Preventing Lifter Failire

[JR46]

Hey All,
I am gathering info and opinions on the best and most cost effective way to prevent lifter failure in my 2020 Chevy Custom Trailboss. I’m currently at 68,000 miles and have had no issues at all. However, I keep hearing about folks who have these engine lifter failures which cause all sorts of major problems. What are your thoughts on purchasing the Range AFM/DFM OBD II plug in to help prevent the issue?? I certainly don’t want to do a manual AFM/DFM Delete for all that money. I will be certain to change oil on time and with high quality oil. But, will the plug-in be the best bet to prevent lifter failure? Thanks
JR

 

[Jmzvet]

I believe you either have one that's going to fail or you don't. I read somewhere that 97% do not fail. I have no way way to confirm or deny that number.

 

[BigBlackie_'25TB]

I used a Range DFM Disabler for my ride for about 9 months. One of the OTA updates caused it to fail. Range sent me a replacement for free, no questions asked. I'm happy with that, but I was not happy that the new module did not work. It seems as though whatever OTA update GM pushed through must have been a campaign-related flash and rewrote the ECM. At least that is my thought.

So, because of this problem, I decided to just go ahead and purchase the ECM/TCM unlock service from HP Tuners and downloaded the required software and purchased the hardware needed to write tunes.

For the little more money, I would recommend HP Tuners for the AFM/DFM disabling versus a module disabler because of one important reason...HP Tuners actually "turns off" the computer's ability to activate the system. Unfortunately, a disabler such as that from Range Technology is "only" a work-around. It does not actually turn it off like HP Tuners software specifically rewrites the ECM.

But, of course, this only changes the "electronic" issue, not the mechanical aspect. You will still have the engine parts such as lifters, camshaft, VLOM, etc. But, at least you can "turn off" the ability for AFM/DFM to activate electronically.

 

[JR46]

I believe you either have one that's going to fail or you don't. I read somewhere that 97% do not fail. I have no way way to confirm or deny that number.

Wow, I didn’t know the failure rate was so low. Thank you!

I used a Range DFM Disabler for my ride for about 9 months. One of the OTA updates caused it to fail. Range sent me a replacement for free, no questions asked. I'm happy with that, but I was not happy that the new module did not work. It seems as though whatever OTA update GM pushed through must have been a campaign-related flash and rewrote the ECM. At least that is my thought.

So, because of this problem, I decided to just go ahead and purchase the ECM/TCM unlock service from HP Tuners and downloaded the required software and purchased the hardware needed to write tunes.

For the little more money, I would recommend HP Tuners for the AFM/DFM disabling versus a module disabler because of one important reason...HP Tuners actually "turns off" the computer's ability to activate the system. Unfortunately, a disabler such as that from Range Technology is "only" a work-around. It does not actually turn it off like HP Tuners software specifically does because it actually rewrites the ECM.

But, of course, this only changes the "electronic" issue, not the mechanical aspect. You will still have the engine parts such as lifters, camshaft, VLOM, etc. But, at least you can "turn off" the ability for AFM/DFM to activate electronically.

This is great; thank you for the detailed response. I will look into HP tuners. Thank You!

 

[GETGONE]

The LIFTERS are the problem. It doesn't matter if you electronically disable them. If they're bad they will still fail. There was a guy that had been running one on his 6.2 and the lifters still failed.

 

[JR46]

The LIFTERS are the problem. It doesn't matter if you electronically disable them. If they're bad they will still fail. There was a guy that had been running one on his 6.2 and the lifters still failed.

Ok. I see what you are saying. Thank you for the advice and input.

 

[Stormin08]

the only way (and not even then) is to replace the hard part....