"over-active" Lifters On Smoking 2009 Silverado 5.3l Afm

wvmbgpw · February 13, 2011

2011 5.3L with 1200 miles.

Smoking on startup.

Dealer could not duplicate the problem.

Stated he called GM and they said not enough miles for the valves to seat..."keep driving it"

$30K+ and now I have to deal with junk like this !

mc7719 · February 13, 2011

Knock on wood over here... its not smoking, and the engine is quiet (no lifter racket, well, maybe a BIT only when its really cold out)... However I got the "Low Engine Oil" message for the first time between oil changes...

I am JUST at 80,000km (50,000mi) and change my oil every 6000km (4000mi)

pm26 · February 13, 2011

2011 5.3L with 1200 miles.
Smoking on startup.

Dealer could not duplicate the problem.

Stated he called GM and they said not enough miles for the valve lifters to explode........"keep driving it"

That would be a more truthful response.

mafd2 · March 16, 2011

I have a 2009 Silverado 4.8 with 9000 miles and last week started smoking heavily on start-up for about 10 seconds then cleared up. Drove to work and let it sit for about 4 hrs., started and smoked again but not as bad and as long. This problem continued for about 3 days. I guess it burned off all the oil that was puddling on the intake. Contacted the dealer and he said they had some problems with 2009's and the first thing GM wanted them to do was replace the driver side valve cover, if problem would persist, putting some sort of shield around the oil pump or oil pump sensor and if continues, then a valve job. A valve job on an engine with less than 10,000 miles??? WTF! The service mgr. said 2009 had a bad batch of valve train parts from the supplier. Problem is not just with the 5.3's but 4.8's. How would a new valve cover correct the problem? Was there a valve cover design change for 2010 or a different valve cover to correct the problem? He claims the valve cover fixed about 90% of those who had problems. Anyone else had this or similar problem? Anyway, it's going to the dealer Friday for a new valve cover.

Sir Dan · March 17, 2011

I have a 2009 Silverado 4.8 with 9000 miles and last week started smoking heavily on start-up for about 10 seconds then cleared up. Drove to work and let it sit for about 4 hrs., started and smoked again but not as bad and as long. This problem continued for about 3 days. I guess it burned off all the oil that was puddling on the intake. Contacted the dealer and he said they had some problems with 2009's and the first thing GM wanted them to do was replace the driver side valve cover, if problem would persist, putting some sort of shield around the oil pump or oil pump sensor and if continues, then a valve job. A valve job on an engine with less than 10,000 miles??? WTF! The service mgr. said 2009 had a bad batch of valve train parts from the supplier. Problem is not just with the 5.3's but 4.8's. How would a new valve cover correct the problem? Was there a valve cover design change for 2010 or a different valve cover to correct the problem? He claims the valve cover fixed about 90% of those who had problems. Anyone else had this or similar problem? Anyway, it's going to the dealer Friday for a new valve cover.

Welcome to the wonderful world of GM's Active Fuel Management oil burning, lifter exploding, exhaust smoking engines.

hillbilly4u · March 17, 2011

OK folks... here is my 2 cents worth....

... this is post #153 on this thread (almost unbelievable) ... and at this point it has been read by over 8,800 others...

... if anyone who has read this thread still goes out a buys a 07 or newer GM truck with a 5.3L engine.... then brother (or sister...) you are on your own ...

... now I am not bashing GM here... I am just saying that if the sales for 5.3L AFM engines went down the toilet in the next few months.... THEN something would be done about the issue..

... in the meantime GM still builds great trucks... get a 4.8L if you going for light duty ... and if you need more then get a 6.2L (these are still aluminum engines like the 5.3L, but no AFM), or get a 2500HD

I love my Chevy ... but I will NEVER buy a 5.3L AFM engine!!!!!!!!!!!

... I will keep maintaining my 5.7L

GM will never truly and fully address the issues (lifters, or whatever the root cause is) while people are still buying them ...

I wish I had found this post before I bought my 07. They had an 06 for less $$$ with comparable mileage when I was making the decision.

wvmbgpw · March 20, 2011

2011 5.3L with 1200 miles.
Smoking on startup.

Dealer could not duplicate the problem.

Stated he called GM and they said not enough miles for the valves to seat..."keep driving it"

$30K+ and now I have to deal with junk like this !

My dealership became very helpful on the second complaint .

By this time I had diagnosed the problem on my own and suspected it was oil being pulled up the PVC tube and dripping into the intake.

The service manager agreed that I was on the right track.

They changed the rocker cover and I haven't seen the problem since.

GM apparently has had this problem for some time now.

I don't understand why they know there is a PCV baffle problem and they continue to factory install the rocker cover with a design problem….

Dan

4wd · April 9, 2011

2011 5.3L with 1200 miles.
Smoking on startup.

Dealer could not duplicate the problem.

Stated he called GM and they said not enough miles for the valves to seat..."keep driving it"

$30K+ and now I have to deal with junk like this !

My dealership became very helpful on the second complaint .

By this time I had diagnosed the problem on my own and suspected it was oil being pulled up the PVC tube and dripping into the intake.

The service manager agreed that I was on the right track.

They changed the rocker cover and I haven't seen the problem since.

GM apparently has had this problem for some time now.

I don't understand why they know there is a PCV baffle problem and they continue to factory install the rocker cover with a design problem….

Dan

what is the rocker cover and what is the PCV baffle problem?

pm26 · April 9, 2011

I don't understand why they know there is a PCV baffle problem and they continue to factory install the rocker cover with a design problem….

Apparently for the same reason they have installed known defective intermediate steering shafts and drive shaft yokes on many pre-2007 trucks.

MikeNH · April 16, 2011

My 2011 with 1000 miles just started belching blue smoke on cold starts only and it's a quart low on oil. Calling the dealer tomorrow to see when I can drop the truck off. I'm not real happy that the truck has a major issue with 1k miles on the clock. Hopefully it can be fixed by the PCV baffle and it won't need lifters. I really don't want a truck this new having it's top end torn apart. I had rotten luck with my 2003 and now it looks like this truck will be the same. I was foolish to think GM quality improved.

4wd · April 16, 2011

My engine was opened twice and still not fixed,,,,GM have a major quality issue.

I can understand one defective part but not several parts could be defective:

rings

lifters

PCV baffle

oil pump

pistons

.

and who knows

People who come to internet is only few, lots of people believe the dealer **********! NORMAL thing and more never care until problems hit real bad!

jbstx · February 6, 2012

Any update on anyone that is having smoke issues on start-up. I recenlty noticed my 09 gmc 4x4 w/5.3 with 15k miles is having similar issue to videos on post #108. I'm fixing to call and schedule an apt., but wanted to see what others have experienced before i took my truck in.