Silver7

Have been a GM owner for three decades. Follow proper maintenance schedules and have had great luck with truck engines, normally get over 300,000 miles before selling or gifting away.

At 145,000 miles(primarily highway and weekend hunting trips), the check engine comes on, truck runs rough, acts like it has a serious miss and receive the messages: Service Stabilitrac & Traction Control. Thought maybe a plug or two had fouled out or some other minor issue. Wishful thinking... need new lifters and camshaft. Sound familiar? I've now read several examples of this exact issue. Evidently, when some of the cylinders shut down, the lifters don't get adequately lubricated, causing failure/collapse, also damaging the camshaft. This results in a several thousand dollar repair bill that GM will not cost share due to expired warranty. I think it's a design flaw they should assist with. Maybe with all the financial troubles GM has experienced, their vehicle quality has suffered. Did I mention both front power locks failed at about 120,000 miles?

If you own an AFM equipped vehicle, be sure to swap it off before the warranty period expires. My chevy experience has come to an end. It's unfortunate, as I really like the style, handling and performance other than the faulty engine.

GhostZ71

Silver7,

Unfortunately my truck is at the dealer right now for the exact same problem. I only have 52k miles! I have extended warranty but had to authorize 1k for the engine teardown so an adjuster could see if they can blame me for the design flaw!!! This has to be a recall!!! Unless chevy just wants us to all buy Fords!! Getting rid of my Chevy is an option that has not been on the table since 1998.

67Motorcat

Agreed,
The new AFM system can be problematic on the LS series engines.

The key to long engine life beyond the 100K warranty divorce by GM is frequent Oil changes and not relying on the oil life monitor.So important with the AFM lifters in particular.

Unfortunately most people do rely on it and even go beyond along with buying the cheapest oil they can find

Keep in mind though,even with maintenance negligence,out of the 100's of 1000's of these engines produced the percentage of failure is very,very small.

GhostZ71

I have an LT Z71 and all services are done at the dealer. So if they put cheap oil in my truck they deserve to foot the repair bill. And Chevy should fire there design engineers if they can't produce a viable system to monitor oil changes. Guess the window sticker overides the engineers. Just over 50k and cam lifter issues is not acceptable. I want my truck back!

Chevrolet Customer Service

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I’m sorry you are experiencing this issue with your vehicle. Please keep us post about the results of your dealer visit.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions.

Louis
GM Customer Service

Silver7

Hey GhostZ71,
I'm sorry to hear your troubles as well. At least yours is under warranty. The unpleasant surprise I received has led me away from Chevy over to RAM. I'm now the proud owner of a RAM Lone Star Crew Cab 4x4. Be sure to swap your Z71 off before the warranty expires while you can still realize some value! There's some pretty good deals to be found on the F150 & Tundra as well right now.
Best of luck!

GhostZ71

Silver7,

Yes, I am not at all happy about this. Chevy knows there is a design flaw yet they are pretending the problem would just go away. It will along with the costomers. I love the look and ride of the truck but I need reliabilty. I am afraid that the issue would resurface in a few years when I do not have warranty. I now had to authorize $1,000 to cover the teardown of the engine so it can be inspected. No updates with 1 week of downtime. I am really looking at a Ram or Tundra as my christmas gift to myself!

GhostZ71

Got approval from warranty company to replace engine. Now there is an argument between the warranty company and the dealer on who will select the engine. Warranty company wants to select it since they have to pay and dealer wants to select it since they have to warranty it. WOW guess no fishing this weekend :-(

Silver7

What a bummer. Hope the two companies can settle their differences soon so you can get on with your life. Just think, this never would have happened if you had known AFM engines were prone to early failure due to poorly designed lifters. My guess is you would have bought another brand truck, one that was more dependable.

When you eventually get your ride back, go catch a whopper!

GhostZ71

Well they agreed on the new engine after some persuasion from the good ole legal team! 3-5 business days to ship and another 2-3 days for the install. WOW