2016 Tahoe Fuel Lifters

Sparkslord · February 26, 2020

I purchased a 2016 Chevy Tahoe LTZ about 4 months ago. About 2 months ago the fuel lifter went out in the #4 cylinder. The dealership did all the work after getting the parts, which were back-ordered for 3 weeks. Thankfully it is still under warranty. I drove it 3 weeks and the same thing happened again in cylinder #6. I think the AFM system is complete crap. Both problems occurred when I gave it some gas to merge into traffic. I asked the dealership if there could be a problem with the head, but they said they'll look at it. I love the vehicle but am extremely concerned about ongoing problems.

Sparkslord · February 27, 2020

I am considering trading the Tahoe in for a Yukon Denali XL. Is the AFM with the 6.2L any better? Any thoughts from you guys?

Prospect62 · February 28, 2020

Was it a bad lifter or a bad fuel injector? Either way, you aren't the first person who AFM has discouraged. You can buy one of these to plug into the OBD2 port and it will disable the AFM. Many, MANY people (myself included) have purchased one and are reporting great results.

https://www.rangetechnology.com/products/afm_disabler/

What those do is electronically disable the AFM from activating, ever. Which keeps the AFM lifters from doing what they do, which prevents them from failing, generally. It's one way to skin the cat of AFM disabling and has worked for many people.

If it was a bad injector, well, it happens. Known issue, especially as these trucks begin to age. I just had two replaced. Nothing to do with AFM, they just go bad. Fortunately, replacement isn't too bad of a chore and if you have more fail, you shouldn't be on the hook for much money.

The 6.2 isn't any better than the 5.3, they all have the same issues and the 6.2 comes with the 8-speed transmission which is generally regarded as more problematic than the 6-speed that you currently have.

Sparkslord · February 29, 2020

Will the Disabler void the warranty? I still have 8K miles left. It was the fuel lifters. They even replaced a rod on the first failure. I have seen examples of GM giving an extended warranty because of this issue. Is there a way of requesting this? I asked at the dealorship and they just said NO. I would rather not pay the $4000 for the extended warranty..

Bob2C · March 1, 2020

Just unplug the unit if you need to take it in. There is no way for them to know you had one plugged in.

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Prospect62 · March 3, 2020

On 2/29/2020 at 2:51 PM, Sparkslord said:

Will the Disabler void the warranty? I still have 8K miles left. It was the fuel lifters. They even replaced a rod on the first failure. I have seen examples of GM giving an extended warranty because of this issue. Is there a way of requesting this? I asked at the dealorship and they just said NO. I would rather not pay the $4000 for the extended warranty..

I bought my truck already out of warranty so I can't speak to that, but most people just unplug the disabler if the truck has to go into the dealer. It leaves no trace.

As far as I know there is no "special coverage" (aka warranty extension) to cover bad AFM lifters. If there was I'd imagine GM would be losing money hand over fist.

Get the disabler, keep the oil changed every 5000 miles and hope for the best - that's what I'm doing.