Reliability after Lifter failure - 2016 5.3L

hunthearin · December 20, 2017

Engine was misfiring last week, so I brought it to the dealer. They confirmed that I had a collapsed lifter, and that it had to be replaced under warranty. When going over the repairs with the service writer, they informed me that they only replaced the failed lifter. Out of curiosity, I asked him what such a repair would cost outside of the powertrain warranty. He told me it would cost anywhere between $3500-4000 if it happened again, and that all of the lifters would need to be replaced should I be paying out of pocket. He added that I would be "silly not to replace them all" due to the type and magnitude of service, and because of the likelihood that another fouled or damaged lifter could fail shortly after the first. GM only authorized the dealer to replace the single failed lifter in my engine.

I drive for work, and already have 45,000 miles on my 2016 Sierra. I am happy to let GM replace as many lifters as need be on their dime. That said, as the end of my 60k mile powertrain warranty nears, I am worrying about long term reliability on this truck. I have maintained it meticulously.

What are your thoughts? Since I've had a lifter failure at such low mileage, are there high odds that another will fail on me soon, or at all? Should I dump the Sierra and get another 5.3L? Would a Denali with the 6.2L be more reliable? The styling and interior of this truck have made it my favorite vehicle ever, so I'd hate to see it go.

Edited December 20, 2017 by hunthearin
context

GRN69CHV · December 20, 2017

My '15 has 59,000 on it. Lifter failed at about 10,000 miles. Truck was leased for 39 months, lease is up in February. I'm debating on whether to buy it out or just turn it in and pay the penalties. Reliability is a concern. AFM was deactivated via reprogram at about 20,000 miles. Difference in running in AFM and without was about .75 mpg loss overall. Seemed the truck was rarely in V-4 mode for long anyway.

diyer2 · December 20, 2017

Tough question.

Any part can fail at any time.

I would do the most cost effective.

There are trucks on here with higher mileage with no issues.

Paintor · December 20, 2017

Go back to your dealership with this and tell them to replace what they were supposed to, or buy the truck back:

link https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2016/SB-10078567-7690.pdf

Edited December 20, 2017 by Paintor

Paintor · December 20, 2017

As you can read there....both the 5.3 and 6.2 have this problem. If reliability is a concern....note GM dropped the powertrain warranty from 5yr/100,000 miles to 3yr/60,000 miles in 2016.

They are cutting their losses.....you should too.

Loco-diablo · December 20, 2017

1 hour ago, Paintor said:

As you can read there....both the 5.3 and 6.2 have this problem. If reliability is a concern....note GM dropped the powertrain warranty from 5yr/100,000 miles to 3yr/60,000 miles in 2016.

They are cutting their losses.....you should too.

It's 5yr/60,000 PT for 2016+

hunthearin · December 20, 2017

Thanks guys. Might just look for a 2500 gasser

Steveo117 · October 31, 2019

Hey man, I’m sitting in the waiting room at the gmc dealership (with no anal lube). I have a 2014 GMC Sierra all terrain slt. 5.3L. Truck was misfiring, running like crap they tell me I have no compression in cylinder 7. Turns out due to faulty lifter and bent push rod. Vehicle has 44k on it and just outside of warranty. Hopefully GM does the right thing and works with me on this. Best case scenario (no bent camshaft) is a $2200 job...that’s the low end best case. Any input can help. This seems to be a common problem with these vehicles that GM doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge. Upset is an understatement.

g2full · October 31, 2019

9 minutes ago, Steveo117 said:

Hey man, I’m sitting in the waiting room at the gmc dealership (with no anal lube). I have a 2014 GMC Sierra all terrain slt. 5.3L. Truck was misfiring, running like crap they tell me I have no compression in cylinder 7. Turns out due to faulty lifter and bent push rod. Vehicle has 44k on it and just outside of warranty. Hopefully GM does the right thing and works with me on this. Best case scenario (no bent camshaft) is a $2200 job...that’s the low end best case. Any input can help. This seems to be a common problem with these vehicles that GM doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge. Upset is an understatement.

Just got the call from my dealer today. My 15 5.3 had a failed lifter and bent pushrod at 78k. He told me GM is picking up the bill.. Made it sound like it was under a warranty extension. It's also a dealer owned my the dealer group I work for, so maybe someone went to bat for me before I had to raise hell. Not sure on that yet. If I find out that's the case, I'm buying the guy who did a 6 pack.

Steveo117 · November 1, 2019

Yeah that sounds like a huge score. I’ve been a GM Guy my whole life, if this doesn’t go right...I’m probably going to be giving dodge a shot at the title hopefully I get some sort of warranty extension or a bleeding heart in corporate, not holding my breath though

Edited November 1, 2019 by Steveo117

Doug s · July 7, 2020

‘15 Silverado 5.3 with 54k. Just left the dealership and they said lifters at the beginning stages of failing so warranty won’t cover until complete failure. Warranty expires in 3 months. Tell me if that sounds like backing their product? Chevy guy for 25 years. Not any more.

JimCost2014 · July 7, 2020

1 hour ago, Doug s said:

‘15 Silverado 5.3 with 54k. Just left the dealership and they said lifters at the beginning stages of failing so warranty won’t cover until complete failure. Warranty expires in 3 months. Tell me if that sounds like backing their product? Chevy guy for 25 years. Not any more.

Welcome to the site.

Open a claim with GM, the manufacture of the truck, the dealership fixes and sells vehicles, does not build them.

Have something in writing, and push the issue with GM to get this resolved before your warranty expires. If there is a problem now, it will only get worse.

Doug s · July 9, 2020

I absolutely called gm directly and they put me on hold while they called the dealership and came back with the same response. That is the reason I’m so shocked that that’s how they handled things. Dealership called me back with a quote of $1709 for one bank of lifters. Pathetic scam if you ask me. Sorry I swear I’m not a complainer. Extremely disappointed in gm

swathdiver · July 9, 2020

3 hours ago, Doug s said:

I absolutely called gm directly and they put me on hold while they called the dealership and came back with the same response. That is the reason I’m so shocked that that’s how they handled things. Dealership called me back with a quote of $1709 for one bank of lifters. Pathetic scam if you ask me. Sorry I swear I’m not a complainer. Extremely disappointed in gm

So what's happening that leads someone to believe they are in the beginning stage of failure. NEVER heard of this before.

Bob2C · July 9, 2020

The individuals with lifter failures did you disable afm (v4) mode or running straight stock having it switch back and forth?

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