2015 Sierra Failed Lifters 22k

pickmeup · January 4, 2017

this is why it is best to rebuild your engine every 20k miles. I have been doing that and now have 86k trouble free miles besides 4 rebuilds

Yep good old preventive maintenance !!! lol

15_silverado · January 5, 2017

DOD lifters are shit. This pisses me off to no end....this is a KNOWN issue & I know owners of G8's that had this problem 10 years ago.

WTF

So the question I have is, would tuning out the V4 mode with a handheld tuner like Diablo sport prevent this problem from happening? Or could this lifter problem still occur with the V4 mode turned off?

Anyone know?

Cowpie · January 5, 2017

Well, I tend to believe it is a combination of things. Sure, disabling AFM is probably a good thing. Having lifters collapse on shut down cylinders for several cycles without replenishment of oil can lead to oil residue that remains becoming coked up in the lifter body. While all the lifters are hydraulic and depend on engine oil for proper functioning, the AFM lifters getting shut off from regular oil flow seems to be an issue. After all, it primarily is AFM lifters that grenade.

And combined with that, one should be using a oil that has as low of NOACK (burn off vaporization rate) as possible. You can find that kind of info on many motor oil spec sheets. A oil that has a NOACK of 6 or below is preferable. Dexos specifies a maximum of 11, but we know that is still too high for these engines. There are many first class oils on the market that beat the dexos1 NOACK rating by quite a bit. A lower NOACK will greatly reduce the amount of oil coking that goes on with lifters, and rings for that matter, on cylinders that are "shut down" due to AFM.

I really couldn't tolerate this AFM complexity any longer and it was one of the motivations that caused me to just side step the issue and get a 2500 with a 6.0L gasser. None of that nonsense and one of the most bullet proof engines in the GM stable right now.

ChrisNJ · January 5, 2017

All for CAFE and crony capitalism. All for a few mpg and we pay and pay and pay. My many older trucks got 12, 14, etc... mpg. Now my '14 gets 17 WOW!!!!! I am sooo happy, what a crock. And make no mistake, GM and the others are on board because it limits competition.

Next it will be some bullcrap about hybrid E-engines to make, wait for it, 19mpg!!!!! WOW, we are saved. But the truck will cost 60+.

crushNchowda · January 5, 2017

So the question I have is, would tuning out the V4 mode with a handheld tuner like Diablo sport prevent this problem from happening? Or could this lifter problem still occur with the V4 mode turned off?

Anyone know?

turning it off could help, part of the issue is believed that the cylinders that frequently get turned off obviously get less oil going to them causing premature failure? Keep in mind, this may also be why my G8 GT w/a 6.0 took 9 quarts of oil!!!

Newell33 · January 5, 2017

Well, I tend to believe it is a combination of things. Sure, disabling AFM is probably a good thing. Having lifters collapse on shut down cylinders for several cycles without replenishment of oil can lead to oil residue that remains becoming coked up in the lifter body. While all the lifters are hydraulic and depend on engine oil for proper functioning, the AFM lifters getting shut off from regular oil flow seems to be an issue. After all, it primarily is AFM lifters that grenade.

And combined with that, one should be using a oil that has as low of NOACK (burn off vaporization rate) as possible. You can find that kind of info on many motor oil spec sheets. A oil that has a NOACK of 6 or below is preferable. Dexos specifies a maximum of 11, but we know that is still too high for these engines. There are many first class oils on the market that beat the dexos1 NOACK rating by quite a bit. A lower NOACK will greatly reduce the amount of oil coking that goes on with lifters, and rings for that matter, on cylinders that are "shut down" due to AFM.

I really couldn't tolerate this AFM complexity any longer and it was one of the motivations that caused me to just side step the issue and get a 2500 with a 6.0L gasser. None of that nonsense and one of the most bullet proof engines in the GM stable right now.

I'm right there with you. I bought a low mileage '13 2500HD 6.0. I never thought I'd say this, but after owning a new '14 I'll likely never own another new GM truck. They're value engineered garbage, and the owners that have problems usually have to fight much harder than they should to get the issues resolved. The other thing that I've noticed is that most of the issues with the '14's are still prevalent in the '17's. I hope this is only a phase for this generation of trucks, and not a indicator of things to come. As others have mentioned, though, it's not only GM. All manufacturers are having issues that frankly should have been addressed during development.

Cowpie · January 5, 2017

Problem risks can be reduced. If I had one of the Ecotec engines, for one, I would use 5w20 instead of 0w20. Only difference is cold flow rate, and you probably couldn't tell difference till obsecenely low temps. And a 5w20 is more shear stable and has a much lower NOACK than a 0w20.

Second, I would not go over 5K miles on oil changes. The oil may still be good, but particulate buildup in oil can play havoc on AFM lifters. GM has screwed the pooch on some of their vehicle OLM recommendations. The LY7 3.6 is the best example. After many of these engines had catastrophic timing chain failures, GM then realized they had to change OLM programming for more frequent oil change intervals.

On the 5w20 thing, there is a stack of 5w20's that are on the dexos1 approved list.

Sierra 5.3 · January 5, 2017

Problem risks can be reduced. If I had one of the Ecotec engines, for one, I would use 5w20 instead of 0w20. Only difference is cold flow rate, and you probably couldn't tell difference till obsecenely low temps. And a 5w20 is more shear stable and has a much lower NOACK than a 0w20.

Second, I would not go over 5K miles on oil changes. The oil may still be good, but particulate buildup in oil can play havoc on AFM lifters. GM has screwed the pooch on some of their vehicle OLM recommendations. The LY7 3.6 is the best example. After many of these engines had catastrophic timing chain failures, GM then realized they had to change OLM programming for more frequent oil change intervals.

On the 5w20 thing, there is a stack of 5w20's that are on the dexos1 approved list.

Are you going to use 5w-20 in the Silverado or are you sticking with the 0w-20?

EDIT: FAIL Just realized you have the 6.0, not a 5.3. My bad.

MrNasty · January 5, 2017

Go with another brand because you had a problem and sounds like they took care of it....I love people who come on here and dog out GM.

Yes but the thing is that its a KNOWN issue. So happens to frequently for my liking. Plus mine has been at the dealer for three weeks for another KNOWN issue with the transmission. Im also getting a list of other issues fixed at the same time. I also have an older Dmax and never had an issue until I bought a gm gasser. My main issue is, I also got my wife to finally buy American and get away from Toyota. Trust me i hear about it everything there is an issue. Her last Toyota had 254,000 miles on it and Im just hoping we can keep the two 2015 silverado's from a major issue until we can trade out of them. So yeah, Im having a little anger issue towards gm at the moment.

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MrNasty · January 5, 2017

So at the moment i think I have earned the right to dog gm a little

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Silver ice 6.2 · January 5, 2017

There is no way that every single car, truck,etc can be perfect... I'm sorry for the few of you that have issues and problems with these new trucks.. I'm not gonna sit here and say I haven't had a issue... I got it fixed and carried on.

MrNasty · January 5, 2017

There is no way that every single car, truck,etc can be perfect... I'm sorry for the few of you that have issues and problems with these new trucks.. I'm not gonna sit here and say I haven't had a issue... I got it fixed and carried on.

I do get that probably the majority are just fine and I hope my wifes truck is one of those, because this isnt the first time my has been in the shop to get other stuff fixed. Some may be great trucks for some and im happy for those guys, but it is a pain when you have to take a truck to the dealer every 3 months to get different things fixed. Thats where my problem is. So hopefully I wont get the lifter issue later on and all will be good after this trip to the dealer.

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amxguy1970 · January 5, 2017

It is sporadic, period. A few have a problem then try to make it out as a common 1/10 type of issue because they read two other people have the same issue. News flash, a man made object on a assembly line that are produced in the 100's of thousands a year will have a few bad apples, this is no where remotely close to what the first gen system issues had. The AFM has been around for almost two decades and they have made it pretty bullet proof. Sucks you or any others had a problem but this isn't a big known issue, it is a rare occurrence with fluke issues.

We have had many GM vehicles with this tech and even the early gens didn't have an issue. My lifting buddy has over 200k on his Tahoe with AFM, doesn't even use oil. GM has continued to massage the system each Gen to get better and more reliable. If you don't like it then find something with out it which is harder and harder to do (or is has other fuel saving and newer technology to bet on). If you want to jump ship knock your self out, but if you think the grass will be greener you have another thing coming. With all the tech on these things each manufacturer has their issues and quirks, you just have to pick your poison.

Who ever mentioned the 14-17 mpg savings on new trucks being small, that is almost a 20% increase in a 2.5 ton un-aerodynamic truck that rides better, can tow more and is faster and haul more by a large amount than those previous vehicles. To get 20% out of a car you are looking at 8-10 mpg gains in smaller cars, that is a ton. Pretty hard to defeat physics, but I guess with the complaining you can do better huh? I would rather have AFM take me north of 200k than a small motor with a turbo.

Love reading complain threads, keep entertaining me fellas!

Tyler