V4 scares me

[Hoginedgewood]

is there a poll of what people have done and lomgterm reliability?

 I’m contemplating a Range. 

[amxguy1970]

No reason to be, outside a rogue issue with happens with any part of the truck it is very reliable. The rumblings you hear are from the early gen trucks (lifter failures, oil consumption, ect) but even those were in the minority. Unless you put a louder exhaust on then I can see wanting to turn it off so you don't hear it in 4 cylinder mode, otherwise the AFM saves fuel and is more reliable than what I have heard with some peope and the range device (search some older threads). Enjoy the savings, don't worry about it and read much in to anything, these later generations are good (my buddy just got rid of his tahoe with it at 240k and no issues or oil consumption).

 

Tyler

[Largely Unknown]

Well said.

[Waterfowler41]

I used to love AFM from a fuel mileage standpoint BUT after I added large wheels and 33’s the switching between v4/v8 was extremely noticeable. The truck was always trying to get into V4 and in stop and go traffic it was frustrating to drive. Felt like the truck was confused popping in and out.

I used a TruXP xtune tuner (rebranded flashpaq f5) to get rid of AFM and I will never turn back. Driving in traffic is much more pleasant now.

My decision to get rid of AFM was not a “reliability” decision but more of a concept and annoyance decision.

The xtune is only $260 and comes with some canned tunes. If you’re spending the coin on a range, might as well up the budget and pick up an xtune.

Just my 2 cents.

[Grumpy Bear]

I kept my AFM. It cost me nothing, is trouble free and I have 53K on mine. Tyler  has a handle on it. 

1 hour ago, amxguy1970 said:

No reason to be, ..... (my buddy just got rid of his Tahoe with it at 240k and no issues or oil consumption).

 

Tyler

 

[swathdiver]

Dirty, worn out oil is AFMs greatest enemy.    

[Grumpy Bear]

3 minutes ago, swathdiver said:

Dirty, worn out oil is AFMs greatest enemy.    

Bingo!

[Waterfowler41]

Bingo!

That was the other reason I got rid of it, noticed I was down oil on every oil change.

[drentlaw1]

I had 112k miles on my 14 6.2 with the AFM enabled. No issues and no oil consumption. But after doing some mods and getting a custom tune from Blackbear I decided to disable it. Just personal preference, I didn't see it go into V4 much because of my driving habits and lack of flat roads where I live. Currently have 125k miles and no oil consumption ?

[O_J_Simpson]

So you are scared of a feature GM has been offering for over 10 years?

[nowicksl]

I’m with the OP on this and looking for owners of trucks with 150 to 200 k miles on them to pipe in.


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[Hoginedgewood]

42 minutes ago, O_J_Simpson said:

So you are scared of a feature GM has been offering for over 10 years?

Yes 

[Eddie 70]

Just passed 95k on my 14 and so far every thing is doing well with mine. I would say it is helping my gas mileage and I have no plans to turn it off as of yet.

[Jsdirt]

AFM is one of GM's WORST systems ever devised. Great idea on paper, but in practice it's a pile of garbage. It's too bad the general public doesn't know the truth about this.

 

I've read COUNTLESS posts from professional auto technicians from all over the North America regarding AFM -equipped vehicles, namely the 5.3 in the Silverado/Sierra. Camshaft failures, lifter failures, valve spring and valve failures are numerous - not just on GM's but also on the Hemi. When shops from all over the Nation write posts asking what the possible causes are of low compression & severe misfires on a 50 - 120k mile engine, the responses to that post tell the tale. There's always at least 30 posts in response that start out with the phrase, "Common problem with the 5.3" . If shops are seeing an endless stream of this, then there IS a problem. If only vehicle owners had access to this information.

 

The biggest problem is, every vehicle "has no problem whatsoever" ... until it DOES.

 

The problem children become evident VERY quickly. Latest issue today is injector failures, even on '18 models. This started with the first GDI engines.  

 

Time will tell if GM has addressed the age old AFM issues on the new ones ...

 

 

Oh, and to the OP - I have had a Range device in my DLC of my truck for the past 2 years, 20k miles. Time will tell if I kicked the can down the road, or not ....

 

EDIT to rephrase my previous statement: SOMETIMES the problem children become evident very quickly - other times, it takes a few years before everyone realizes they've been ripped off.

[Penguin VII]

Personally, I killed mine for similar reasons to Waterfowler. Got a 6" lift with 35s and the v4 didn't quite seem to make sense. I'm also planning on doing intake and exhaust this year so figured may as well just kill it.

 

I've got a buddy with a previous gen Silverado (man I love the look of those trucks) and he has had issues with that v4 mode in the past. Know of some other stories as well from my uncle whos a mechanic. Could be just random bad apples obviously but I personally don't like the idea anyway.

 

Any long term issues or reliability aside, personally I bought a V8 truck because I wanted a V8. I lose the gas savings sure, but if I was looking for fuel efficiency I would have bought a prius. I use my truck for hunting, range day gear hauling, weekend warrior DIY, etc. but I'm not a contractor or someone who "needs" a truck in the most straight sense of the word. So take my thoughts for what they are, mine.