Question about pickup I just purchased

Jjstandardz · November 23, 2019

Picked up a 15 denali with 85,000 miles and 2440 engine hours. It has the 5.3 V8

My friend was giving me crap about buying a truck with so many miles but it was a good price that I found right in my range and it drives really nice.

My question is does anybody have experience with these trucks and higher mileage? Anything I should expect like common failures or anything I should be looking at maintenance wise around the 85k-100k mark?

So far everything works well except I just noticed the seat cushion heaters werent working, not a big deal I ordered the replacement elements and did some research, seems like a common problem and not to terrible to replace

diyer2 · November 23, 2019

I have bought used vehicles all my life.

Change all fliuds and spark plugs.

Check brake pads and shoes.

Air filter.

I change all fluids and check it out throughly.

Replace what needs it so I start with new.

Then do my regular maintenence.

If the truck hasn't been abused the mileage is no big deal IMO.

CamGTP · November 23, 2019

I bought a 2016 with 90K+ on it last year, all is good with mine.

damnthetorpedoes · November 24, 2019

I work with someone who just traded a 14 5.3 with over 275k on it. Said all it ever needed was regular maintenance and brakes. At 85k you shouldn’t have much to worry about.

JimCost2014 · November 24, 2019

Welcome to the site, and congratulations on your new truck.

Enjoy it rather than worrying about what might happen.

Ralph Ciardullo · November 24, 2019

1 hour ago, JimCost2014 said:

Welcome to the site, and congratulations on your new truck.

Enjoy it rather than worrying about what might happen.

Couldn't agree more...enjoy your new ride. I bought a 2012 GMC Sierra 5.3 SLT 4 months ago with 157,000 km and could not be happier.

Jjstandardz · November 24, 2019

1 hour ago, damnthetorpedoes said:

I work with someone who just traded a 14 5.3 with over 275k on it. Said all it ever needed was regular maintenance and brakes. At 85k you shouldn’t have much to worry about.

Wow that's awesome!

Thanks guys I'm definitely enjoying it, nicest vehicle I've ever driven.

Was a little bummed about the seat warmers but oh well minor inconvenience and pretty easy to replace them!

Nitrousbird · November 24, 2019

Your friend should have been giving you crap for buy a 5.3L, not the mileage!

Ralph Ciardullo · November 24, 2019

15 hours ago, Nitrousbird said:

Your friend should have been giving you crap for buy a 5.3L, not the mileage!

My 5.3L has 163,000 Km and no problems to date as I knew the previous owner and history of vehicle since new. Yes I got a P306 Code when I bought it 4 months ago....took the easiest route to diagnose and replaced wires and plugs which did the trick. Flawless since.

It would be hard to nail down the % of 5.3L engines that experience the reported problems with AFM and is it possible many will not run into any issues related to AFM for the life of vehicle.

Jjstandardz · November 24, 2019

1 hour ago, Ralph Ciardullo said:

My 5.3L has 163,000 Km and no problems to date as I knew the previous owner and history of vehicle since new. Yes I got a P306 Code when I bought it 4 months ago....took the easiest route to diagnose and replaced wires and plugs which did the trick. Flawless since.

It would be hard to nail down the % of 5.3L engines that experience the reported problems with AFM and is it possible many will not run into any issues related to AFM for the life of vehicle.

What are the problems with afm?

Ralph Ciardullo · November 25, 2019

Just do a search on this forum or google it...lots of literature threads on problems with AFM 5.3L.

There are people who have disables it using the "Range" devise which basically illuminates going into V4 and others who have gone full out via "Tuner" which is expensive and includes replacement of internal parts.

Many swear by any of the 2 but I'm on the fence still not needing repairs and just enjoying my 2012.

Nitrousbird · November 25, 2019

6 hours ago, Ralph Ciardullo said:

My 5.3L has 163,000 Km and no problems to date as I knew the previous owner and history of vehicle since new. Yes I got a P306 Code when I bought it 4 months ago....took the easiest route to diagnose and replaced wires and plugs which did the trick. Flawless since.

It would be hard to nail down the % of 5.3L engines that experience the reported problems with AFM and is it possible many will not run into any issues related to AFM for the life of vehicle.

My comment had nothing to do with the reliability of the 5.3L and everything to do with not gong with the 6.2L. FYi, you are comparing your GEN-IV 5.3L in a GMT900 to a GEN-V in a K2 truck. They don't share a lot of parts.