed to be and I was told that they burned out. All to the tune of 3900.00. When I asked about how it happened, I was told that they did not know why it happened but it happened. I presented him with a letter that I got from Chevrolet concerning the vehicle extended warranty on an issue concerning rough idling. I was told that it was not the case. I also asked will I experience this again at 50,000 miles and I was not given an assurance. All I was told was that the there was a new modification for camshaft and lifters and they are going to be installed. The old camshaft and lifters did not allow for the oil to distribute properly (so I am told). I was told that it was a common problem with my model. I ask if that was the problem, why didn't Chevrolet recall the vehicle. I was told that if they do in the future, they will refund me my money. I have been a Chevrolet Owner my whole life. Got the one vehicle that I love and this happens. Never had an engine problem with the Nova, Corsica (90 and 96), Traverse. I did what I was told since I was young - treat your car right and it will treat you right. Always change the oil (I always ran full synthetic in this vehicle) and don't wait to address the problem with the vehicle. I did everything right with this vehicle and I get this. Chevrolet seems like they don't care about their owners just the profits. Buy a vehicle and it's like good luck with it. We know of the problems but we wont tell you. If a mechanical flaw that we know about is present a it breaks down, you repair it. If a vehicle is well taken care of, nothing concerning an engine should break down at 50,000 miles. I swear, if I get another engine problem with this vehicle after I repair it with my hard-earned money, I will never buy another GM vehicle again. I'll trade-in all my GM vehicles. That's my word I intend to keep.
When I asked the service manager what I could have done to stop this issue from happening. I was told that there was nothing that I could have done. .
Last edited by Trudat; December 16th, 2015 at 8:16 AM.
Reason: missing important information
I talked to friend that afternoon who is also and he suggested that I should contact GM. Being that he is a GM owner, he wanted to know what they would do about it. He also brought it to my attention that maybe they were trying to get me out of this vehicle for a while being that I have been receiving letters for months from dealerships stating that they will pay top dollar for my vehicle. He thought the same as myself - they knew this flaw existed. I contacted Chevrolet Customer Assistance and told them my issue. They kept insisting that it was not a flaw of the engine but a breakdown due to the age of the vehicle. They began asking me loyalty questions such as, how many GM vehicles do I own; Did I purchase a GM vehicle recently. Next, were the questions where I had my vehicle serviced. That was an easy one - all at the dealership. The person on the other end tried to convince me that engines are subject to breakdown under 50,000 miles. I made it known that I have never owned a vehicle where the engine has broke down under 50,000 miles. The person on the other end made statement that the vehicle lasted 7 years without engine failure. They asked if I approved the repairs with the dealership. I told her yes because the dealership stated that they had the parts at the dealership and I wanted my truck back. I was told that they will see if they can assist but the most that they will probably do is assist with down payment on a new vehicle. I told my friend and he was just as livid as I was. I think they are going to lose more GM owners in this case. I have three other friends that purchased Avalanche vehicles from 2007 to 2011. I will talk to them and let them know of my problems as well so they will be prepared.
July 24th, 2015, 5:34 PM
same issue with cam/lifter 2008 chevy silverado
2009 Silverado 5.3 engine with cam&lifter failure
learning a hard lesson that Chevrolet is not what it used to be! email gear.man.tex@gmail.com i will join your list
