2009 5.3 afm bad lifter

Bandit22re · August 24, 2020

Hi everyone, I just bought a 2009 silverado lt crew cab 4wd. 5.3 liter. Its got 160k miles on it. I purchased it from a good friend who owned it for 4 years. He sold it cheap because the lifter was collapsed. This is the flex fuel AFM engine. I've been doing alot of research. This particular motor is a LC9. And heads are marked 243. The engine was using alot of oil he said. But I never saw blue smoke out the tailpipe. My plan is to do the afm delete. And just get it running again, but try to keep the cost down as well.

I'm to point now where I'm ready to remove the cylinder head. I plan on ordering the non afm lifters, the non afm camshaft. And a vlom block off plate. New head bolts. Head gaskets. I'll have to get the computer reprogrammed too.

Where can I find part compatibility page? Another guy on youtube said ls7 lifters are the same and lowest priced. And an lm7 cam from a early 5.3 would work. do the lifter trays go bad? Any tips or tricks would be appreciated.

Chris1978 · August 24, 2020

By no means am i an engine guy! we are in the same boat with a 2009 AFM 5.3. We bough it with what we though was a collapsed lifter turned out it was spun and needed a new cam. long story short we are looking for a new engine now. buy the lifter guides they are only like $10 bucks a piece and even the ones that didnt spin had quite a bit of play compared to the new ones.

CamGTP · August 24, 2020

The LM7 camshaft is a 3 bolt cam and you would need the 4x 3 bolt cam gear. They sell them.

Or you can buy a 5.3 camshaft from a 5.3 Express van or Savanna van, they are the same single bolt camshaft but they didn't come with AFM. I believe they called that the LMF engine.

The 5.3 Hummer and 5.3 Colorado didn't use AFM either in the first two model years.

So get the lifters, new pushrods, head gaskets, VLOM plate from a 4.8 and the other minor things you need.

Bandit22re · August 25, 2020

Ok I ordered this cam. I noticed it has a groove in one of the bearing rides. That's in the picture of it. Another one I saw was solid. I dont think it matters. It did say it fit 5.3 express/Savannah. So I guess 4.8 ,5.3 it's all the same cam

CamGTP · August 25, 2020

Probably would have been smarter to get a GM part number for the single bolt camshaft and went from there. It's likely they used the same camshaft for 4.8/5.3 that had no AFM or VVT.

Through GM parts direct the cam is only $86 for a single bolt 5.3 camshaft for a express van.

https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/oem-parts/gm-engine-camshaft-12689035/?c=Zz1lbmdpbmUmcz1lbmdpbmUmaT1UMjQ4MDQwNCZyPSZhPWNoZXZyb2xldCZvPWV4cHJlc3MtMTUwMCZ5PTIwMTImdD1scyZlPTUtM2wtdjgtZmxleA%3D%3D

Bandit22re · September 5, 2020

I've been slacking on the engine fix, but I pulled the head and the lifter was collapsed and the cam look ok from the top thru the lifter hole.

The valley plate arrived in the mail and the casting on the alumnium looked horrible. There were surface cracks all over. It's hard to tell how deep they go. I dont think this is a structural piece. It's only to block the oil I think.( I've heard of others plugging it with a bolt.) All the parts should be here by next week. And it should be together in 2 weeks. Hope it works.

Does any one have a recommendation on reprogramming the ecu. To bad I can't just hook up a USB cable and reflash it. Sounds so easy. If I had the software

CamGTP · September 5, 2020

Casting marks on those aluminum pieces is normal, it's not a billet piece so they always look like that.

All I can offer is that I'm on the west side of Minneapolis, so if you were anywhere near Hudson it wouldn't be a long drive if it was possible to bring the truck closer to me. I have tuning software but no bench harness so I'd need the truck in person.

dsr611 · September 5, 2020

4 hours ago, Bandit22re said:

Does any one have a recommendation on reprogramming the ecu. To bad I can't just hook up a USB cable and reflash it. Sounds so easy. If I had the software

https://www.lt1swap.com/afm_delete.htm

Brendan at LT1Swap did mine. I think from the time I dropped it off at the post office until I got it back was 4 days. I emailed him some questions, even before I sent mine to him, and he answered every question I had

Edited September 5, 2020 by dsr611

GhostWriter · September 8, 2020

CamGTP pointed you to the perfect cam for your swap (12689035.)

Also, buy the genuine GM lifter trays (12595365.) Probably wouldn't trust anything aftermarket, here.

One more thing.......while it's apart, would lose the timing chain tensioner, and go with the the older-style dampener (12588670.) The tensioner will probably come apart, eventually.

Bandit22re · September 8, 2020

I ordered the lifters and trays. It was 80 bucks. Online.

When I removed the head bolts they were hard to get out. Is that the lock tite? Because once I break torque or crack them loose, it doesnt really get easy till the last few turns.

I usually run a bolt down the block till I can thread it by hand (to get rid or the crud) on other engines I've worked on. I dont want to chase the threads with tap, it is an aluminum block. Should I fill the holes with mineral spirits and try to clean them out? I dont like this degree torque thing. But it sounds fool proof. And I've heard other people reusing the gaskets and bolts. But I have new ones. So hopefully all goes well.

Bandit22re · September 8, 2020

Hope this plastic wont melt

CamGTP · September 8, 2020

Take a old head bolt and thread a nut all the way down it. Then take a die grinder or your regular cut off wheel and cut a slot in the bolt. Spin the nut off to clean the threads and use that to clean out each head bolt hole. It works pretty good.

swathdiver · September 11, 2020

Hans, I hope you ordered GM OE or their supplier parts and not cheap Chicom stuff or you'll be doing it again soon, especially the lifters. Replacing the lifter trays is SOP anytime you pull the head and replace a lifter.

The LM7 camshaft is smaller and a dual pattern grind compared to the one that came in your truck.

LM7   12560967   191   190   0.457   0.466   114 - No AFM - No VVT
LC9   12593207   193   193   0.482   0.482   116 - AFM - No VVT
L33   12583623   193   193   0.482   0.482   116 - No AFM - No VVT

Don't forget to replace the driver's side valve cover with the new design (12642655) to eliminate oil consumption and if she's been burning or spitting oil out the exhaust for any appreciable length of time, get ready for new catalytic converters. Only a desperate man or a complete fool would re-use head gaskets and torque to yield head bolts.

GhostWriter · September 11, 2020

5 hours ago, swathdiver said:

The LM7 camshaft is smaller and a dual pattern grind compared to the one that came in your truck.

L33 12583623 193 193 0.482 0.482 116 - No AFM - No VVT

Thanks for pointing this out. Assuming the L33 would be the best choice if I wanted my LC9 to remain as close to stock as possible after the DOD delete. Another idea would be to upgrade to the Brian Tooley torque cam.

swathdiver · September 11, 2020

4 hours ago, GhostWriter said:

Thanks for pointing this out. Assuming the L33 would be the best choice if I wanted my LC9 to remain as close to stock as possible after the DOD delete. Another idea would be to upgrade to the Brian Tooley torque cam.

That's why I mentioned it, the L33 was a Gen III camshaft, same grind without AFM as the 2007-2009 LC9 camshaft. Yep, that new BTR cam, along with Crane and Cam Motion all make slightly larger cams but cost about $300 more.