2014 Silverado lifter issues

Question

I have a 2014 Silverado with the 5.3L V8 that I bought brand new 8 years ago. The tow capacity is 9700#. My travel trailer dry weight is 7500# and fully loaded for a trip, I’m guessing I’m between 9000-9500#. I have 120K miles on the truck of which 24K was pulling the travel trailer over mostly flat terrain. Although I’ll never win any drag races towing this camper, I’ve never felt like my truck has been overloaded while towing. I’m very comfortable towing this camper with it. Anyhow, 2 months ago, I had a lifter collapse as these GM engines are known to do. The shop replaced all 16 lifters. I got my truck back and it was running fine and my family went on our annual trip to the Florida Keys (towed the camper 1600 miles round trip). Last week, the exact same lifter in the exact same cylinder (cylinder 6) collapsed again. The shop is repairing it again under warranty, so no cost to me. However, he can’t find any reason as to why it collapsed again, same position, only 2000 miles later. Therefore, he’s putting it back together with new lifter and assuming it was just a bad part that happened to be at the exact same position for the second failure. Also, when my truck came out of the shop the first time, I installed the Range AFM disabler and have had it installed ever since.

My question is, can either of these failures be attributed to me towing my camper as described? In general, I take very good care of my truck with regular oil changes and I drive carefully…in other words I don’t drive like a crazy 16 year old. With everything I’ve described, I’m not sure how comfortable I’ll be going forward with this truck and I’m hoping to get some good guidance here. Thanks.

mkirsch · Answer

This is your lucky day. I just went through this with my 2015 Silverado 1500 5.3L. Had a lifter seize at 141,000, my mechanic did the recommended repair, replacing all 16, and 500 miles later just rolling up an on-ramp, it did it again.

This is when my mechanic found out about the VLOM.

Did the shop change the "VLOM?" Valve Lifter Oil Manifold. This is the module that controls oil flow to the AFM lifters. It can malfunction and send/withhold oil to the AFM lifters at the wrong time, causing the seizing.

I suspect it was not replaced.

If it was not, it will keep sticking lifters again and again and again.

Unfortunately VLOMs are IMPOSSIBLE to get right now. Because of the lawsuit over these engines, my understanding is GM terminated its contract with the manufacturer of these modules, AND they can't convince anyone else to make them, because of the lawsuit. They are out of stock everywhere.

This truck has never towed anything heavy. It is not how you're using the truck.

retired_jso · Answer

Those 5.3’s were tough engines.  I owned a 2013 z-71 with the 5.3.  I towed a Work and Play toy hauler.  Advertised empty at 6,000 lbs.  loaded across cat scale at 9,224 lbs.  I very seldom got above of 4th gear towing in Florida.  I don’t know what rear end was in it but it towed mostly in 4 th gear sometimes I could hold 55 in 5th.

mkirsch · Answer

Retired JSO wrote:Those 5.3’s were tough engines.  I owned a 2013 z-71 with the 5.3.  I towed a Work and Play toy hauler.  Advertised empty at 6,000 lbs.  loaded across cat scale at 9,224 lbs.  I very seldom got above of 4th gear towing in Florida.  I don’t know what rear end was in it but it towed mostly in 4 th gear sometimes I could hold 55 in 5th.Totally different engine in 2014.The 2013-earlier engines with DOD had their own issues.2014-up like to seize lifters. They changed the system again in 2019, but they still seize lifters.

plasticmaster · Answer

mkirsch wrote:This is your lucky day. I just went through this with my 2015 Silverado 1500 5.3L. Had a lifter seize at 141,000, my mechanic did the recommended repair, replacing all 16, and 500 miles later just rolling up an on-ramp, it did it again.This is when my mechanic found out about the VLOM.Did the shop change the "VLOM?" Valve Lifter Oil Manifold. This is the module that controls oil flow to the AFM lifters. It can malfunction and send/withhold oil to the AFM lifters at the wrong time, causing the seizing.I suspect it was not replaced.If it was not, it will keep sticking lifters again and again and again.Unfortunately VLOMs are IMPOSSIBLE to get right now. Because of the lawsuit over these engines, my understanding is GM terminated its contract with the manufacturer of these modules, AND they can't convince anyone else to make them, because of the lawsuit. They are out of stock everywhere.This truck has never towed anything heavy. It is not how you're using the truck.Wouldn't the Range AFM disabler module I have plugged in prevent the problem with the VLOM?

mkirsch · Answer

plasticmaster wrote:Wouldn't the Range AFM disabler module I have plugged in prevent the problem with the VLOM?No. All that does is keep the engine from going into V4 mode. The VLOM is still controlling the oil to the lifters and can still malfunction.The only way to truly prevent it is to do a full mechanical AFM delete.

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2014 Silverado lifter issues

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