Another 5.3 AFM Dead Lifter Issue - Help Me Decide What to Do

[rdezs]

Keep in mind the oil filters average about 15 microns filtration. Everything smaller goes right through, to wear on the bearings.

 

[Foxy]

Only 92,000 miles on the motor, I wouldn't swap a new engine in. It would be the cheapest route to just install a new Camshaft with a full DOD/AFM delete and tune and call it good. No need for such a huge job. I had a lifter failure on my DOD/AFM lifter in my Tahoe and just did a DOD/AFM Camshaft delete with a TSP stage 1 cam and it has been running awesome! I should have done that to begin with. You won't regret the decision!

 

[Fairweatherider]

Thanks to all here. SO much great experience and advice. FWIW, I posted this on the Silverado/Sierra forums as well just to hopefully get more advice, thinking that a 5.3 AFM engine is a 5.3 AFM engine, regardless of what it is installed in. I have to say, the members on this forum have had much more input than those on the Silverado/Sierra forum. You guys are great.
I've been a little busy so haven't started yet, but I'm going to do this job myself and will make sure to report back here the results.
This was a new truck for my 16 year old son and it didn't last long enough to even drive it home. He's super bummed about it, but hey, this will be a huge learning lesson for him. He'll get a lot of experience tearing into the engine. I give him tools for each of his birthdays and he'll get to put them to good use here.

 

[rdezs]

Thanks to all here. SO much great experience and advice. FWIW, I posted this on the Silverado/Sierra forums as well just to hopefully get more advice, thinking that a 5.3 AFM engine is a 5.3 AFM engine, regardless of what it is installed in. I have to say, the members on this forum have had much more input than those on the Silverado/Sierra forum. You guys are great.
I've been a little busy so haven't started yet, but I'm going to do this job myself and will make sure to report back here the results.
This was a new truck for my 16 year old son and it didn't last long enough to even drive it home. He's super bummed about it, but hey, this will be a huge learning lesson for him. He'll get a lot of experience tearing into the engine. I give him tools for each of his birthdays and he'll get to put them to good use here.

That's how I got started at 12 years old. My dad's carburetor kept flooding, and I had read an article in Hot rod magazine.... He panicked when I had the carburetor in pieces on the bench. Reluctantly went and picked up a rebuild kit. He drove it for another hundred thousand miles, and by the time I was 16 I was fully stocked with tools

 

[Dustin Jackson]

Move it on over to the 2015 Tahoe area and you'll be golden. There will be the same caliber of assistance you found here and it will be more geared to the platform you are working on which shares many similarities with this one but has more things to look out for.

 

[Geotrash]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet, but there is a trick you can try to unstick a collapsed AFM lifter. Several guys have had success with it here. Of course it assumes you haven't bent a pushrod.

To answer your earlier question about potential damage from running it, I have had two lifters twist in their bores and grind sideways on the cam, thanks to shit aftermarket lifter trays. I put it all back together with a new cam, OEM lifters and OEM trays one last time, and it's been running great for for 30K miles since.

Finally, there is some evidence that sticking valves on the LT engines may be a 'new' root cause for lifter failure. Direct injection means that the intake valves no longer get a spray of fuel each time they open, eventually leading to sticking valve stems. Periodic professional treatment with 3M intake valve cleaner is one recommended solution I've seen.

 

[Fairweatherider]

Move it on over to the 2015 Tahoe area and you'll be golden. There will be the same caliber of assistance you found here and it will be more geared to the platform you are working on which shares many similarities with this one but has more things to look out for.

Can I move a thread? Or is it only possible for a moderator to move it?

I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet, but there is a trick you can try to unstick a collapsed AFM lifter. Several guys have had success with it here. Of course it assumes you haven't bent a pushrod.

To answer your earlier question about potential damage from running it, I have had two lifters twist in their bores and grind sideways on the cam, thanks to shit aftermarket lifter trays. I put it all back together with a new cam, OEM lifters and OEM trays one last time, and it's been running great for for 30K miles since.

Finally, there is some evidence that sticking valves on the LT engines may be a 'new' root cause for lifter failure. Direct injection means that the intake valves no longer get a spray of fuel each time they open, eventually leading to sticking valve stems. Periodic professional treatment with 3M intake valve cleaner is one recommended solution I've seen.

What an excellent video. Thanks for sharing. If I go this route, how can I determine whether or not the cam is scored? Of course, if the cam is damaged, then I would go with a full DOD delete. If the cam isn't damaged, then I might just follow this video and free just this one collapsed lifter.

 

[Geotrash]

Can I move a thread? Or is it only possible for a moderator to move it?

@Fless could move it to the 2015-2020 section for you

What an excellent video. Thanks for sharing. If I go this route, how can I determine whether or not the cam is scored? Of course, if the cam is damaged, then I would go with a full DOD delete. If the cam isn't damaged, then I might just follow this video and free just this one collapsed lifter.

With only the valve cover off, there won't be any way to view the cam. You'd have to take the intake and valley cover off to get a look at the lobes, and even then you'd only be able to see a few of them. A cam with damaged lobes is generally noisy, so you'd likely know it as soon as you start it after unsticking the lifter. But if it's quiet, I'd run it if it were mine.

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@Fairweatherider It appears that your thread has already been moved to the 2015+ section so we are good to go

 

[lt1gmc]

I'm reading thread after thread on here about people who've had a collapsed lifter then did a full DOD delete from Texas Speed. A major question I have and haven't seen an answer to is: did these engines hold up? Or was there metal shavings floating around which later caused a full melt down?

You have to have to have driven it a good bit after knowing you had a problem to have that much metal everywhere. Your oil filter screens out most debris. Now if you had a lifter that twisted sideways and ruined the lifter bore thats a different story. I would never agree to a new engine until further examination. Some places just want to replace the engine because it is easier, plus they make more profit for less work.

 

[West 1]

I have fixed about a dozen of the stuck lifter afm equipped GM engines, have not done a 2015 model yet. Mileage varied between 135K and 195K. Twice I did use the trick to release the stuck lifter and then delete the AFM from the computer so it could not try and activate again. Those ran just fine after repair. All the others I pulled the heads, 2 had dropped a valve seat hanging the valve open, one of those broke a piston. All of these on tear down, heads removed, showed zero damage or wear on the cylinder walls. Compression and Leak down tests were perfect. I would not even consider honing one of these engines even at 200,000 miles because the factory ring package and bore finish is working absolutely perfect.
The leak down tests were showing 2-3% leak down. That is fantastic even for a brand new engine.
The 6.2L with the broken piston did not even damage the cylinder wall. I replaced that one piston and the engine ran like brand new. ( this was luck, most times the cylinder would have been damaged also )

When the AFM is staying, which I did many times I bought all new lifters, Fel Pro Head Set which gave me Head Gaskets, Valve Stem Seals and manifold gaskets. New GM AFM manifold, Oil Pressure sender, new exhaust bolts and the new cups to hold the lifters in place.

In all of these I did not see any damage on the cam shaft lobes so I chose to leave the cam as is. I have heard people drive them with the lifter beating on the cam till it damages it but I have not yet seen one.

Most people are smart enough to shut them down once the lifter fails.

I live in California and they smog test our engines and look for modifications, for that reason I fix them with all OEM functions working as intended.

At 92K I would not expect any odd wear in your engine. With all the Modifications on that truck you can assume the owner was driving it pretty hard so inspect everything before making repair decisions.

 

[Fairweatherider]

That is great feedback, thank you. I noticed you mentioned replacing the "oil pressure sender". Is this a sensor that I should replace while doing the repair? Anything else that I should replace while I'm in the motor just because - why not, I'm already in there?
I purchased a full DOD delete kit from Texas Speed & Performance, which will be here tomorrow. It includes all new GM lifters, camshaft, oil plugs to plug AFM holes, and full GM gaskets. I located a trusted local machine shop to machine the heads flat. I'll be all-in for roughly $1,300
One guy I spoke with recommends purchasing a one month subscription to Alldata for $20 to get access to the torque specs, procedures, etc. I would only do this if I could print a paper version. I'm not too keen on dealing with a laptop computer under the hood. I grew up with Haynes manuals and in some cases, factory service manuals. Does anyone have experience with Alldata or do you recommend something else?

 

[West 1]

The oil pressure sender is a common failure but is very hard to change. They are only $25 but sit at the back of the intake manifold in a hard to get to place. With the manifold off it is an easy 2 minute change. With it on you are in for a battle to fit in there and do the job.

 

[Fairweatherider]

The oil pressure sender is a common failure but is very hard to change. They are only $25 but sit at the back of the intake manifold in a hard to get to place. With the manifold off it is an easy 2 minute change. With it on you are in for a battle to fit in there and do the job.

Good to know. Might as well change it now then. Is there a site/dealer that you like for me to order the new sending unit, assuming that I should get OEM?

 

[Fairweatherider]

OK guys, I think I've ordered all of the misc parts, gaskets, etc that I need for this job. The DOD delete kit from Texas Speed was lacking a few things such as water pump gaskets, camshaft retainer plate, etc
There is one part that I don't know if I should order:
The guy I'm watching on YouTube says that the fuel pipes on top of the valley cover are a one time use only and must be replaced. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

[Blackcar]

OK guys, I think I've ordered all of the misc parts, gaskets, etc that I need for this job. The DOD delete kit from Texas Speed was lacking a few things such as water pump gaskets, camshaft retainer plate, etc
There is one part that I don't know if I should order:
The guy I'm watching on YouTube says that the fuel pipes on top of the valley cover are a one time use only and must be replaced. Does anyone know if this is true?

In service bulletin for dealer to repair lifter cam problem GM has fuel lines to be replaced probably if they thought they were ok to reuse probably wouldn't spend money for them in repair.

I know this isn't answering your question for one time use just a view after reading service bulletin.

 

[hatinthering]

In service bulletin for dealer to repair lifter cam problem GM has fuel lines to be replaced probably if they thought they were ok to reuse probably wouldn't spend money for them in repair.

I know this isn't answering your question for one time use just a view after reading service bulletin.

I did the entire DOD delete a couple months ago on my 15 Tahoe, I re-used the fuel lines without issue.
Has been running perfect since doing the work. Wasn't "fun", but labor cost of $0 was hard to beat!

 

[mijohnst]

I feel for you. Last year, my wife's Escalade had a dead lifter. We stopped driving immediately, and I did it myself by watching different YouTube videos. It's been over a year, and it's still running great. I bought all the parts from Brian Tooley Racing and bought a good used Snap-on digital torque wrench with angle. Just take lots of pictures and label everything.

 

[2015TahoePPV]

OK guys, I think I've ordered all of the misc parts, gaskets, etc that I need for this job. The DOD delete kit from Texas Speed was lacking a few things such as water pump gaskets, camshaft retainer plate, etc
There is one part that I don't know if I should order:
The guy I'm watching on YouTube says that the fuel pipes on top of the valley cover are a one time use only and must be replaced. Does anyone know if this is true?

Yep, get the Dormans from Amazon, much cheaper than GM, and a decent aftermarket alternative.

 

[2015TahoePPV]

Yep, get the Dormans from Amazon, much cheaper than GM, and a decent aftermarket alternative.

You'll also need a crows foot set to torque them properly with a 3/8ths torque wrench.