Silverado Active Fuel Management Problems [Updated Explanation 2022]

If you own a Chevrolet Silverado, you must be aware of the AFM (active fuel management) technology that this truck comes with. General Motors have come up with this innovative mechanism to leverage gas mileage.

The AFM deactivates some of the engine’s cylinders under specific conditions to enhance fuel economy. Typically, your V8 engine would work like a V4 engine and save fuel. According to General Motors, this results in fuel saving by 5% to 15%. The amount of saving largely depends on your engine.

Now, you must note that many Chevrolet Silverado owners prefer to delete the AFM from their vehicles. The AFM causes several problems to some of the engines, like the Vortec.

Vortec engines 5.3, 6.0, and 6.2 often experience issues like excess oil consumption, problems with the life monitoring system, and lifter failure. So, let’s understand Silverado’s active fuel management problems at the outset.

Silverado active fuel management problems

• Although General Motors devised the active fuel management system for the Chevrolet Silverado to boost its fuel economy, the technology has several negative implications on the vehicles. For instance, defective monitoring systems and the active fuel management systems combine to result in a flaw. Your Silverado would end up consuming more oil. This leads to premature engine failure, or catastrophic situations that diminish the life of your engine.
• Secondly, the active fuel management system of General Motors lead to the lifter failure. Fixing this issue would be a rather time-intensive pursuit.
• With the active fuel management system functional in your Chevrolet Silverado truck, your V8 engine would work like a V4 one. Some owners do not like the annoying sound of this engine, particularly when they have aftermarket exhausts integrated in the vehicles.
• Although the manufacturers designed the active fuel management system to conserve fuel, some drivers love to have maximum power in their trucks all the time. Therefore, the occasional shift of the engine to the V4 power implies they wouldn’t enjoy optimal power under their foot whenever they want.
• Traditionally, active fuel management lifters have a bad name due to excessive oil consumption and failures. Therefore, many Chevy Silverado owners want to delete the AFM.

How to Delete or Disable Active Fuel Management (AFM)

So, if you are willing to do away with your truck’s active fuel management system, you have got two options. Firstly, you can get the AFM system disabled. Alternatively, you can also decide to delete it permanently.

In the AFM system, you will come across some unique parts. These include the lifters and the LOMA cover. Besides, there is a different camshaft in the system.

Other components include a high-volume oil pump and a special relief valve for oil pressure. When you want to delete the system, you need to replace these special parts and get non-AFM or general parts in their place. The process involves a lot of manual labor, besides being expensive.

However, when you disable the system, the process involves a simple adjustment in the engine ECU. This ensures that the engine would not activate the system. Therefore, the valley cover solenoids would not open. So, the engine would remain in the V8 model all the time, refraining from working in the V4 mode.

Disabling your AFM

If you want to disable your Chevrolet Silverado’s active fuel management system, you must get it reprogrammed. Alternatively, you need to allow the ECU to operate in the V8 mode.

An AFM Disabler device will help you do this. You need to plug it into the OBDII port, which would start working instantly. In case you don’t wish to visit the dealer or ever take it back, you can remove the device altogether.

Experts recommend using the Range Technology disabler. Currently, it happens to be the only device that wouldn’t get your ECU reprogrammed.

Remember, if you decide to reprogram the ECU, it would make the engine warranty invalid. So, if you have your manufacturer’s warranty left, this would be the most viable option for you.

In case you disable the system, it would be a good ideal to replace the oil pump with a standard one. This pump delivers some excess oil. This would lead to the buildup of oil on the walls of the cylinder.

This leads to the scoring or burning of the cylinder walls. This process is a time-consuming one. However, it’s a recommended process to do away with internal engine troubles in future.

Deleting the AFM

Getting the AFM deleted would be a painstaking ordeal. This is because you need to replace every component of the AFM. So, experts recommend this process only if failed lifters have been troubling you.

Ultimately, you need to channel lots of time and effort to get the parts replaced. Besides, you would require a disabler device when you delete the system, or a custom tune. Therefore, you should go for this option only when you don’t have any other way out.

Deleting your active fuel management system involves the following processes.

• Use a non-AFM camshaft to replace the camshaft.
• Use standard lifters in place of AFM lifters.
• Integrate a non-AFM valley cover (flat) in place of the valley cover.
• Get the pressure relief valve plugged in the oil pan.
• Use a standard oil pump in place of a high-volume oil pump.

If a Chevrolet Silverado owner needs to use a disabler and not a programmer to turn the system off, ensure that the solenoid wires remain connected. This way, you would be able to keep the AFM valley cover. In the end, you would be saving certain expenses, compared to what you would in case you replaced them.

Should I disable Active Fuel Management?

It would be wise to disable your active fuel management system unless failed lifters are troubling you. Deleting the component involves lots of replacements. These include gaskets and several parts, which lead to unnecessary expenses. Moreover, you need to shell out the labor costs.

Besides, when you disable the AFM, you can turn it back in case you need it later. So, you would also enjoy the manufacturer’s warranty. In case anything malfunctions, you can reach out to the manufacturer and benefit from the warranty.

If you have failed lifters, replacing these parts and getting a disabling device integrated would be easy. The reason to delete it is that the process doesn’t call for plenty of labor, in case you need to get the lifters replaced in the first place.

Experts also advise replacing the oil pump in both cases. However, the idea won’t be bad if you decide to disable the system. You can use your own discretion to make the final call.

Conclusion

In general, AFM lifters experience more frequent failures compared to non-AFM ones. Besides, these systems drain down the fuel unnecessarily.

So, you would end up with low oil levels and dropped pressure. Moreover, this can cause several other components to fail, including the timing chain. As the AFM system leads to several glitches and corresponding expenses, it would be wise to get rid of it. So, you can decide whether you should disable or delete the system.