Chevrolet 5.3l AFM/DOD

[skyhightree1]

Chevy should have never been bailed out... They created the biggest POS motors ever. They will never see another dime from me..I usually stick to Ford but made a few mistakes. My project was fixing a 5.3 in a vehicle of mine which turned into needing a new motor see below. If you have one of those motors save yourself bs get rid of it.

 

[MurraysMutts]

4.8/5.3/6.0/6.2 have been pretty dang reliable I thought.
How many miles on that critter?
Not uncommon to see 300-400 thousand on em.

 

[Brute 23]

The 08+ 5.3s are trash. I'm a GM guy and that why I say you will never see me buy a new GM half ton.

 

[skyhightree1]

4.8/5.3/6.0/6.2 have been pretty dang reliable I thought.
How many miles on that critter?
Not uncommon to see 300-400 thousand on em.

25,912 miles

 

[MurraysMutts]

Ouch!

 

[skyhightree1]

The 08+ 5.3s are trash. I'm a GM guy and that why I say you will never see me buy a new GM half ton.

Gm doesn't have to worry about me buying anything gm.. they should be ashamed of themselves and fix the issue.

 

[skyhightree1]

Ouch!

This is the 2nd motor in it first was on Chevy. But out of warranty by years

 

[Brute 23]

Gm doesn't have to worry about me buying anything gm.. they should be ashamed of themselves and fix the issue.

Ford's Triton V8 or what ever it was from a little before that was just as big as a piece of junk. Dodge's diesels around 08 were junk.

Every brand has good and bad no matter what it is.

 

[jltrent]

They took the bailout money to China. I agree they should have ended up like the Edsel.

 

[skyhightree1]

Ford's Triton V8 or what ever it was from a little before that was just as big as a piece of junk. Dodge's diesels around 08 were junk.

Every brand has good and bad no matter what it is.

True but the ford problem is easy to fix for the threads in the spark plugs.. They all do have issues thats a fact

 

[sim.-ang.king]

The 08+ 5.3s are trash. I'm a GM guy and that why I say you will never see me buy a new GM half ton.

After they left the vortec line of engines and went to ecotec, it was all down hill from there. Glad I have a 6.0.

 

[wbvs58]

I expect to see Shell come out all guns blazing shortly.

Ken

 

[Atimm693]

True but the ford problem is easy to fix for the threads in the spark plugs.. They all do have issues thats a fact

There are the cam phaser and timing chain issues too. Lot more bad than good with those engines IMO.

The last good year for the 5.3 was 2007, or up to 2013 for the 6.2. That said, the later models have been improved a lot.

Dodge had a lot of trouble with lifters too, Ford went the other way to save fuel with the Ecoboost, which has it's own set of problems.

My 06 5.3 has 325k on it. I don't think it's ever been replaced, when I did some work to the oil pump a couple years ago the oil pan still had the riveted on factory gasket. It burns some oil but is still hanging in there.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

Has Jan come out of Recovery yet?

 

[wgf]

True but the ford problem is easy to fix for the threads in the spark plugs.. They all do have issues thats a fact

hmmm- I was told about the spark plug issue whenI bought a 2005 F-150 in 2013- it went along fine til- maybe- 2018 0r 19, and suddenly burned 1 plug - my mechanic was able to get it out of the block with some difficulty, but I don't recall ever hearing a 'fix' for the problem. Could you pass on any info on that?

 

[skyhightree1]

hmmm- I was told about the spark plug issue whenI bought a 2005 F-150 in 2013- it went along fine til- maybe- 2018 0r 19, and suddenly burned 1 plug - my mechanic was able to get it out of the block with some difficulty, but I don't recall ever hearing a 'fix' for the problem. Could you pass on any info on that?

Problem I'm referring to was the spitting plugs out the heads

 

[Atimm693]

Problem I'm referring to was the spitting plugs out the heads

Yeah, on the early ones the plugs would blow out and strip, on the later ones they can break off in the head. The plugs are a 2 piece design, really odd looking if you've never seen them.

There is a pretty good set of tools available for extracting them, it's not too bad of a job, but it can turn a tune up into a $1000 affair if you're unlucky.

The best procedure now, is to get the engine smoking hot, and use a right angle impact to loosen the plugs. A good tech will do one bank, get it hot again, and do the other bank.

 

[skyhightree1]

Yeah, on the early ones the plugs would blow out and strip, on the later ones they can break off in the head. The plugs are a 2 piece design, really odd looking if you've never seen them.

There is a pretty good set of tools available for extracting them, it's not too bad of a job, but it can turn a tune up into a $1000 affair if you're unlucky.

The best procedure now, is to get the engine smoking hot, and use a right angle impact to loosen the plugs. A good tech will do one bank, get it hot again, and do the other bank.

I've heard that before as well I don't have any of those

 

[jltrent]

Problem I'm referring to was the spitting plugs out the heads

From my understanding the plug threads stuck down to far in the head would corrode

Yeah, on the early ones the plugs would blow out and strip, on the later ones they can break off in the head. The plugs are a 2 piece design, really odd looking if you've never seen them.

There is a pretty good set of tools available for extracting them, it's not too bad of a job, but it can turn a tune up into a $1000 affair if you're unlucky.

The best procedure now, is to get the engine smoking hot, and use a right angle impact to loosen the plugs. A good tech will do one bank, get it hot again, and do the other bank.

From my understanding they have an upgrade plug to put back that does not have problems.

 

[Atimm693]

From my understanding the plug threads stuck down to far in the head would corrode

From my understanding they have an upgrade plug to put back that does not have problems.

It's not so much the threads, the plug electrodes are long and extended way down past them, almost like a glow plug. When removing them, if one breaks, the threaded portion of the plug and the electrode will come out, but the ground strap and outer casing will remain stuck in the cylinder head.

Ford did update the plug design, but they still break. I believe Autolites are one piece, if you dare to run them.

These trucks are getting old enough now that it's almost rare to see one running around on the original plugs, not nearly as much of a problem as it used to be.

This is the best video that I've seen on the process.