Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Got the "disabler" today

I bought a '14 Yukon Denali w/ <48K on it for Mama a few weeks ago.

I got the AFM disabler today. It is Range Technology brand.

https://www.rangetechnology.com/products/afm-dfm_disabler/

I slipped it into the slot and headed for town today. I drove the rig about forty miles. If I had not pulled up the display to show V4 vs V8 activation, we would not have known the difference.

If the vehicle ever needed a smog check, or other access to the OBD port, you just pull the plug out and replace it later. The mechanic assured me, no learn period. Just plug it in and go.

If I had an AFM vehicle I would probably look into one as well. As you probably know, it doesn’t really solve the root problem, as the AFM valve lifters are still in place and can still cause issues. I suppose it’s better than nothing, but I would still be nervous about the AFM/lifter related failures.

Do those work on the new ones that shut off different amounts of cylinders instead of just half of them. I don't know what those ladies at gm did with the newer 5.3s and 6.2s but I've head a lot of people having valve and lifter problems, major problems.

Bb

I do not know about that.

My mechanic did mention a unit which disables the engine shut off at every red light, and a unit which does that as well as disables the cylinder deactivation.

A fool and their money……

If you loved her you’d have bought her a Toyota.

I had a Pulsar unit on my 2020 1/2 ton Denali. Just traded that truck for a 2024 AT4X and am going to order another a.s.a.p. Good units.

Range Tech doesnt have a unit for 2024 GM trucks yet. I'm waiting.

I thought this was going to be about a 270 rifle.

Every year when I pull mine for emissions I have to drive it and reset all the sensors...except one. We're allowed one not set in PA. Your mechanic is wrong. And some are a PITA to get the sensors to set. I used to drive the sob 300 miles to get them to set. Figured it out though. Drive 20 on warm engine. Let it sit overnight, cold start idle for 3-5 minutes theyre all ready.

I have a Pulsar on my 21 Silverado and it lets me control the AFM, Start/Stop, adjust the speedometer for tire size, speed limiter, tire pressure sensors and probably some more things I can't remember. It plugs in under the hood and lets me control things with the steering wheel buttons. Takes about 2 minutes to install or remove. https://www.rangetechnology.com/products/pulsar_lt/

kind of hard to say how good a unit is if its only on a vehicle 3 years or so.

Didn’t realize until I saw this thread that GM had gone back to the boneyard of bad ideas to inflict this absurdity on a new generation of true believers. Thought they’d have learned their lesson 40 years ago with their Cadillac “8-6-4” disaster.

When I worked for them in those days, saw how they’d sequentially pull dies off the casting lines to make engineering changes to the product in the middle of a production run, just keep running them, leave the beta testing to the consumer…. Figure you might have several flow patterns in a run of intake manifolds, all the same part number, all the “correct” fit…

That’s when I bought my first Toyota, never looked back.

Had one on my GMC for ten years, does that count?

My 2017 Silverado with the 6.2 cost me 5000 dollars for lifter repair just before I sold it. Less than 70000 miles and not abused. Edk

I have this as well. It will also let you set the sensitivity of the throttle. I set it to "3" and throttle response is way better. You can set it to "5", but the pedal is way too sensitive.
All things considered, it is a little peace of mind, but as stated above, the lifters are still in it.

Whoever engineered this, and thought it was a good idea to activate and deactivate lifters, was/is an absolute idiot.

I do believe Summit has a lifter kit to replace the 2 piece lifter design. However, the computer needs to be chipped if doing the conversion. As Ed stated, just to replace the bad lifter is a ton of money. From what I have seen, the heads have to come off in order to replace the lifters. There are also fuel rails under the intake that are one time use. Those get replaced also.

Hindsight, wish I would have bought the 2500 with the 6.6 gas V8. It has regular hydraulic lifters and no DFM. Didn't really need a 3/4 ton truck, but at least I wouldn't have to worry about this issue.

Clyde

My new Chevy V8 does not have the valve shut off. It was discontinued for the 2024. I still have the shutoff for the red light. I have pretty much gotten used to it.

kwg

This.

My Dad worked on everything from cranes, power wagons, cars, trucks. Told me once he'd bought his last American car. Never bought anything but Toyota, Hondas, Nissan, Subaru after that. Too much maintenance on American cars and trucks.

From conversations with a couple dealership mechanics, the problems with AFM system is most prevalent and almost guaranteed in two cases. Case one, people ignore the factory specification for oil and try to run 15-40 diesel or other higher than spec weights. Case two, people ignore the factory oil change interval. If you're avoiding those two cases then odds are greatly in your favor of not having issues.