So I picked up an AFM disabler

[madmanjustice]

For my 2014 Tahoe. is the plug in kind.

Questions.
Should I see any noticeable performance changes?
Is it safe to leave plugged in all the time? My Tahoe can sometimes sit for days without being driven and I have heard these can drain the battery.

 

[Marky Dissod]

All it does is prevent Engine Half@$$ when you drive daisy. All you MIGHT notice is a minuscule MpG decrease; maybe.

Feel free to remove it when you get out, and plug it back in when you get in; it should be that simple.

 

[Sparksalot]

For my 2014 Tahoe. is the plug in kind.

Questions.
Should I see any noticeable performance changes?
Is it safe to leave plugged in all the time? My Tahoe can sometimes sit for days without being driven and I have heard these can drain the battery.

My 3 year old range unit failed a few months ago. I left it plugged in all the time on my “weekend truck”. No issue.

The replacement was an inexpensive bezos knockoff. Works fine. I recently did two separate 3 week trip where I didn’t think about the device being plugged in. Truck started right up after.

 

[89Suburban]

I am in the process of getting mine tuned and will be selling my disabler soon.

 

[tom3]

I got a Range for the long trips, around town or 30 mile drives I just use M5, low gear and toggle up to 5th gear. Runs about 1800 rpm at 60 mph or so which is right where I'd want to be anyway. Having those tinker toy lifters collapsing at 7 -900 times a minute just scares me.

 

[thefrey]

I have a plug in and I leave mine plugged in all the time. It hasn't drained my battery and I think the longest I've gone without driving it is a couple of days. I wouldn't worry about it being plugged in for a couple of days but if you're going to leave it sitting for a couple of weeks then it might be worth unplugging it

 

[Charlie207]

I have a plug in and I leave mine plugged in all the time. It hasn't drained my battery and I think the longest I've gone without driving it is a couple of days. I wouldn't worry about it being plugged in for a couple of days but if you're going to leave it sitting for a couple of weeks then it might be worth unplugging it

Yeah, I have a Bluetooth/ODB2 dongle from the big rock candy mountain store, and it stays plugged in 24/7/365. It talks to my phone to use Torque Pro.

 

[Tonyv__]

For my 2014 Tahoe. is the plug in kind.

Questions.
Should I see any noticeable performance changes?
Is it safe to leave plugged in all the time? My Tahoe can sometimes sit for days without being driven and I have heard these can drain the battery.

Only thing worth mentioning is that if you are in an emissions inspection state. You’ll need to unplug your device about 50-100 miles prior to inspection.

My range device would reset all my computers when unplugged and inspection could not be completed until I did a few drive cycles.

 

[madmanjustice]

finally was able to put it in the Tahoe. First impression is that acceleration seems smoother, not sure if that is a placebo effect though.

 

[Jolly Roger]

I disabled mine with a Flashcal. I was able to adjust my speedo for larger tires as well.

 

[Marky Dissod]

Finally was able to put it in the Tahoe.
First impression is that acceleration seems smoother, not sure if that is a placebo effect though.

Engine Half@$$ (and Cylinder Confusion) SHOULD have nothing whatsoever to do with acceleration, ever,
even during malfunctions of any kind - V4 mode should only ever occur during low throttle angles and light loads.

Over time, what you would notice (if you could compare it), is that
*TCC will last longer, for not having to absorb / dampen / hide V4toV8 or V8toV4 transitions;
as a result 6L80 will go a bit longer before it needs rebuilding, especially if you change ATF often enough
*engine will last longer because none of its cylinders are part-timers any more.

 

[Chuck A]

My Range unit will be here tomorrow. Hopefully I'll see some improvement in drivability as my first trip indicated it was a "mutt" on accelerating from a stop.
I just got the '12 Hoe and am looking to make it my "bucket list ride".
I'm seeing some "G2" on Valvoline restore oil and its cleaning abilities.
My unit has 160K on the clock, has had regular service, is quiet.
Any thots as to the value of a change to the Restore oil?

 

[mikez71]

Sorry, AFM disable won't do anything to help from a dead stop.
Gets rids of the pulsations at cruise, and better throttle response while cruising.

 

[thefrey]

My Range unit will be here tomorrow. Hopefully I'll see some improvement in drivability as my first trip indicated it was a "mutt" on accelerating from a stop.
I just got the '12 Hoe and am looking to make it my "bucket list ride".
I'm seeing some "G2" on Valvoline restore oil and its cleaning abilities.
My unit has 160K on the clock, has had regular service, is quiet.
Any thots as to the value of a change to the Restore oil?

Valvoline Restore and Protect from what I’ve heard is a really solid oil for cleaning up the inside of your engine.

There’s another thread that I posted that ended up turning in tan oil deep dive.

The only issue I can see is that the kinematic viscosity (KSV) and viscosity index is lower than ideal for these engines based on some info that others have given me.

@swathdiver can chime in more about this since he’s the one who turned me onto KSV and viscosity index lol

 

[Chuck A]

Sorry, AFM disable won't do anything to help from a dead stop.
Gets rids of the pulsations at cruise, and better throttle response while cruising.

Mike, does the disable not force all 8 to be "online" when it's plugged in?
I just took it for a drive and find that there's very noticeable lag/stutter when moving say 45 and stand on it. Is this another "benefit" of AFM? I've not put the disabler in yet.
Stoplight idle is not smooth, either. Again, without the "box" plugged in.
I have EFILIVE and HPT. If push comes to shove, I'll perform some "surgery"!
Chuck

 

[mikez71]

If you have HPTuners or EFILIVE, you don't need the disabler!
But it won't matter either way, except with a tune your emissiones readyness monitors will stay set.

IT should help that lag/stutter from 45mph, but AFM should not be active at a stop, and so any roughness at idle maybe something else.

 

[Marky Dissod]

... AFM should not be active at a stop ...

From experience, I can say,
Engine Half@$$ canNOT do a damn thing under about 35MpH.
Engine Half@$$ also canNOT do a damn thing in 1st 2nd or 3rd gears.

 

[madmanjustice]

update. went to drive the Tahoe for the first time in a while, and the battery was dead. Drained. Unplugged the AFM disabler, jump started the Tahoe and ran my errands. No issues on the trip. So it looks like I cannot leave the disabler plugged in all the time.

I actually have a second (different one) I wonder if it would do the same.

 

[Marky Dissod]

update. went to drive the Tahoe for the first time in a while, and the battery was dead. Drained.
Unplugged the AFM disabler, jump started the Tahoe and ran my errands. No issues on the trip.
So it looks like I cannot leave the disabler plugged in all the time.
I actually have a second (different one) I wonder if it would do the same.

No one needs Engine Half@$$ disabled when the engine is off.
How long is 'in a while'?

 

[DDSolutions]

For my 2014 Tahoe. is the plug in kind.

Questions.
Should I see any noticeable performance changes?
Is it safe to leave plugged in all the time? My Tahoe can sometimes sit for days without being driven and I have heard these can drain the battery.

I have a 2011 GMC Yukon XL with the 6.2. I bought it with ~80K on it in Dec 18, I am now at 265K. I purchased the RANGE AFM disabler a week after I bought the truck. I didn't know much about the problems with AFM (yet), but because I noticed the shift down and saw it was going from 8Cyl to 4Cyl I started to do some research. I didn't buy a big gas-guzzling V8 for it to be a 4Cyl sometimes. I then found out about the AFM problems and the range disabler. I have had it in the truck ever since. I have never (knock knock knock) had it drain the battery. Oh, and as for gas mileage? I bought a gas- guzzling V8 in a large body truck so I really don't care and shouldn't complain. BTW, I am not endorsing the RANGE in any way. Just telling my experience. It's kinda like when I asked my father-in-law if the deer whistles on his bumber worked. His reply was "I don't know, but I've never hit a deer".