Bad lifter production dates

[dgstarr63]

My 2021 5.3 DFM Silverado was assembled on September 30, 2020 in Mexico. I would assume that it has the defective lifters. I have 6500 miles with no failure yet. My question is, was there more than one lifter supplier? Do all trucks built in the September - March time frame have bad lifters, or do just some from a particular supplier? I have a Range for it, but I am waiting to see if it fails before 8000 miles so I can have all lifters replaced if it fails.  Does anyone know if the Range actually does any good to prevent lifter failure? My city mileage is terrible even with the DFM and no better than my 2003 with a 5.3. The highway mileage is better though and is actually quite good. Any help on this issue would be appreciated.

[voided3]

Our '21 Silverado with the DFM 5.3 and 8-speed was built in November 2020 and we started getting check engine lights due to lifter failure at 585 miles. Ours was finally repaired on the fourth dealer visit for the issue (51 days at the dealer in total) back in April 2021 when they replaced the lifters on cylinders #6 and #8. This was prior to the updated TSB guidance you are referencing, so they only did the two cylinders. I'll let someone else weigh in on the supplier as I don't have info on that.

 

The truck is now at roughly 11,000 miles and the issue has not come back yet (operative word "yet"...), but I also drive it in L7 instead of D on the gear selector as that disables DFM. Even in 7th gear, I still get about 20-21 MPG on the highway with the engine turning about 1900 RPM at 65 MPH, so I'd say DFM will give you an extra 1 MPG, roughly. I also run the truck on 89 octane or higher and run the tires at 38 PSI (instead of 35), FYI, as half the time we are driving it we're towing a small travel trailer.

 

The driving experience is so much better in L7 at all speeds in my opinion, but it's annoying having to toggle up to it every time, plus turning off auto start/stop every time. With that said, I still can't justify the $200 Range DFM disabler as I get the same effect doing the above, but the only compromise is I lose 8th gear. If you live somewhere the highway speed limit is 70/75 MPH, it might be more worth it get get 8th gear back, but around here they are all 55/65 MPH.

 

My advice would be to drive it normally in D for now and keep an eye on your dash for the flashing check engine light, as nerve wracking as that is. It's a well documented issue now if it happens to you, so they shouldn't initially shrug it off like they did to us. The average failure mode on the lifters seems to either be early on (like us), or they fail from normal wear and tear between 60k-80k miles, right when the powertrain warranty runs out. Since the lifter replacement is a $5,000+ job out of warranty, I plan on getting rid of the truck prior to 5 years/60,000 miles and honestly would recommend the same, unless you have a good relationship with a knowledgable independent mechanic who can install a DFM-delete kit for you with a new cam, lifters, ECU tune, etc. once you are out of warranty. Our state does annual vehicle inspections via OBDII scans, though, so my guess is any aftermarket ECU modifications will cause it to fail inspection on the emissions portion, so I'm ruling out this option in our case, unfortunately.

[KARNUT]

Sadly for people who have drive new trucks the choices are turbo or cylinder deactivation engines. With the exception of Nissan as of yet. So unfortunately extended warranty and dumping before that ends probably will be the rule. Another increase expense for non existing fuel savings. 

[MikeMSierra]

Posted this elsewhere on the site:

How many engines are being affected by this, is it "not if be when" scenario? I was planning on towing my car (Tail of the Dragon) 1,000mi but don't feel confident with the truck. (2020 Sierra 1500 5.3 DFM, 10sp tranny, build date 9-20-2020

Roanoke IN).

I don't want to be stuck that far away and have to pay U-Haul $1,200 to come pick up their trailer then drive the car home. 

FYI: Asked GM about the lifter issues and they kept saying "there's no recall on your truck". 

[Jrodpic]

We had a 2020 5.3 10 speed Trail Boss that just got totaled. I don’t have the exact build date but we took delivery in October of 2020 (Right around Halloween). Pretty sure it was built between July-September of 2020. We put 12,000 miles on it before it got destroyed by some moron. Never had any issues. We loved that truck