Dude,
No other way to put this - it sucks. Sorry to be so lingually blunt, but it is what it is.
I felt trapped, paid the dealer, then traded for a Ram. I think your move to get a Ford is a good one.
I knew there had to be numerous other chevy/gm owners with this problem. The folks sharing here represent a small fraction of those affected. I still feel like I was tricked, based on history & longevity of chevy ownership. GM should help everyone with this obvious design flaw. Maybe they helped a few by extending the warranty to 120K miles.
I've left chevy/gm for good. I think I've even talked my company's fleet group into Rams & Fords - avoid GM AFM because long-term cost of ownership is too high. My wife wants a cadillac SUV bad, but no way. There may be another fool-me-twice, shame-on-me expensive trick waiting.

 

To avoid AFM on Chevy trucks, one could formerly select the 6.0 liter engine. What was a good choice (going with the 6.0 liter--no AFM) definitely worked in the past, but guess what? The new 2014 Silverado's now have AFM in all 3 engines: 4.3 V6; 5.3 V8; and the 6.2 V8...per the new 2014 Silverado brochure I am now reading and holding in my hand.

My personal research on the internet has observed "excessive oil consumption" in the 5.3 V8's from 2007-2011, and a hint of it in the 2012 5.3 V8. I do not trust GM to do what is right, but only to act in their own personal self interest as it "hits the bottom line". This will eventually result in a loss of market share...once everyone starts talking about it, and the news spreads across the USA and other countries.

Before buying any vehicle, I recommend carcomplaints.com; This is how I picked a "sweet spot" in the 5.3V8 engine for 2006. It was the last year...before they started to place AFM in the 5.3; Our 2006 Suburban with the 5.3V8 burns no oil, while having over 150k miles.

What "new" vehicle would I buy? Definitely not a Chevy truck, although they look good! Unlikely a Ford truck, although most other people are buying them. Possibly a Dodge truck, but owning a 1977 Dodge Aspen "turned my stomach" against Chrysler products for life. My conscience would object to a foreign truck.
I don't really know!

 

Agreed - 100%! I ended up with a Jasper rebuilt 5.3 engine rather then buying a new truck for now. I'm pissed off and hope owners of these defective engines will start a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT GM 5.3 AFM to try and recoup expenses due to the cam & lifter issues on these AFM engines. GM has their warranty and once your out - that's it. I called GM CS and spoke with with Patrick Rumpz from GM. Nice guy, but after listening to sympathy for my problem, GM declined to offer assistance on the repairs or engine replacement- nothing, Nada. Funny how our local GM dealer (Rossi Chevrolet Washington NJ) has in stock the cam & lifters for this engine- what a coincidence! GM does not deserve my business and I would not recommend anyone to buy a Chevrolet, that is unless you like to purchase vehicles that have documented recurring catastrophic failures and no support as soon as it is out of warranty. To send your thanks to GM the address is: General Motors 100 Renaissance Center PO Box 482B Detroit Michigan 48265

 

So i have a 2007 with the 5.3 ffv engine with 72,000 miles on it as a daily driver. I have been in and out of the dealership for the past 8 months or so with oil consumption issues with all the things before mentioned being fixed for the problem. 2 weeks ago the engine threw a rod and broke the valve spring and the valve fell in, destroying the engine. The dealership is trying to claim that this has nothing to do with the rod being thrown, the lack of oil. however that is the most common reason to my knowledge for a rod being thrown. any feed back? i have noticed lawsuits all over the place on this engine and am considering one of my own.

 

When a major purchase such as a vehicle is made...one is proud to show off there new toy, mine a 2008 5.3 ltr 4 door Silverado....man what a nice driving machine with good power...said hell ya, nice machine...then came 63,000 miles,,,camshaft, lifters, oil pump replaced.... being a motor head myself, I expressed my concern @ that time...if ur replacing all those parts due to failure...what about the metal floating around my motor....of course it wasn't broke..they weren't going fix it...truck was fixed under warranty. What do you think happens @ approx. 106K...of course, lifter broke again...dealer would not warranty parts or work..out of warranty. Sure pass it on to the consumer that struggles. After 2 more lifters, the cam is now wiped out. Local service manager is awaiting DM to review and make decision. This is a huge problem that GM should do the right thing to all customers involved. Strange how they were not interested in oil samples I removed from the same engine @ 5k which shows severely high cooper reading...If this was a safety or fire hazard with the volume of this cam/lifter/oiling problem CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) would have recalled these engines a long time ago. Many vehicle made today are disposable in nature...cheap enough to get 100k, then throw em away.. Chevrolet trucks should not fall in this same category, they cost way to much to be disposable. NO MORE GM PRODUCTS FOR ME...should have stuck with FORD

 

Here is an interesting new product that I discovered in another forum. It might help with the issues described in this thread. Anybody here use this? Opinions anybody?? Disable AFM without Tuning - Silverado & Sierra 1500 - GM-Trucks.com

And here is the link for the product manufacturer: http://www.rangetechnology.com/pages/v8

 

I have a 06 Silverado with 95k miles regularly serviced, never pushed, pulled, towed, heck or even carried heavy weight. Only to start hearing the same noise everyone speaks of took it to the chevy dealer, diagnosis were bad cam & lifters. After asking how could this have happened I watched the service guy try to his best to squirm out of saying everything short of it being a defect on chevy part, which is to be expected. After consulting with 3 other certified mechanics which all of them said the same thing "defect" and after reading several posts I'm convinced that it's a defect. I expected this model being that it was the last model before the new body style that they would have all of the quirks worked out but I guess not, especially after reading someone with a 2010 model having the same issue. I've been a chevy owner since 97 but this is really starting to make think to try a different maker, at least truck wise! Oh yeah Chevy cost to repair $3,500 not including tax oh but they did offer a free rental for 2 days, LMBO!

 

I had a good response from GM BUT my truck was in the warranty time.
You may not fair so well but worth a email or call.

Some ideas:
1. New create engine $6000 with 5 years warranty
2. Pep Boys or other rebuilt engine 3 year warranty

Call EPA and file complaint. NEW WAY TO THINK.

These engine AFM apart from problems with the lifters and cam.They burn and smoke and spit out lots of oil.
If no help from GM TRY CARB or EPA file complaint and document problems.
My truck alone smoked 3 gals of oil out tail pipe before fixed.
I heard of 1 engine using 1 quart every 800 miles.
EPA loves to give fines and may be more able to help you and get some action.
This is more then a repair issue with failing engines. This is a OIL SMOG and air issue that the EPA may like to know about if you can not get help.



There are lots of documents SB ready online about the lifters and cams.

Nobody seemed to catch the EPA part of it and go that route.

Just a idea but I feel bad for you and can't help very much.

Under warranty I had the BBB and GM involved which gave me a headache. GM did fix it with 2 major repairs including a new engine.

 

-So I just fell into this Forum category as well. I have a 2009 Chevy Silverado Crew Cab 5.3L.

-I purchased this vehicle Jan 2013 and it was clean could pass for brand new @63K miles.

-I have had nothing but serious issues with this truck unlike any other vehicle I have ever owned with the exception of fixer uppers when I was young.

-On Dec 28th 2013 the Main Engine light came on driving north home on the I-5. I was able to get it into Power Chevy in Santa Clarita and the engine was making a loud clacking noise. Today i called Service since i dropped it off on a Saturday there wasn't much going to happen with the holiday weekend. The service tech told me so far that they have found 3 Qt. Oil to low, 3 blown Pistons, 3 bad rings, and that they are now digging threw threw the lifters and cam. I just had the Oil changed there at the dealer in Oct. and my present milage is 69K. I have not put many miles on this truck since I bought it.

-I am so unhappy right now, and dug into the service adviser when he went straight for the "you have 3 Qt. low oil Level." I asked him are you accusing me of something because I should not be 3qts low. Anyways my biggest concern was that they will rebuild the engine where parts need to be replaced, but I am really worried about what damage might occur if they are just swapping parts and not rebuilding the entire engine or replacing the block and head.

-I have warranty, I hope it gets resolved, but this truck has been a straight lemon since I purchased it. The Carfax was clean as a whistle when I got it, but I might just cut my losses and get another truck after its fixed. I realize Chevy will only do so much where I live to make this truck run again, and calling GM is worthless IMO for help but this Engine failure could lead to other issues down the road. Basically I am not satisfied with how the Truck is being repaired by having technicians going threw engine parts 1 by 1 while something could get overlooked.

-In a perfect world I believe they should change the engine with the bulletin fixes resolved.

 

86,000 miles had to replace cam and lifters ($4600.00) buddy 56,000 miles same thing bad lifter and cam. Chevrolet quality is dropping fast