Any after stories with failed lifters?

[KARNUT]

1 hour ago, Navy Vet said:

I have a 2019 Silverado L84 5.3 with a failed lifter on #5 cylinder.  This happened with 60,123 miles on the truck - yep, 123 miles out of GM's warranty.  So far, GM has done nothing to remedy this, despite the widespread lifter issue with these engines.  They did offer to pay for the towing. . . . then changed it to the first 25 miles. . . . . then no record of any such authorization.  I have been a lifetime GM owner and have also built and raced GM products.  Stunning!  Needless to say, I will never own another one.  Their gross mishandling of a serious design and product flaw is utterly despicable.  

I feel you. We had 3 5.7 Oldsmobiles. We didn’t make 30K miles on all three. Lucky we are able to work on our own stuff. Eventually we after additional problems with GM diesels we moved to other products. I went back to GM gas 1/2 tons in 01,04,06, then 14. I discovered the cylinder deactivation experiment. I got rid of it before the warranty expired. I’ll stay pre 06. Good luck.

Edited May 30, 2023 by KARNUT

[Bradley E]

Just found this after replying to another thread.

Just reading up. Waiting on a motor swap on my 19 AT4. Bank 2 failed and ended up taking out others on the test drive after the repair. Engineer said to replace the motor. They mentioned to the tech advisor that these engines have poor oiling which doesn’t help the lifter failure problem. 

 

I’ve had shuddering and bucking for a while. they thought it was a trans problem and began this journey with fluid  flush and filter. Didn’t help. So in went a new torque converter. I ran it a while until the problems surfaced quickly and I called for another appointment. 5 minutes later…. boom! clack clack clack. lol

[Fowler]

Hey so Iam in canada and I have 2019 at4 5.3 Iam at 107000 km I was driving with my family otw for holidays when about 400km away from home I went to pass someone going up a small hill I kinda lost power and got a esc light stability light electronic park break light ect and I got this loud ticking noise when the engine was under load but when I used it in manual and picked the gear and not force it the ticking/tppingnoise kinda disappeared unless i forced it so i Went to a garage they done some test I was deff I was miss firing on cyl 4 so they said could be a coil switched 2 around but said it wasn't that mbut maybe the plugs so they changed all them but same issuse said that was best they could do.  So we left for the closest dealer 350 km away and dropped it there so idk maybe it's not the lifters maybe a injector or maybe something else idk.  Also don't know if my extended warrenty is going to cover it I got the cheapest one so idk what that even brings me too ill have to call and check but hopefully not the lifters

[SilverMak]

On 5/8/2023 at 9:01 PM, Clewallen11 said:

I have a 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 5.3, just had lifter failure that damaged the cam also, total repair out the door was $8100. This was at 77,000 miles, I didn’t realize this was even an issue until it happened.

 

Does anyone know if they repair the engine with the same original OEM spec lifter from 2020 that failed or has the lifters been updated since then to be more reliable? I love my truck but if I have to worry about lifter failure moving forward, going to have to bail.

The dealership that fixed mine assured me that the replacement lifters were different from the original but understand that there are two different problems. Mine and a number of others had lifter failure with very low miles. Many below 10,000 miles. Mine was under 5,000 miles. These trucks predominantly had a build date in a small time period during 2020, maybe a little after. GM blames this on covid supply chain issues . Other’s have had lifters fail at 40,000 miles and up. It’s a different issue and apparently due to the fuel management system it’s an issue that will be ongoing. I’ve gone a year and a half with no issues on 16 replacement lifters but I’m very low miles. I drive in L7 most of the time to disable fuel management and auto stop and I’ll definitely buy the extended warranty when the original one is running out. I have friends driving Chevy trucks with the same engine that haven’t had problems over 100k plus miles. 

[The Raven]

Folks, there is no way out of this - it's a fact of life we must live with now.  Doesn't matter if you got a truck outside of the "bad batch" of lifters (you'll just have the failure out of warranty instead of in), doesn't matter if you got a truck with DFM disabled (cause the stupid lifters are still in there), doesn't matter if you've already had the failure and they put in new lifters (there is no fix because it's not a problem with the construction or design, it's a simple function of "more complication equals more failure points").  You can't run from it either - FCA uses the exact same lifters in the Hemis so they have the exact same problems, and there you have the additional misery of dealing with an absolute dumpster fire of an automaker...and Ford and Toyota are now V6 turbo only which means even more issues to deal with.  

 

Your choices are: either keep a drivetrain warranty for the entire duration of your ownership, or buy a pre-2007 truck and go retro-mod on it.  I'm going the warranty route - I figure that since it's the automakers that saddled us with this burden, we might as well keep it their problem and not ours.

[SMDBIOS]

Had my lifters replaced at 15k miles. Currently at 28k with no issues. 2021 Sierra 5.3.

[Mshawn]

On 1/24/2022 at 8:31 AM, voided3 said:

Yeah, when our lifters went bad on our '21 the check engine light would flash intermittently, typically on light throttle input, and it was a P0300 misfire code. We didn't have bent pushrods, but they replaced the lifters only on cylinders #6 and #8 (this was prior to current TSB guidance of replacing them all or at least one whole side).

 

Your sentiments echo mine precisely. I refuse to own the truck out of warranty knowing that when (not if) they fail again, it'll be $5,000+ if it's past the warranty period (I've seen people say ~$7,000 if it also takes out the camshaft and ~$11,000  if they let the magic glitter loose and a whole new engine is needed). The problem is, I don't know if the grass will be any greener on the other side with a different brand. All of the current 1/2 ton trucks seem to be built like disposable cameras held together with clips, tape, and zip ties that start to self-destruct after only a few years. I really don't want to have to step up to a 3/4 ton truck, but that seems to be the choice if you want something that can last longer than five years on its original drivetrain components.

 

I have a feeling once the T1 generation trucks start hitting 5+ years old, the market for DFM delete kits is going to grow a lot. It might even be cheaper or cost the same to have an independent shop do the non-DFM lifter/cam swap and tune, compared to having the dealer replace the lifters with the same parts.

Yes DFM kits are growing and that’s good, at least it is from me. I have no problem going into this engine an doing the DFM delete. Most people do not that ability. I think the point you mentioned is spot on. All 1/2 ton trucks have issues. So I  pick the one I know the most about. I have a 100,000 mile warranty on this drivetrain. Once that is out I will remove the DFM. Most companies will have the program to calibrate this ecm after the swap. Which I can do. So it’s the best of all the evils that are available in 1/2 ton trucks 

[Mshawn]

I’m getting 26.4 mpg on the interstate to work every morning I’m 46 miles away from home . what other half ton  v8 can do that? I’m not to worried about the DFM. That may be a crazy statement but I know I can delete it when I’m ready. Ive ordered everything except the cam. They are sitting on the self. Im waiting on it because by the time 100,000 mile are on the clock I may have the money for a supercharger, in which case that would be different cam specs. I hope this helps someone. God bless 

[Mshawn]

On 4/5/2022 at 8:44 AM, SigPig94 said:

Picked up my truck yesterday afternoon…..second bank of lifters was replaced.  So far everything sounds good….I guess now I just keep my fingers crossed every time I get in and start driving.

One curious thing though…..I posted a couple weeks ago in a different thread about the knocking/metallic rapping noises that I was hearing when I first started up my truck in the morning (chilly mornings)…..I didn’t hear those noises this morning.  Many theories I read online mentioned carbon deposits as the possible explanation.  Were these knocking noises a warning of what was to come (lifters failing)?  I do believe they’re separate issues, but if I knew anything I guess I wouldn’t be on a Forum such as this.  So, fingers crossed….until I have to type here again.  (Yeah, I know, very pessimistic).  
Thx again to everyone.

One of the lifter is leaking down when it sits. Pumps back up on start up. This is just my guess

[Mshawn]

On 7/26/2023 at 10:27 PM, Fowler said:

Hey so Iam in canada and I have 2019 at4 5.3 Iam at 107000 km I was driving with my family otw for holidays when about 400km away from home I went to pass someone going up a small hill I kinda lost power and got a esc light stability light electronic park break light ect and I got this loud ticking noise when the engine was under load but when I used it in manual and picked the gear and not force it the ticking/tppingnoise kinda disappeared unless i forced it so i Went to a garage they done some test I was deff I was miss firing on cyl 4 so they said could be a coil switched 2 around but said it wasn't that mbut maybe the plugs so they changed all them but same issuse said that was best they could do.  So we left for the closest dealer 350 km away and dropped it there so idk maybe it's not the lifters maybe an injector or maybe something else idk.  Also don't know if my extended warrenty is going to cover it I got the cheapest one so idk what that even brings me too ill have to call and check but hopefully not the lifters

Hope this gos well for you, brotha

[Chris R.]

My 2024 Silverado Trail Boss has a bad lifter and I have under 5500 miles on it smdh. Thank goodness it's a lease. It's March 19th and it should take under a week for repair I guess. 5.3l

 

[newdude]

On 9/5/2023 at 3:06 PM, The Raven said:

You can't run from it either - FCA uses the exact same lifters in the Hemis so they have the exact same problems, and there you have the additional misery of dealing with an absolute dumpster fire of an automaker...and Ford and Toyota are now V6 turbo only which means even more issues to deal with.  

 

 

The Hemi lifter is quite a bit different of a design but yes, it is still cylinder deactivation if that's the point you are trying to make.  

 

GM LS/LT AFM/DFM lifter: 

 

 

HEMI Lifter:  All deactivation components are internal to the lifter.

 

[Jarmaine Silvan]

Yes I have the same problem a failed lifter my warranty want cover it because gm stated that they knew this was a problem and gm ,chevy,or banner Chevrolet will not pay to fix my problem now I'm stuck with a 37000truck with a ruined motor!