Silverado/Sierra Reliability?

R J · October 17, 2020

Hey everyone,

I picked up a 202 Trail Boss 5.3 6-Speed not too long ago. I doing some research on the 5.3l engine and 6 speed transmission before buying the Silverado and read good things about the reliability.

I wanted to see what your experience is with your Silverado or Sierra. What issues have you had?

OnTheReel · October 17, 2020

You shouldn’t have much to worry about, it’s a solid combo. Plus, since you have the Custom trim there’s a lot less gadgets to wrong. No leaky rear window either.

Andyh1 · October 18, 2020

Solid on my Elevation Trim... 5.3 / 8 speed.

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14SLE · October 19, 2020

I had a 2014 GMC SLE Z71 crew cab pickup with the 5.3l (with AFM) and 6-speed. I had no problems with reliability, but there were a few annoyances with the overall drivetrain:

1) It seemed like the AFM became much more aggressive over time, even switching to 4-cylinder mode going up hills, etc. I ended up having to buy a Range Technologies box that I put on an OBD-II extension cable with a power switch to allow me to kill AFM during low speed limit stretches of road, otherwise it would continually switch between lugging (V4) and running smoothly (V8).

2) The 6-speed really didn't like to downshift unless you pretty much had it near the floor, then it would take off for the moon. There is a big hill near our house, and the truck would slow to a crawl going up the hill because it wouldn't downshift. I would keep pushing down on the gas pedal until it would finally shift. If the road were damp in any way, the rear end would break loose every time. My wife always thought I was being an @xx, but I wasn't trying. The transmission also went through a bad clunking phase for a while.

I loved the looks of the '14, but I ended up trading it on a 2020 SLT with 5.3L (DFM) and 10-speed transmission. The difference is night-and-day. The 10-speed shifts smoothly and the DFM is definitely not as noticeable after 11k miles. However, I did put 67k miles on the 2014 with basically no trouble whatsoever other than a few squeaks and rattles. Hopefully, they have improved the drivetrain calibration since 2014, but you should (hopefully) be fine on reliability. Just keep up with the maintenance, especially the oil changes.

anthony2558 · October 21, 2020

Its gonna fall apart in 6 months. You never should have bought it. Why didn't you read the forums before you purchased. Put a for sale sign in it, and take your lose like a man.

evad · October 21, 2020

i think the 5.3 and 6 spd is a great option ... love mine ....no issues with my 15 or 19

R J · October 22, 2020

Thanks for the responses. I took it on a long road trip and it’s an awesome vehicle for long drives. I bought the oil and filter and will be doing the oil change this weekend. Next up is towing our travel trailer with it.

HapaTrailBoss · October 22, 2020

They're solid, we see big issues here and there, but given the fact they sell between GMC and Chevy 700k units a year, you're bound to run into a lemon.

Rozz522 · October 23, 2020

Overall, I've been happy with my 2013 Silverado with that combo, but I did have the engine replaced at 96000 miles this past March. Burnt up 2 valves and broke a rocker on one side, the garage doing the repair found signs of a lubrication problem. With the AFM, the idea is that the entire bank needs to be replaced, and given the fear of lubrication problems and the potential for more damage (the rocker had dropped down) I opted for the extra $1000-1500 cost to install a new crate motor. Looking back, I had a check engine light for a faulty oil pressure sensor about a year prior. The garage I took it to for the code read told me that the sensors fail with a low reading so that as long as I was showing pressure, it was fine to run for the short term. I was showing 30PSI so I ran it for about 2-3 weeks before I could get it in. My thought is that this played a role in the lubrication problem. With this said, I wouldn't hold this against that engine/transmission combo, more based on other factors,

omegafiler · October 23, 2020

Consumer Reports predicts "poor reliability" for the Silverado/Sierra. But if you dig into the recent trouble spots, it's mostly around non-critical items, such as in-car electronics. Otherwise, only time will tell as to it's long-term reliability. Looking at the history, it's no Toyota, but not terrible. Room for improvement, but nothing I'm going to worry about.

diyer2 · October 23, 2020

You can always have a part fail. More frequent fluid changes are the way to go IMO due to the complexity of the design.

econometrics · October 23, 2020

It's the "Most dependable, longest lasting truck on the road"... what's to wonder here?

Kidding aside, the GM 5.3L is one helluva proven engine. They really do run and run and run.

I owned a 2007 5.3L 1500, put 100K miles on it over 10 years (not extravagant), and I don't think I spent even $500 on that truck outside of routine maintenance. It was nearly perfect for a vehicle.

Edited October 23, 2020 by econometrics

KARNUT · October 23, 2020

My brother in law routinely has put at least 300K miles on GM trucks and SUVS. At 61 he obviously hasn’t had many. I listed them before. He’s the reason I felt comfortable buying a used Avalanche. He just bought a SUV with cylinder deactivation. That could be a game changer we’ll see.

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