Seized AFM lifter round 3

Mathew Kirsch · July 7, 2022

5 hours ago, 16LT4 said:

And the resulting fuel dilution of the oil is probably at least partially at fault for your repeated lifter/valvetrain issues. Methinks the crux of the issue has been stumbled upon...

Eh, no. This just happened.

Unless the engine is burning the exact same amount of oil as it was "making," and running acceptably for 140,000 miles with a stuck injector.

It really does the shake rattle and roll with a misfiring injector.

Edited July 7, 2022 by Mathew Kirsch

Mathew Kirsch · July 7, 2022

5 hours ago, diyer2 said:

How often did you change the oil and filter?

What oil and filter?

Every 6000 miles, at a GM dealer.

I would assume they use factory oil and filters.

You guys aren't going to be happy until you've made this completely my fault. I didn't design the lifters. There is a well-known history of failed lifters, regardless of how the owner cared for the vehicle. Up until this point there has been ZERO information provided to me by either GM or the dealer as to any special "care and feeding" required to prevent lifter failure, even after the dealer repaired the lifters the first time. They said, "You're doing everything right. This is the way they are. You should be good to go for at least another 100k."

Edited July 7, 2022 by Mathew Kirsch

diyer2 · July 7, 2022

I'm not blaming you, just a question. And my question is based on my experience that oil and filters are cheap insurance. I don't care what they say, I change more frequently.

Yes, there is a lifter problem all the more reason to do more IMO.

Edited July 7, 2022 by diyer2

16LT4 · July 7, 2022

By your own account, the truck is a "rusted out lemon." Personally, I don't see any truck with 140k miles being a lemon.

Again, please post pictures of this "rusted out lemon" that's barely worth $14k. I've never seen a K2 in today's market worth under $20k.

I'm assuming given your location in Spencerport that you utilize the remote-start from November-April, or let the vehicle warm up. I'd recommend ceasing that.

KARNUT · July 8, 2022

52 minutes ago, 16LT4 said:

By your own account, the truck is a "rusted out lemon." Personally, I don't see any truck with 140k miles being a lemon.

Again, please post pictures of this "rusted out lemon" that's barely worth $14k. I've never seen a K2 in today's market worth under $20k.

I'm assuming given your location in Spencerport that you utilize the remote-start from November-April, or let the vehicle warm up. I'd recommend ceasing that.

You haven’t been around long. The 5.7 diesel P/U most didn’t make 100K miles without being converted to gas. In 1995 we bought 3 6.5 GM diesels trucks. The dealer advised us to trade in before the warranty ran out at 100K miles. I had a 94 diesel Ram bought back because the couldn’t keep the transmission lines together. 6 dealer trips for repairs before 20K miles. The 6.0 Ford diesel. And the early Ford turbo 6. All had problems before 100K miles. Pre 2014 Cylinder deactivation GM 5.3 oil burners. The list is long. That’s just trucks.

16LT4 · July 8, 2022

12 hours ago, KARNUT said:

You haven’t been around long. The 5.7 diesel P/U most didn’t make 100K miles without being converted to gas. In 1995 we bought 3 6.5 GM diesels trucks. The dealer advised us to trade in before the warranty ran out at 100K miles. I had a 94 diesel Ram bought back because the couldn’t keep the transmission lines together. 6 dealer trips for repairs before 20K miles. The 6.0 Ford diesel. And the early Ford turbo 6. All had problems before 100K miles. Pre 2014 Cylinder deactivation GM 5.3 oil burners. The list is long. That’s just trucks.

I remember well all those trucks. I've been around long enough to know that none of those trucks are K2s. Also long enough to know that the definition of a "lemon" is a vehicle that is, essentially, unable to be made right after three attempts at fixing the same issue. A vehicle with 140k miles isn't so much a "lemon", as it is simply "used [up]." I may have to replace the wrist pin bearings on my VW... lousy 50 year old junk lemon!

The OP's truck has been called a "rusted out lemon." I'm quite familiar with his neck of the woods, the snowfall, and the salts used to paint the roads from November-April as I lived in the area for nearly a decade. I'm very glad his latest issue turned out to be just an injector, and not something deeper (or more expensive). Salt corrodes electronics the same as the chassis; with corrosion comes voltage drop, and with voltage drop comes inability of the DME to control all essential systems (cylinder shut-down, fuel injection, etc), so oxidation may continue to be operationally problematic.

By 140k, there's enough culpability to be tossed around at everyone who's ever laid hands on the truck, but that isn't the point. The goal, as @diyer2 alluded to above, is to do everything possible to prevent those issues. If one injector has stuck, the others are probably not far behind. If there is already a known issue with at least one injector, I personally would be firing the parts cannon and replacing the HPFP preventively. Fuel dilution is a concern, and the OP surely doesn't want a third failed lifter.

Edited July 8, 2022 by 16LT4

Mathew Kirsch · July 8, 2022

12 hours ago, 16LT4 said:

Again, please post pictures of this "rusted out lemon" that's barely worth $14k.

Patience. It's still at the mechanic's shop 60 miles away from where I am.

The only recent picture I have is of the initial bubbling of paint around the rear fender wells. That was back in the winter. It has gotten much worse. Paint is gone around the wheel well, and the under-rim is rusted completely away. This isn't something you can just DA and hit with a rattle can.

By the way when I bought this truck I signed up for the unlimited car wash program and had the truck washed at least once a week year around since I bought it new in February of 2015.

Oh and by modern standards, this truck should be just getting broken in. It should in no way be "used up."

Edited July 8, 2022 by Mathew Kirsch

KARNUT · July 8, 2022

23 minutes ago, 16LT4 said:

I remember well dn all those trucks. I've been around long enough to know that none of those trucks are K2s. Also long enough to know that the definition of a "lemon" is a vehicle that is, essentially, unable to be made right after three attempts at fixing the same issue. A vehicle with 140k miles isn't so much a "lemon", as it is simply "used [up]." I may have to replace the wrist pin bearings on my VW... lousy 50 year old junk lemon!

The OP's truck has been called a "rusted out lemon." I'm quite familiar with his neck of the woods, the snowfall, and the salts used to paint the roads from November-April as I lived in the area for nearly a decade. I'm very glad his latest issue turned out to be just an injector, and not something deeper (or more expensive). Salt corrodes electronics the same as the chassis; with corrosion comes voltage drop, and with voltage drop comes inability of the DME to control all essential systems (cylinder shut-down, fuel injection, etc), so oxidation may continue to be operationally problematic.

By 140k, there's enough culpability to be tossed around at everyone who's ever laid hands on the truck, but that isn't the point. The goal, as @diyer2 alluded to above, is to do everything possible to prevent those issues. If one injector has stuck, the others are probably not far behind. If there is already a known issue with at least one injector, I personally would be firing the parts cannon and replacing the HPFP preventively. Fuel dilution is a concern, and the OP surely doesn't want a third failed lifter.

I see you point as being used up. I grew up in NJ. In the 60s and 70s most vehicles were on the down hill slide of usefulness at around 60K miles mainly from rust. Your not half used up at 100K and 10 years here in Texas. My newest vehicle is 7 years old. The only reason it gets any mileage on it is visiting my father in law 1200 miles away. The elements do very little damage here. If you follow the recommended maintenance schedule you should be good on longevity. I personally go from 10K to 4K oil changes do to the manufacturers recommendation on my vehicles. So far I’ve stayed away from cylinder deactivation and direct injection. Two of the problems causers for longevity in GM vehicles. Rams too for that matter. I know more people with Rams than Chevys. They seem to have less problems. Probably why they keep bouncing in the number two position. This guy should be frustrated. People on here like to blame the owner. Change your oil more they say. Not really helpful.

16LT4 · July 8, 2022

59 minutes ago, Mathew Kirsch said:

The only recent picture I have is of the initial bubbling of paint around the rear fender wells. That was back in the winter. It has gotten much worse. Paint is gone around the wheel well, and the under-rim is rusted completely away. This isn't something you can just DA and hit with a rattle can.

By the way when I bought this truck I signed up for the unlimited car wash program and had the truck washed at least once a week year around since I bought it new in February of 2015.

Rust comes from the inside, not the outside. The only way to prevent the wheel well rot is to get in there with a hose nozzle aimed back towards one's face and blast out the salt and dirt that sits and traps moisture on the ledge of the inner fender. A car wash doesn't do that, it only cleans the paint. The Western Tier is famous for rotting the bottom 8" off of vehicles, I've seen galvanized steel on VWs rot out there. These trucks also have wheel well liners which further compounds the issue. I had to replace a rear floor pan in my 442 a decade ago, but that was due to a leaking rear window. Its fender wells and frame rails and spotless, as is the entirety of my '84 GMC, because they've receive that treatment with the hose every month since the 1990s. The 442 was my college commuter for several years in Geneseo, so it knows the salt.

It's too late to help your current truck, but that hose treatment can help the next one. Don't forget to hose off the entire under carriage, under the cab corners, and blast out the bumpers. That's why the truck in my sig looks the way it does despite NY winters and OBX summer beach driving at over 100k miles.

newdude · July 8, 2022

1 hour ago, Mathew Kirsch said:

The only recent picture I have is of the initial bubbling of paint around the rear fender wells. That was back in the winter. It has gotten much worse. Paint is gone around the wheel well, and the under-rim is rusted completely away. This isn't something you can just DA and hit with a rattle can.

By the way when I bought this truck I signed up for the unlimited car wash program and had the truck washed at least once a week year around since I bought it new in February of 2015.

These (and prior) trucks rust from the inside out. You can unlimited wash the outside all day long, won't help. The boxes rust out from the area between the inner and outer skins. If that isn't regularly hosed out (pull the tail lights gets you direct access) $hit accumulates big time.

Edited July 8, 2022 by newdude

Mathew Kirsch · July 19, 2022

Just got off the phone with the mechanic. He was wrong. It was not a fuel injector. It was a lifter on #3 again.

This time he's looking to replace the "VLOM" which nobody has mentioned thus far in any of the threads I've posted on this. Apparently the current recommendation from GM is to replace this along with the lifters now. He was not aware of this, and he had done many such repairs when he worked for the GM dealer. Replacing the VLOM was apparently not a thing before 2019.

Apparently it wasn't a thing in 2020 either as the dealer didn't even suggest it the first time it happened.

Unfortunately, no VLOMs to be had right now, so it sits in the shop all tore apart. He says, "Don't worry it's safe and sound in my shop." I said if someone were to steal it right now I wouldn't feel the least bit bad.

If and when he fixes it, and this happens again, I am driving it until the rods are sticking out the side of the block.

Oh yeah, and I'll be da*ned if I'm going to disassemble the truck to hose out in between the body panels once a month. That's a design flaw. Shame on GM.

Edited July 19, 2022 by Mathew Kirsch