Jump to content

2015 Silverado 5.3 repeat lifter failure. Please help

Tj Rae

By Tj Rae
in Troubleshooting & Recalls

 Share

Recommended Posts

Tj Rae New Member

Tj Rae

Posted
Posted

97k miles on a truck that has had perfect upkeep since bringing it off the lot, I found a stuck lifter about a week ago on #6 intake. No surprise that I happened, I was bummed but not shocked. I did the entire job myself as per GMs tsb, with all dealership oem parts, new guides and all new lifters across the bank. Cam looked perfect, bore looked untouched only real damage was tiny bit on the end of the pushrod smacking the rocker. Reassembled the motor and put maybe a .5 hour on the motor before I now a have a repeat failure in the same bore, I'm now halfway through the job again and I don't want to do this a third time. Any idea what could be causing it? 

Mikeiser New Member

Mikeiser

Posted
Posted

Same boat here. Halfway through my second time replacing exhaust lifter cylinder 8. Except my lifter both times were damaged. Cam was OK weird enough. Doesn't seem to be oil starved. My suspicion is the lifter bore is not perfect anymore, causing the lifter to hang and get obliterated by the cam lobe.

I read somewhere an engine shop can insert brass repair sleeves but I'm not ready to remove the motor yet.

Or maybe the cam lobe is worn just enough into an aggressive enough ramp profile to hurt the lifter. I noticed my second failure began after I passed a slow driver on a two lane road(aggressive acceleration).

It's all speculation for me since I don't have the tools to measure the lifter bore and haven't found anyone else besides you experiencing this.

Mikeiser New Member

Mikeiser

Posted
Posted

I don't think that's a recommended practice anymore. I know Comp Cams and I think Crane Cams put out literature stating priming lifters could potentially over preload them, if that makes sense. 

What I ended up doing was removing the 2 fuses for the injectors and turned the engine over for 5 seconds at a time, a couple of times, to prime the oil system.

 

Anyways, I ended up honing the lifter bore gently, cleaned it up with a rag dabbed in 10w30 and repeated 3 times till the bore was polished nicely. I test fitted the new lifter from AC Delco and it slipped in with a hair of resistance like the other non-dod lifters. 

 

30 miles on it and no luck. I can hear ticking above 2k rpm still. I probably need to replace the cam at this point. Or buy a long block when I save the funds.

 

A little history:

AFM lifters replaced under PO(I don't have the printout of that, it'd be nice to see if it has any related info).

88k miles, bent pushrod, lifter replaced on cylinder 8 exhaust at dealership. 

150k miles, lifter destroyed, pushrod replaced on cylinder 8 exhaust.

164k miles, lifter destroyed, pushrod replaced on cylinder 8 exhaust. 

T-Town-Z Enthusiast

T-Town-Z

Posted
Posted

I'm at 138K and on the 2nd failure of the #7 AFM lifter.  First time was at 55K, about 4 years ago, when GM paid for it.  This time is on my dime.   Not having the dealership do it this time, it's at a shop with plans to do a full DOD delete cam and lifter job as long as there is no other damage found. 

It really is aggravating buying a vehicle new, doing all the right maintenance and still having these kind of breakdowns ! 

diyer2 Senior Enthusiast

diyer2

Posted
Posted

1 question.

How often did you change the oil?

Mikeiser New Member

Mikeiser

Posted
Posted

I always went off the DIC. When I bought the truck I replaced everything but the brake and radiator fluid with Amsoil religiously. 

I have my suspicions the PO drove the truck like he stole it. Had the transmission replaced at 126k miles when the pump went to pieces inside of it.

T-Town-Z Enthusiast

T-Town-Z

Posted
Posted
On 7/8/2021 at 9:27 PM, Mikeiser said:

Same boat here. Halfway through my second time replacing exhaust lifter cylinder 8. Except my lifter both times were damaged. Cam was OK weird enough. Doesn't seem to be oil starved. My suspicion is the lifter bore is not perfect anymore, causing the lifter to hang and get obliterated by the cam lobe.

I read somewhere an engine shop can insert brass repair sleeves but I'm not ready to remove the motor yet.

Or maybe the cam lobe is worn just enough into an aggressive enough ramp profile to hurt the lifter. I noticed my second failure began after I passed a slow driver on a two lane road(aggressive acceleration).

It's all speculation for me since I don't have the tools to measure the lifter bore and haven't found anyone else besides you experiencing this.

My first indication that something was not right, was about 4 times before it completely failed, when I went to heavily accelerate and pass someone on the highway, when it downshifted it did like a double backfire, stumbled, then regained itself and went.  The last time when it finally failed it did the double backfire sound, then I heard a bang, the engine started vibrating and lost power and the check engine light as well as traction control light came on.  Additionally the engine made a rapping/tapping sound the rest of the way to work.

The guy working on it said the AFM lifter failed internally but my cam looked okay visually.  Going with the full DOD delete cam and lifter swap now.  Hopefully it never becomes an issue again !

  • 2 weeks later...
Mikeiser New Member

Mikeiser

Posted
Posted

Yeah my buddy had that same rumble under the same circumstances when the engine goes from v4 to v8 too quick. I got off the phone with Christian Brothers Auto to have a Jasper engine installed. They apparently had to talk to GM engineers sometimes and learned that their own engineers drive other brands because the 2015-2019 engines are quite the headache.

Anyways, it'll run 9k to replace the motor.

T-Town-Z Enthusiast

T-Town-Z

Posted
Posted

$9K really sucks to spend on something this "new".   I just got my truck back and cost $3500 for a full DOD delete cam, lifters, labor, plus a street tune afterward. 

It really aggravates me that GM keeps building this garbage !

dgstarr63 Enthusiast

dgstarr63

Posted
Posted

My 1962 Impala SS with 327 V8 has 103000 miles and 59 years old. It has never had an engine failure of any kind.  Why can't GM build cars like that anymore?

  • Like 1
Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, dgstarr63 said:

My 1962 Impala SS with 327 V8 has 103000 miles and 59 years old. It has never had an engine failure of any kind.  Why can't GM build cars like that anymore?

 

My 2015 Chevy 262 just turned 146,000 tonight running better now than it did new. They do build them like that. 

 

BTW, did you have this in storage for alike 40 years or something? :crackup:327 is a GREAT motor. 😉 

 

For the rest of you, remember before ya all start whining this isn't a 5.3 that they use the exact same valve gear and VLOM solenoids, oil pumps etc. Same motor platforms. Even the same ECU. 

  • Like 1
T-Town-Z Enthusiast

T-Town-Z

Posted
Posted

Hey Grumpy,  I guess you're one of the the lucky ones that hasn't had any major problems come up. 

I've previously purchased new trucks in 96, 01, 03 & 05.   They all needed a few repairs, but not any high dollar expenses like my 2014 has had.

Even with all the proper maintenance, my #7 AFM lifter went out at 55K, but fortunately the dealer covered it under power-train warranty, but would have been over $2500 if I had to pay it.  This spring, the A/C condenser failed.  That was $1100 out of pocket.  A month ago the #7 AFM lifter failed again, even though the AFM has been turned off the past 40K miles.  It cost me $3500 out of pocket for a DOD delete cam & lifter job.  

Yes, these new trucks are high tech, fuel efficient, and powerful.   What I don't understand is, if GM see's repeated reliability issues, why keep building it the same way with the same parts ?   They should't wait till the next major redesign in 10 years to fix it.  Not everyone's AFM parts are failing, but there are enough owners with bad ones that you would think it should get their attention.   It's not a good way to maintain brand loyalty !

  • Like 2
Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted
On 7/15/2021 at 6:57 PM, T-Town-Z said:

My first indication that something was not right, was about 4 times before it completely failed, when I went to heavily accelerate and pass someone on the highway, when it downshifted it did like a double backfire, stumbled, then regained itself and went.  The last time when it finally failed it did the double backfire sound, then I heard a bang, the engine started vibrating and lost power and the check engine light as well as traction control light came on.  Additionally the engine made a rapping/tapping sound the rest of the way to work.

The guy working on it said the AFM lifter failed internally but my cam looked okay visually.  Going with the full DOD delete cam and lifter swap now.  Hopefully it never becomes an issue again !

 

Just a guess. Oil aeration. 

  • Like 1
KARNUT Senior Enthusiast

KARNUT

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, T-Town-Z said:

Hey Grumpy,  I guess you're one of the the lucky ones that hasn't had any major problems come up. 

I've previously purchased new trucks in 96, 01, 03 & 05.   They all needed a few repairs, but not any high dollar expenses like my 2014 has had.

Even with all the proper maintenance, my #7 AFM lifter went out at 55K, but fortunately the dealer covered it under power-train warranty, but would have been over $2500 if I had to pay it.  This spring, the A/C condenser failed.  That was $1100 out of pocket.  A month ago the #7 AFM lifter failed again, even though the AFM has been turned off the past 40K miles.  It cost me $3500 out of pocket for a DOD delete cam & lifter job.  

Yes, these new trucks are high tech, fuel efficient, and powerful.   What I don't understand is, if GM see's repeated reliability issues, why keep building it the same way with the same parts ?   They should't wait till the next major redesign in 10 years to fix it.  Not everyone's AFM parts are failing, but there are enough owners with bad ones that you would think it should get their attention.   It's not a good way to maintain brand loyalty !

They did change the cylinder deactivation after 2014. And added it to the 6.2. Some of those failed before they left the lot. I haven’t had a problem with my new vehicles but one. It was covered under warranty. This is all for a couple miles per gallon in a controlled environment. 

  • Like 1

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • asilverblazer
      2015 Sierra Denali L86 cyl 5 misfire at idle

      By asilverblazer · Posted

      Compression test? Weird noises? Fuel trims?
    • asilverblazer
      Wow I'm in a pickle. (Broke down truck) and a story.

      By asilverblazer · Posted

      I suspect at some point in the near future, the hardware will be free and you pay a subscription to access the vehicle - alldata style.
    • parthery
      BAK MX4 EZ-Lift Install and Review

      By parthery · Posted

      I've been eyeing an upgrade to my tonneau cover for a bit now.  Intrigued by the BAK MX4 EZ-Lift with the torsion spring and went for the upgrade.  Thoughts and musings during unpacking, install and a few days of usage.   Once my order went into Realtruck, it took about 4 days to ship.  Unfortunately, FedEx Ground destroyed the box and contents and it was unusable upon receipt.  To Realtruck's credit, one email with pictures and an RMA was sent to me to send the first one back, and another unit was shipped out.  It arrived 3 days later, unscathed.   I opened the box and it looked like every other BAK MX4.   Biggest differences are the rails and retaining clamps, and of course the spring attached to the cover itself.     NOTE - if you are upgrading from a MX4 to the EZ-Lift, you will have to replace the rails.  The EZ-Lift rails have a notch cut in them to allow the new style retaining clamps to fit properly.  The new retaining clamps also have 2 knobs/carriage bolts and there are two tracks underneath the front panel. The strap clips are mildly different (more like the Undercover Flex clamps) in that the screws go in from the underside.  Personally I prefer these over the BAK clamps that use the nutserts that are a nuisance to install.  The remainder of the parts in the box (drain tubes, rail clamps, and bumper pads) are standard issue BAK.     I did not replace my front bed seal at the time because it seemed to be in decent shape.   BAK recommends shims on the GM trucks unless you place the clamps on the flanges about 1/3 of the way in from both the front and rear of the bed.  I shimmed the front and the middle, and initially placed the clamps equidistant.  This also turned out to be a mistake, because when I set the cover in place, the new style retaining clamps wouldn't clear the front clamp.   New style clamp inserted in the track:     And the issue which occurred because the front rail clamp was too far forward:     Once I removed the shim from the front of the bed, and slid the clamp back to the front flange, everything cleared fine.     The cover set on the rails without issue and I installed the strap clamps.  After I completed my adjustments, I pulled the pin to activate the torsion spring.  Mistake #3 on my part.  PULL THE PIN AS THE VERY VERY VERY LAST STEP!  The reason is, once you pull the pin, the torsion spring is activated.  If you have to loosen the front clamps and adjust the cover, the front panel will - by virtue of the spring, refuse to lay down.  The only way to get it to lay down so you can reinstall and tighten the clamps is to fully open the panel against the back of the cab, which will then allow the front panel of the cover to lay down and be tightened.  Not a big deal unless you haven't installed the foam pads yet (typically the last step) because minus the foam pads, you will need to place something between the frame of the cover and the back window so it doesn't get scratched.  The next time I install one I will install the foam pads before I pull the pin and activate the spring.   After using it for a few days:   The spring assist is great.  You literally can open it with one hand.  My shoulders aren't getting any younger and this was part of my motivation to swap out. The second panel latches and unlatches itself as you open and close the cover.  Neat in concept, however it took me a minute to get used to closing the cover and not hearing the "latching" sound that would tell me it was locked in place. The paddle handles are a huge upgrade and I wouldn't be surprised to see them become the standard across the Realtruck line.  They effectively eliminate the concern that a thief could coat hanger the cover open and get to the contents in the bed. I'm not sure why the very front panel on my cover has a different finish from the other 3 panels.  I have a request into Realtruck to find out if mine was not manufactured properly or if it was by design.   All in all I'm pleased.  Same level of protection, looks good, keeps stuff mostly dry (they all leak around the tailgate) and easy to install.
    • KARNUT
      PF63 Oil Filters Going Away?

      By KARNUT · Posted

      Thanks not an answer 
    • Tyler Gibbs
      PF63 Oil Filters Going Away?

      By Tyler Gibbs · Posted

      /facepalm

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...