One of the ongoing areas of concerns for the Chevy Silverado are reports of failing lifters on the small block engines. Should these reports cause you concern?
Before I get into the concern, let’s first discuss the issue of failing lifters. Failing lifters have been associated with GM V-8 engines using active fuel management systems (AFM), and there are some early reports of the same failure for the new dynamic fuel management system (DFM). These systems turn off cylinders to conserve fuel when your driving doesn’t demand all eight cylinders.
More specifically, the GM lifter problems affect both the 2019-2021 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups as well as their GMT T1XX platform SUV siblings — the Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade.
Lifters help open up the valves on the engine, and when they fail, you are looking at between $1,000-2,500 to fix the truck.
Should you be concerned about buying a Chevy Silverado?
Naturally spending a few thousand dollars on top of the already expensive new truck prices can make new owners like Stephen M. nervous.
He sent me this email:
Hello,
I recently bought a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT, 5.3 Litre engine from Champion Chevrolet of Reno, Nevada on 01/03/2022. I have concerns about defective valve lifters that GM has not yet issued a recall about, yet there is a Class-Action Lawsuit filed against GM as of December 2021 in Michigan, for defective AFM/DFM valve lifters, and I would really need to know if my truck falls into this category based upon the manufactured/production date.
The inside sticker on the driver’s side door jamb reads: “Campaign Completed No.N202294820,” and the truck VIN # is 1GCRYDED———.
The current mileage on the vehicle reads 13,950 miles, and so far there has not been any significant engine noise, engine check light, or valve lifter failure since owning this truck. I have changed the oil and filter once with premium grade 0-20 weight full synthetic (DEXOS) motor oil since I bought the truck with 11,619 miles on it from the dealership and used ownership to the present date.
There is a lot to unpack from this email and it seems like he bought the truck, then researched it online and found a slew of posts about lifter failure. This likely lead to some stress and a bit of buyers remorse.
Here is my response:
Hello Stephen,
Looks like the lawsuit is still in the early stages, and it may or may not ever make it to court or be settled at this time. According to the court filing, they are declaring all GM vehicles to be defective with the 5.3L and 6.2L engines. That’s pretty broad as most lawsuits tend to do.
The exact verbiage: Discovery will show that a partial list of the vehicles equipped with these engines includes the following models and model years: 2014-present Cadillac Escalade, 2016-2019 Cadillac CTS-V, 2014-present Chevrolet Silverado and Silverado 1500, certain 2014-2019 Chevrolet Corvette, 2014-2016 Chevrolet Avalanche, 2014- present Chevrolet Suburban, 2014-present Chevrolet Tahoe, 2016-present Chevrolet Camaro, 2014-present Chevrolet Camaro SS, 2014-2016 Chevrolet Corvette, 2014 to present GMC Sierra and Sierra 1500, 2014-present GMC Yukon and Yukon XL.
As far as your truck, the VIN doesn’t tell you what date it was built and the campaign number is for a recall.
VIN decoded:
Recall:
So, what we have are some owners who have experienced issues filing a class action lawsuit, which is in court. It doesn’t mean there is or won’t be an issue with your truck, it just means it is still too early in the legal process to tell.
Personally, I would keep an eye on the lawsuit and drive your truck like normal. I find the chatter online can cause people to freak out over phantom issues sometimes.
The bottom line on failing lifters
There are certainly pros and cons to living in a more digital age with information available at the touch of your finger tips. This can lead to many people swearing off one brand of truck for another based on other people’s problems. However, it is wise to take all of these reports with a grain of salt. It is more likely that for every truck with a problem, there are a dozen without problems.
Plus, if you look hard enough, you’ll find a problem with every brand of truck on the market.
Instead of building up a problem into a massive stress ball, it is far better to educate yourself on the issue, and then file it away in the back of your mind. I think Stephen did the right thing here by educating himself on a potential issue and is better prepared to deal with it if his lifters ever do fail.
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Tim Esterdahl
Automotive Journalist Tim Esterdahl has covered the industry since 2011 and has been featured in many national magazines and articles like CBS Sunday Morning, News Nation, MotorTrend, Boston Globe and others. He has won awards for his work and is recognized as a truck expert in his field.
In his spare time, he is often found tinkering on his '62 C10 pickup, playing golf, going hunting and hanging out with his wife and kids in Nebraska.
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10 comments
Mike Breidenbach
I had a 2018 and a 2021 GMC. Sierra. The 2018 ran fine but the 2021 developed the engine issue at 53000 miles. They replaced the lifters but I was concerned of more problems before my 60,000 mile warranty expired. I was so mad at GMC that this problem had gone on for years that I traded for a 2023 Ford F150. It has been an excellent truck.
GMC Management should be replaced when they have a major issue and don’t deal with it immediately.
Sarah Smith
I’ve got a 2012 drove it 2 months and boom lifter went out needless to say I’ve replaced them 3 times now and still can’t drive it I’ve had it a year still paying on it because well I’m stuck with it so 6,000$ later so now I’ve got to put a new motor in it I’m so frustrated and feel like they should put a new motor in it but they won’t brcousr it has 161,000 miles on it I can’t afford a brand new truck so I’m sick about it
Anonymous
Owner of a 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and lifters just went bad in my truck as well! Cannot understand why there isn’t a recall other than the cost it would be for them to repair. My quote was $5500 to repair and I’m 5000 miles outside of my warranty. The local dealership is helping out some but any out of pocket for this issue is unacceptable. How do I join the class action lawsuit?
Charles Daly
I have a 2018 Siverado that just turned 70000 miles . I ordered a new 2023 2500 Chevy from my dealer. While waiting for my new truck to come in my truck was diagnosed with a bad lifter and possibly the cam too.My truck has been well taken care of and maintained. What can I do????
Bruce Davies
Have just been told that my lifters on a 2015 1500 Sierra GMC need to be replace. My costs will be about $ 6100.00 CDN or about $ 4500.00 USD. I contacted GM but was told that because my warranties have run out I am now 100 % responsible for the costs. I have only 38631 miles, or 1622 hours of engine use. Any chance I can get GM to stand behind their products and help with the expense?
Anonymous
My lifter broke and destroyed the entire engine without warning. Over $12,000 to repair.
Stephanie E
Yup! I am just now dealing with that too
Greg McMahan
Just found out my 2018 Silverado LT has a bad lifter in the 4th cylinder and Chevy wants $6000 to replace. Please tell me where I can sign up for this lawsuit. Also, side note, three days before my engine crapped out, I had to replace the Thermostat and Sensor as they were failed and my mechanic said he had done 8 or 9 of them in the past month. The govt uses our tax money to bail these companies out, then lets them sell us inferior garbage vehicles at a ridiculously inflated price but does nothing to hold them accountable. I truly think this is the end for me and American made vehicles. Overpriced trash.
Mike Cox
First 2 chevy trucks i owned made it to 300, 000 early 2001 and 2004 ,last new ones 2012 and now 2019 both need lifters $ 3500.00 for first repair and now $ 5000 for next repair and today I get an offer to extend warranty to 120,000, apparantly Chevy has done research and know exactly when the MTBF failure is, any body have a good number to call to join class action lawsuit?
Anonymous
I have a 2011 Silverado I bought new and have already tried, they said it only goes back to 2014 , so I guess we’re SOL