2016 Tahoe 5.3 lifter replacement?

[ALarsh]

I had a flashing check engine light on my 2016 Tahoe (5.3 with 21,000 miles) that would come on for 30 seconds and then go away. Happened to me twice, about a week apart, going up a slight grade at about 20% power. Truck drove fine and didn't seem to be really impacted by it. I took it in yesterday to the Chevy dealer to have them check it out. They did not tell me the code that they were able to pull but let me know they were going to replace the lifters in it. Seems like a pretty big repair job.. the service technician said its an expensive repair.

 

Curious to hear if others have also had this problem. Hopefully this is just a one off and will be fine going forward. Luckily I have another 15K miles of warranty left so will monitor closely. This is my first GM vehicle in 8 years after returning to the brand.

 

I've also been battling the vibration going over 70 mph but have it pretty well isolated to the tires. Truck has the factory 22" rims which probably don't help the problem. Lowered PSI in the tires to 33 psi and recently had them balanced/rotated which helped. Will probably throw on a set of Michelin's shortly to dump the factory Bridgestones.

Edited June 13, 2018 by ALarsh

[Supreme Pizza]

I would be suspicious about what caused the lifter failure. If its an oil pressure issue or something, other parts will have taken a hit. 

[ALarsh]

Agreed. The oil pressure gauge has always seems to be in a normal range during operating. I did wind it out shortly before the engine light came on and oil pressure was very high, but not sure if anything there would have caused it.

[Dnt]

 Any major repair to my truck and it gets traded shortly thereafter. That is just me though, I certainly am not recommending that strategy to anyone else. It is an expensive choice.......

I just bought a 2018 because my 2017 had a HPFP go out and dumped gasoline into the oil crankcase. After they replaced the HPFP and changed the oil, GM claimed No damage to the engine. I called BS but to no avail, so the truck had to go, not worth me losing my joy over. I want to be smiling when I fire my truck up in the morning and not frowning wondering if the engine is going to puke out today/next week or next friggin year..... Check out this Black color I kind of like this man. 

 

[ALarsh]

Definitely not a model I could afford. Nor would I rebuy the same brand if that happened to me. I just bought this truck preowned at 17k miles. It was in such clean condition inside and out I highly doubt anything was abused. I have 4.5k miles on it so far. It's been great except for this hiccup.

 

They expect to be done with it tomorrow so I'll try to get some better answers as to what happened. 

[ALarsh]

Here is the bulletin referenced: https://gm.oemdtc.com/3656/15-06-01-002f-engine-misfire-tick-noise-malfunction-indicator-lamp-mil-illuminated-with-dtc-p0300-set-2014-2018-cadillac-chevrolet-gmc

 

I'll pick it up tomorrow AM. Guess I'm glad to see there is a bulletin for it but wondering how many others have ran into this as well. I've been told all lifters have been replaced in both banks. Hopefully won't have any problems with this going forward. 

[mjm-1957]

It is a very common problem.I am doing one right now.2015 Sierra with 5.3, 41,000 miles. Engine is spotless inside, came in with number 7 dead and checked spark, injector and then pulled the valve cover. Number seven exhaust lifter stuck in collapsed position. We see this all the time.At least the camshaft is still good in this one. Getting real tired of this, the job sucks and warranty times are a joke.......

[ALarsh]

Thanks for the feedback. Glad to hear I'm not the only one. How often do the cam shafts go on these?

 

I think the bulletin quotes 9.2 hours per bank. Took the dealership 2 days to get through, doesn't seem that far off?

[JimCost2014]

On 6/14/2018 at 4:31 PM, mjm-1957 said:

It is a very common problem.I am doing one right now.2015 Sierra with 5.3, 41,000 miles. Engine is spotless inside, came in with number 7 dead and checked spark, injector and then pulled the valve cover. Number seven exhaust lifter stuck in collapsed position. We see this all the time.At least the camshaft is still good in this one. Getting real tired of this, the job sucks and warranty times are a joke.......

Broken push rod in my 6.2 at 23100, engine being replaced, have you seen this before?

[mjm-1957]

Was the pushrod bent or actually broken? We have seen many with bent pushrods or broken valve springs, but never with an actual broken pushrod. For it to be broken , the valve must have kissed a piston and physically damaged the piston and block. They don't let us put in an engine unless it can't be repaired.They are getting tighter and tighter with replacements. They are having us check the calibration history and to make sure it's the factory calibration and not tuned also.

Edited June 24, 2018 by mjm-1957
grammer

[JimCost2014]

15 hours ago, mjm-1957 said:

Was the pushrod bent or actually broken? We have seen many with bent pushrods or broken valve springs, but never with an actual broken pushrod. For it to be broken it, the valve must have kissed a piston and physically damaged the piston and block. They don't let us put in an engine unless it can't be repaired.They are getting tighter and tighter with replacements. They are having us check the calibration history and to make sure it's the factory calibration and not tuned also.

I was told that the push rod broke (not sure of where) and that everything else was good. I was surprised too about the new engine, but they did tell me that there was a lot of abnormal wear on the cylinder walls and that was the red flag Gm was looking for. Is it pretty involved swapping engines? Does the hood need to be removed, does the engine come out and the transmission stay, etc.

[mjm-1957]

Hood stays on, just propped straight up after removing the two bolts holding the springs to the hinge.Trans stays in, pretty straight forward job,cooling fans removed, cooling system drained and hoses disconnected, wiring harnesses are moved aside,exhaust disconnected but engine pipe stays in the truck.Intake manifold comes off before the engine is pulled so you can access upper trans bellhousing bolts and fuel pipes,evap pipes etc. AC evacuated and lines removed from compressor , starter ,torque converter bolts and motor mount bolts and thats pretty much it.I pull the right side exhaust manifold while in the truck to allow the engine to turn side ways to get it out past the radiator support and the firewall, tight squeeze but it goes in and out without damage.

[JimCost2014]

On 6/24/2018 at 3:47 AM, mjm-1957 said:

Hood stays on, just propped straight up after removing the two bolts holding the springs to the hinge.Trans stays in, pretty straight forward job,cooling fans removed, cooling system drained and hoses disconnected, wiring harnesses are moved aside,exhaust disconnected but engine pipe stays in the truck.Intake manifold comes off before the engine is pulled so you can access upper trans bellhousing bolts and fuel pipes,evap pipes etc. AC evacuated and lines removed from compressor , starter ,torque converter bolts and motor mount bolts and thats pretty much it.I pull the right side exhaust manifold while in the truck to allow the engine to turn side ways to get it out past the radiator support and the firewall, tight squeeze but it goes in and out without damage.

Thank you for all of the information. Talked to the dealer today, they took the hood off and had to order parts that they “found” could not be reused. It will be 18 days when I pick it up, just not looking forward to all of the damage that I will find. Does 18 days seem kind of excessive to you.

[silveradosid]

with the number of parts that could be on back order 18 days is not unreasonable

[JimCost2014]

On ‎6‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 3:47 AM, mjm-1957 said:

Hood stays on, just propped straight up after removing the two bolts holding the springs to the hinge.Trans stays in, pretty straight forward job,cooling fans removed, cooling system drained and hoses disconnected, wiring harnesses are moved aside,exhaust disconnected but engine pipe stays in the truck.Intake manifold comes off before the engine is pulled so you can access upper trans bellhousing bolts and fuel pipes,evap pipes etc. AC evacuated and lines removed from compressor , starter ,torque converter bolts and motor mount bolts and thats pretty much it.I pull the right side exhaust manifold while in the truck to allow the engine to turn side ways to get it out past the radiator support and the firewall, tight squeeze but it goes in and out without damage.

So I get my truck back, and I have an oil leak. When I checked under the hood Saturday morning, noticed the dip stick was out about half an inch or more. How much oil could have leaked/shot out in 40 or 50 miles? Still have a spot of oil on the garage floor this morning. Had to add half a quart to bring it to the full mark on the dip stick.