5.3 with cam bearing dammage worth anything?

[slostang281]

Complete long block. 3 year warranty. $2600. I forgot the name of the place but can check tomorrow. Came from Dallas.
And yes, earlier truck engines had iron heads.

The noise is a chirping noise. Video does not convey it well.

Hate to be the one to correct you but all 5.3s had aluminum heads. The only LS engine to get iron heads were the 99-00 6.0 LQ4. I'm surprised you wasted all that money over a cam and set of lifters and he's still stuck with crappy AFM.

[LaserSVT]

Was his choice. Not mine. And yeah my bad. I got the 6.0 mixed up.

Also he plans to have the afm tuned out.

[71chevellejohn]

Hate to be the one to correct you but all 5.3s had aluminum heads. The only LS engine to get iron heads were the 99-00 6.0 LQ4. I'm surprised you wasted all that money over a cam and set of lifters and he's still stuck with crappy AFM.

And head gaskets, head bolts, fluids ,etc... and those AFM lifters aren't the cheapest thing around. I priced it out for my 08 Sierra and started looking at crate engines for ease or swap and warranty. With the extra time and teardown of the original, it would have been more cost effective(for me) to replace the crate engine with a new one from GM for $3400.

... Of course, then I bought a 2015.

[LaserSVT]

Yeah we knew this route would be faster and ultimatly better. Now he has an engine under warranty and it came with everything but fluids. Just transfer all the sensors and acc and its good to go.

[71chevellejohn]

My 08 doesn't chirp and hasn't had any metal in the oil. Everything points to it being the AFM lifter failing, but not necessarily turning in its bore - which is where the damage to the cam/bearings come from. I'm not getting into it on a truck with 400k though. I need to get a hold of Buzzo's buddy and see if he's interested in it, so I can free up my driveway.

[BP]

Whatever scrap goes for. 5.3s can be had in good shape for 300 and less

Not the 07+ ones, the 09s with AFM are going for $2000+ used. It makes total sense to buy a reman.

Enginesdirect sells AER and ATK engines. Looking at the part number and the fact it was delivered so fast tells me it's probably an AER. They have a call center a couple of blocks from AER As long as you place the order by 3 it gets pulled the same day. Freight from Dallas to Waco should be overnight.

[War Machine]

My 08 doesn't chirp and hasn't had any metal in the oil. Everything points to it being the AFM lifter failing, but not necessarily turning in its bore - which is where the damage to the cam/bearings come from. I'm not getting into it on a truck with 400k though. I need to get a hold of Buzzo's buddy and see if he's interested in it, so I can free up my driveway.

He is. He asked me about it this weekend. He's going to Vegas today and will be back this weekend. Give him a call and we will be on the way

[snacksnack]

Also he plans to have the afm tuned out.

could have just done the standard lifters swap then as well with out the big cost.

[LaserSVT]

As I said, he WANTED the new/reman motor. He wanted a warranty and since he drives 1000 miles a week (wind turbine technician) he didn't want to worry about an engine he knew ran for a few hundred miles low on oil.

[snacksnack]

As I said, he WANTED the new/reman motor. He wanted a warranty and since he drives 1000 miles a week (wind turbine technician) he didn't want to worry about an engine he knew ran for a few hundred miles low on oil.

Oh i gotcha Just thinking of the other people that have seen the high cost.

[Rreemo]

As I said, he WANTED the new/reman motor. He wanted a warranty and since he drives 1000 miles a week (wind turbine technician) he didn't want to worry about an engine he knew ran for a few hundred miles low on oil.

I've got a buddy with the exact same situation. 09' with an AFM 5.3, he's a real estate broker and puts a shit ton of miles on it. First cam and lifters were warrantied at around 50K, the second at around 80K, and it happened to him again a little over 100K...with a bit of arguing and persuasion he managed to get the dealer to split the bill on that third occurrence. It lasted to around 160K and shit the bed again...by that time the bottom end was done as well. He got quoted some ridiculous amount for a reman (installed), but I talked him into an LKQ with low miles instead. He has since tuned it and removed the AFM...he says it runs way better now and after he trained his right foot some the MPG isn't really off much from where it was before.

Last time I talked to him about it, the truck was nearing 220K with no further issues, so mileage-wise this is the longest it's gone without eating some lifters.

[snacksnack]

I've got a buddy with the exact same situation. 09' with an AFM 5.3, he's a real estate broker and puts a shit ton of miles on it. First cam and lifters were warrantied at around 50K, the second at around 80K, and it happened to him again a little over 100K...with a bit of arguing and persuasion he managed to get the dealer to split the bill on that third occurrence. It lasted to around 160K and shit the bed again...by that time the bottom end was done as well. He got quoted some ridiculous amount for a reman (installed), but I talked him into an LKQ with low miles instead. He has since tuned it and removed the AFM...he says it runs way better now and after he trained his right foot some the MPG isn't really off much from where it was before.

Last time I talked to him about it, the truck was nearing 220K with no further issues, so mileage-wise this is the longest it's gone without eating some lifters.

09 hear with almost 260k and I'm almost positive it has the original lifters in it. I'm the second owner with a huge stack of receipts of all work ever performed in which I don't remember seeing lifters in there but I have thought about eliminating them anyways. I only get 16mpg on the highway so I don't think I'm going to lose anything.

[Rreemo]

09 hear with almost 260k and I'm almost positive it has the original lifters in it. I'm the second owner with a huge stack of receipts of all work ever performed in which I don't remember seeing lifters in there but I have thought about eliminating them anyways. I only get 16mpg on the highway so I don't think I'm going to lose anything.

That's a GM for you! LOL!

Seriously though, with the nature of the AFM I think this problem likely has something to do with the type of oil people run in them, and the amount of time they go between changes...my buddy admitted that he used to rely mostly on the oil life indicator, not as much on the miles, but he always had the oil changed at the dealer (Classic Chevrolet)....so that was to his benefit on those warranty claims. However, I'm always leery of what type of oil they use...I know when I was working in the dealership game, they usually used whatever bulk garbage was most cost effective.

After this lesson he told me he's been changing it every 3k-4k and only using full synthetic now.

All-in-all if you do some research on this problem, it does seem to be pretty common, but if you consider the number of those trucks on the road vs. the number that have had the problem, it's still a very low percentage overall.

[Baron Von Crowder]

That's a GM for you! LOL!

Seriously though, with the nature of the AFM I think this problem likely has something to do with the type of oil people run in them, and the amount of time they go between changes...my buddy admitted that he used to rely mostly on the oil life indicator, not as much on the miles, but he always had the oil changed at the dealer (Classic Chevrolet)....so that was to his benefit on those warranty claims. However, I'm always leery of what type of oil they use...I know when I was working in the dealership game, they usually used whatever bulk garbage was most cost effective.

After this lesson he told me he's been changing it every 3k-4k and only using full synthetic now.

All-in-all if you do some research on this problem, it does seem to be pretty common, but if you consider the number of those trucks on the road vs. the number that have had the problem, it's still a very low percentage overall.

We rarely sold the 01-06 5.3's, but cant keep the 07-up's in stock.

[Rreemo]

We rarely sold the 01-06 5.3's, but cant keep the 07-up's in stock.

That's because GM typically doesn't stand behind shit on warranty.

I vowed I'd never own another late model GM after the hell I went through on a new Suburban I bought back in 02'. I still love the old Chebies though.