I just bought a 5.3l engine that is gen iv. It has DOD/AFM, the kits to delete this system are 300-400 dollars.Then buying new cam and oil pump,harness and reprogrammed ecu. It is aluminum head and block. My question is should I put this money into this or find an engine that does not have this feature? The engine was cheap enough but it is still leaving me wonder. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
ls engine with dod/afm
- Thread starter bhartman
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I would keep it myself. You can make that stuff work. But i think if you wanted to ditch it you could just get the ecm flashed to disable it if i remember right.
Just went through helping a friend diagnose his 08 Texas Silverado "ticking noise" issue with 48k miles on it. I pulled codes for misfire number 4 and random misfires and did the spark plug check all good, switched coils no difference, compression test came out good, suggested since he was under 100k to take it to the dealer. He said he it was out of warranty but I told him to double check and see if they would cover it. lo and behold he was under powertrain warranty! :wink: I did the research and found out that the earlier models DOD or AFM engines are somewhat problematic with lifters going bad and or camshafts getting flat spots. My buddies got all new lifters, cam, and trays. I told him if he wasn't covered then buy this kit: http://www.texas-speed.com/p-717-dod-af ... e-kit.aspx pick a cam and sending it to get tuned for it! 8) luckily it was covered! SO sorry for the long winded post but I would keep it convert it and get it tuned to the cam or your power goals. IMO I would keep it seeing as it's a aluminum 5.3 most likely it has good heads maybe 243's? A good foundation to start your LS swap!
If it were mine I would delete it. Like posted above, I am working on a Silverado at work that needs lifters. The AFM lifters have a little solenoid in them and when they go bad you will get no valve opening on that cylinder. You could take the valve cover off and literally watch the intake valve open and the exhaust stays put.
Yea it's great for saving on gas but how long are you really going to put that engine in an older car before you want to go faster anyways? Might as well get rid of it while it's easy to take the heads and front cover off
Yea it's great for saving on gas but how long are you really going to put that engine in an older car before you want to go faster anyways? Might as well get rid of it while it's easy to take the heads and front cover off
i could suggest to keep it if was a VVT only because of some benefits on low rpm torque and high rpm HP but my research is informing DOD/AFM as a trouble maker.
hey 79loserbluebu , do u have a topic about your car here? need to know more details on your malibu
Seems like you should be able to just disable the feature in the ECM and not touch anything else. I've had a custom tune on my '08 GMC Sierra's 5.3l that deactivated the DOD function since about the 15K mile mark.
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