Need mechanic advice

2,101 Views | 20 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by fixer
Midland CT 05
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AG
I have 2021 half ton Silverado with the 5.3L. Wednesday morning on the way to work I pulled up to a stop light and the truck all of of a sudden started running really rough and the dash board lit up with all sorts of check engine lights and service parking brake, and service ESC control.

I took it to Oriellys to read the check engine and it was a misfire on cylinder #3.

It was running so rough I just decided to take it in Thursday morning to a mechanic. Friday afternoon he sent me the diagnostic/ estimate….. $12,000 engine replacement.

I'm planning on taking it somewhere else for a second opinion, has anyone else gone through this?

Notes from Mechanic:

NOTES: Upon pulling the vehicle in to the bay found that there was a dead misfire on cylinder #3" target="_blank">#3. After removing the plug to check the condition found that there was excessive fuel on the plug from a improper firing, then performed a compression check to find that the compression was at 115PSI with a minimum spec of 125PSI. With what has been at this moment the recommended step would be to replace the engine.


I my wife's co workers husband is a bit of a gear head, he's telling me that 10 PSI off of spec on the compression is not a cause for immediate engine replacement, but I'm not a mechanic
fixer
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10 psi off the minimum isn't bad if your engine was running ok.

But it is a 2021 (un sure of miles) not a 1971. And the other cylinders are probably 140 psi.

Given the history of DFM system and lifter failures, it is a real good chance that the liter has failed and caused a slightly bent push rod which could cause slightly low compression.

I think the shop is assuming that the cam is damaged as well (not a bad assumption).

To get down to these components you have to at least remove intake manifold. To get lifters out at least one cylinder head would be removed (in your case the head with the affected cylinder).

So to fix this issue properly you are looking at removing both cylinder heads, replacing camshaft. That is well into a major engine repair. You would not want to replace only the failed lifter. You'd want to replace all of them.

Or you can do a DFM delete which replaces lifters with older style lifters. You would need to take truck to some sort of tuner or specialist to deactivate the DFM programming, etc...

By chance can you elaborate a bit more on your truck?

Miles
typical oil change interval
DFM deactivation of any sort (driving in L9 or a disabler)?
Midland CT 05
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AG
Yeah sorry, it has 98k miles, completely stock.

I bought it used with 15k miles so not sure what the history was before I bought it, but since I've owned it, I change the oil every 8k and have used nothing but Aimsoil.

Only other mechanical issue was u joints.
Midland CT 05
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AG
I did notice a slight knock a week or two ago, looking back that probably was sign I should have had it looked at. But it was so slight I honestly didn't think much of.
fixer
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Another possibility is that the roller bearing on the lifter has failed and you have a severely worn lobe on the cam. That would also cause similar low compression.

Kenneth_2003
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AG
F150 here so a different engine with a different problem, but a similar fix...
2023 I got a CEL with underlying code for Cylinder 7 misfire. Local shop that has done a few smaller repairs for me diagnosed (properly) a burned exhaust valve. On the Fords, with the dual overhead cams, you have to tear the engine way down to get the head off, and of course #7 (passenger side) is the inboard of the drivers side bank, so the entire timing system on the drivers side has to come off and out of the way to remove the passenger side cams.

My mistake was letting a smaller shop do the work. They stripped everything down and sent the heads (ended up doing both) off for machining and rebuild. Keep in mind all of the parts the shop buys will come as a complete kit. So if you need ONE you're buying all of them so might as well do it all while you're in there.

Well fast forward a year and I've notice the heat wasn't working properly and shortly after the engine itself running warm. Get it in the shop immediately. Long story short they've screwed something up in the head job. They wanted to replace my engine BUT were willing the credit the warranty from the heads towards the engine replacement. They claimed deck lids were warped "because it certainly couldn't be the heads or the head gaskets they rebuilt and replaced." So NOW to go to another shop I'm still looking at a $7-8000 repair on a truck that is only worth a little more.

All that to say, I'm not against tearing down the engine and rebuilding it. It can be done and it's done all the time. Heck if you replace the engine, you're probably being quoted a rebuilt motor.

Find a shop that specializes in rebuilding engines and transmissions.
aggie_wes
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AG
Most likely a DFM lifter failure. Delete them, don't rebuild to stock unless you are planning to trade immediately.
Stat Monitor Repairman
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Wild that these engines are failing before 100K when 25 years ago a stock engine would be expected to run for 200-300K with non intrusive maintenance. You might put in a new fuel pump, water pump, alternator but the engine itself would run hundreds of thousands of miles.
maroon barchetta
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Stat Monitor Repairman said:

Wild that these engines are failing before 100K when 25 years ago a stock engine would be expected to run for 200-300K with non intrusive maintenance. You might put in a new fuel pump, water pump, alternator but the engine itself would run hundreds of thousands of miles.


You are correct.
Kenneth_2003
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AG
Stat Monitor Repairman said:

Wild that these engines are failing before 100K when 25 years ago a stock engine would be expected to run for 200-300K with non intrusive maintenance. You might put in a new fuel pump, water pump, alternator but the engine itself would run hundreds of thousands of miles.


Cast iron vs aluminum?
Silvy
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AG
No, it's the lifters
Midland CT 05
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AG
Picked it up from the original mechanic this afternoon and took it to the Chevy dealer where I originally purchased it from. It's currently still under the GM CPO powertrain warranty. So unless they can come up with a reason to deny the warranty claim, it should be covered…. Fingers crossed
Red Pear Luke
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Sponsor
AG
FYI - I had a very similar issue with my 2017 Silverado. My #1 cylinder wasn't working and it was misfiring and likely on the way to going south quickly. Mechanic told he's seen the lifters go bad first, get it fixed and then was likely to see the transmission go next which would be another $4K easily to go. We got the CEL cleared and one of my friend's fathers helped me out using a AFM/DFM disabler that would keep the CEL off.

After driving it for awhile with minimal issues ended up deciding to not throw good money after bad, I took the truck to trade it in for a new Tahoe. Mostly since we were expecting our second kiddo and needed a bigger vehicle to carry the family and the two dogs.

Just bad performance all around from Chevy on that vintage of vehicles, which is sad as I am a huge fan/was raised on Chevy's & GMCs.
Agzonfire
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Wow. Literally had this same issue on my 2021 Silverado 1500 LTZ. 98k miles. I took it to a mechanic, they looked at it and said it was the lifters and needed a new engine. Took it to Chevy dealer and they said it needed a new engine also.
I had purchased it new so it only had a 60k power train warranty.
Ended up getting hosed on a trade in, but I didn't have any other options unless I wanted to out $13k into a truck with no guarantee that something else wouldn't break soon after.
fixer
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Midland, any updates?
Midland CT 05
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AG
Yeah, took it to the dealer last Monday. They called yesterday and said instead of replacing the engine, they are replacing the cam shaft, lifters, and valves.

Good news is that it is covered by the warranty.

My question is would y'all feel comfortable just replacing parts inside instead of replacing the whole thing?

I guess I can't complain too much since I won't have to pay anything.
fixer
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Midland CT 05 said:

Yeah, took it to the dealer last Monday. They called yesterday and said instead of replacing the engine, they are replacing the cam shaft, lifters, and valves.

Good news is that it is covered by the warranty.

My question is would y'all feel comfortable just replacing parts inside instead of replacing the whole thing?

I guess I can't complain too much since I won't have to pay anything.
That is a good scope of work. Alot of times the dealers only get authorized to replace the one failed lifter.

With new cam, lifters, and valves, I think you are good to go.

My recommendation would be to move up the oil change interval to 5000 miles and use a 5W30.

Look into a catch can as well. For direct injection engines they are a must have. It will keep your induction system as clean as possible. There are plenty of them out there and take minutes to install.
Midland CT 05
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AG
Interesting, never heard of the oil catch can before, but after reading about them sounds like something that should come stock….

Do you replace them at every oil change? How hard are they to put on?
fixer
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Midland CT 05 said:

Interesting, never heard of the oil catch can before, but after reading about them sounds like something that should come stock….

Do you replace them at every oil change? How hard are they to put on?


They are bolt on. Usually just in fastener that is easy to locate and install. Minutes for an install.

You typically want to empty the can every oil change.
AGpops1923
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My mechanic recommended a catch can awhile back. This thread has reminded me, so tomorrow morning he's putting one on my 2020 6.2 high country. This engine scenario scares the heck out of me.

Does the 2020 6.2 engine fall into this failure category??
fixer
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Yes. For the lifters.

And the 6.2 also has rod and main bearing issues but I think that issue didn't really hit until 2021 or late 2020.
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