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I posted on this thread back in June 2017 about lifter problems with my 2012 Silverado. The truck had 118,000 miles on it and the engine had to be rebuilt because of multiple DOD lifter failures. I was assured my truck was fine for a long time. Now, at 158,000 miles, the engine has been partially rebuilt because one of the DOD lifters on cylinder 1 failed. $1700 down the hole.
This is ridiculous! I kept this truck maintained on schedule at the local GM dealership. In fact, I had it serviced at the dealership the week before the lifter failure. Obviously I’ll need to get an AFM delete device for this truck before I have another failure. So much for the “most dependable trucks on the road”.
Thought I'd give everyone an update on mine. I complained to GM about this. I got a "Senior Adviser", who said she would talk to the service team at the dealership and see about helping out on this rebuild. Two weeks later, I get a call from a different adviser stating that GM isn't going to help at all. While talking to her, she acted like I'm asking too much for the engine to survive longer than 158,000 miles!
I bought a DiabloSport tuner and replaced the stock program with one that doesn't have the AFM coding. The truck is running okay without AFM and my gas mileage still is the same as before. Once my wife's car is paid off, I'll sell this truck and get something else or replace the engine with a 6.2L without the AFM crap in it.
Long story -- I had a fantastic 2003 Silverado extended cab Z-71 off road with the 5.3 motor.
It was a weekend toy that was sometimes used to tow a car trailer.
It Never - Never had a motor problem and did not require the addition of any oil between changes but the truck had New England rust issues.
At about 130,000 mile we redid the rear wheel wells and rockers.
Then a few months ago at 200,000 it would not pass inspection because of rust and a few other things.
This time it was the rear wheel wells again, rear backing plates, and loose front suspension.
Since it was at 200,000 miles I decided to get another Silverado.
It took a bit of work but I found a rust free 2013 4X4 extended cab 5.3 with a little over 100,000 miles.
It has the GU6/G80 3.42 posi ratio, KNP trans cooler, KC4 HD engine cooler, Z85 High payload package, and among a long list of other goodies - the freekin AFM system.
It drives great but in the first 600 miles it used about a 1/2 quart of oil with no signs of smoking or leaking.
I did a web search and found that the issue is most likely the AFM .
What is GM thinking????
Who in their right mind would take a great dependable motor and turn it into a POS that uses oil?
I have ordered a Range Technology disabler to see if that will help, but can't believe GM would be that stupid.
I will make sure I change the oil every few thousand miles and use full synthetic with a good oil filter and cross my fingers.
By the way, this is my 4th GM truck in the last 30 years but may be the last.
Keep an eye out on the oil level and watch your oil pressure. Oil pressure and solenoid actuation are key in activating the AFM lifters. Low oil pressure can cause a mistiming in the lifter, causing lifter failure and further damage in the engine.
I also couldn't believe GM allowed this to occur until I remembered this: GM has to make CAFE standards with the GM vehicle fleet. Any way to make that goal is needed, even if the design is a piece of crap.
Thought I'd give everyone an update on mine. I complained to GM about this. I got a "Senior Adviser", who said she would talk to the service team at the dealership and see about helping out on this rebuild. Two weeks later, I get a call from a different adviser stating that GM isn't going to help at all. While talking to her, she acted like I'm asking too much for the engine to survive longer than 158,000 miles!
I bought a DiabloSport tuner and replaced the stock program with one that doesn't have the AFM coding. The truck is running okay without AFM and my gas mileage still is the same as before. Once my wife's car is paid off, I'll sell this truck and get something else or replace the engine with a 6.2L without the AFM crap in it.
That is actually a good plan. I think the only way to get a 6.2 without DOD is if the engine is coded for a manual transmission. Or you could just buy a new motor from Texas Speed without all of the drama. I am thinking of doing this to my wifes Suburban if the motor fails because of lifter issues or I will just replace the lifters and cam with a LS7 cam and lifters and delete the DOD out of the ECM....
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.
Just found out this is what’s wrong with my 07 Suburban LTZ with163k. Sounds costly. Just waiting for a price to see if I’m going to keep it or not. I do agree GM should definitely assist owners because of this flaw.
My 2014 Sierra 5.3 is in the shop for collapsed lifter. Looking at internet post I have found several examples of my exact experience.
Went to dealership, had oil changed, ran fine for a few miles, started missing real bad, check engine light came on and traction control light came on.
Limped it back to the dealership, they stated collapsed lifter #1 cyl intake. Seems to be a very common story. Has there been no recalls or legal suits made about this?
Seems like a lot of money being made at dealerships over this problem.
My extended warranty ran out about 2000 miles ago, now I'm screwed.
Any advice or information?
I will be picking my 2012 Silverado up from the shop today because we have that issue. We will have to baby ours because come to find out the side the lifter already went on the rest need to be replaced. My bf and I have only had this truck 7 months off a dealership and are pissed. It has just a little over 97k on the dash! GM has known that the 5.3 motors blow the lifters and Cams but have not done anything about it.
I just wanted to add my name to the list of Chevy owners who will never own another one again. In fact, I will make it my mission to let everyone I know not to buy a chevy product that has the AFM engine. In my case, I won't buy any GM product again. This message board goes back 7 or 8 years, which means GM has known about this problem that long and continues to ignore it. After spending my weekend trying to fix my cylinder 4 misfire, I gave up and brought it to my mechanic. When I told him I had eliminated the coil, wire, plug, and injector,. he said 'Youre not going to like what I am about to tell you. He then told me about the AFM system, and how cylinder 4 is one of the 4 cylinders that gets disabled by the AFM system. He said he is 95% sure I have a collapsed lifter and could possibly need a camshaft too. He is too busy to look at it this week so I am dropping it off next monday and I will await the inevitable bad news. In the meantime, I am going to research disabling the AFM system and I am going to see if my mechanic would be willing to do it for me. By the way, my silverado is a 2013 with 85K miles, and I add about a half a quart of oil every month, and the oil is not leaking out. I was always puzzled by that, but now I know it is being burned through the combustion chamber thanks to the brilliant design of the AFM system.
Well I'm back. Just an update. Yes I had my '08 repaired by the dealer for this issue. They wanted ,if I remember right something like $3600 to do the repairs. I said I'm not paying full price for the repairs and told them to contact GM directly to see if they would cover some of the cost. I ended up paying $1200 out of my pocket. My son has the truck now with a AFM disable module stuck in the diag port Made by Range Technologies. He is approaching 130K miles with no problems.
I now have a 2017 Silverado with the 5.3litre. Chevy's answer to the lifter problem was to throw more oil at it. The crankcase now holds 8 quarts of oil. LOL I too have installed a AFM disable module in the diag port Made by Range Technologies.
I still can't believe someone hasn't started a case action against GM as of yet over this issue. Any lawyers that would like to chime in?
My 2015 Suburban just went into the shop with a random misfire code at only about 93k miles. After diagnosis the dealer reports it's collapsed lifters and a a damaged camshaft. Parts are on national back-order so they estimate it'll be a month before I get it back. Fortunately, I purchased it as a certified used vehicle so they extended the powertrain warranty by a year and it looks like it will be covered. One of the factors in my decision to buy this vehicle was that it's supposed to be one of the most likely to make it to 300k miles but it sure doesn't seem like I'm on track for that. This is another problem to add to my list of 1) oil pan seal leak, 2) A/C failure, 3) broken rear defrost leads, 4) broken rear headrest, 5) broken 2nd row seat release, 6) severe rattle of 2nd row seat rattle, and 7) "service stabilitrak" message. I'm really disappointed and at a loss for what to do. I need to replace other cars in our family before mine so I want it to last. I guess I'll check out the OBDII port AFM disable device I've seen mentioned a few times for a couple of hundred dollars.
So my check engine light come on and off sporadically... ive read the code everytim . Its has been 1 of two codes. P300 or p301. P301 had popped up a couple of time so i changed my plugs and wires. (All Plugs gapped at 40) check engine light had turned off pretty much right after doing so, so i thought i fixed the issue.. but after driving a bit sitting at a red light. I noticed (also could see in the rpm needle) i still had a slight misfire. The next day my check engine light popped back on. (P300) so now im at a random mulitiple misfire.. so i had a mechanic run the codes on a GOOD scanner that can watch the engine perform in real time.. it was showing no codes. UNTIL! He pushed the throttle and up pops p301 almost instantly. So that day i replaced my coil pack.. on cyclinder 1 only, temporarily with a cheap 35 dollar coil pack just to see if it fixed the issue. Check engine light turns off. 2 days later. Check engine turns back on.. 3 days later turns back off. As of right now the light is off.. but at an idle i can still feel a slight misfire..
Now that you have the full story.
My question is being that i have replaced the plugs, wires, and coil pack on cylinder 1 (being 95% of the time the code was p301) what are you thoughts on it being a sticky injector? Ive tried lucas injector cleaner/fuel treatment.. eh,, i wouldnt say i saw a change.. engine still slightly misfires.. no check engine light.
Last edited by David Zacharias; June 1st, 2020 at 8:28 PM.
Reason: I saw "lifter" brain was thinking "injectors" i apoligize i may have posted this in the wrong thread
July 24th, 2015, 5:34 PM
