Anybody have any experience with a AFM eliminator?
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Outnumbered
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Are you referring to the AFM disabler for GM vehicles? If so, I have one on my 2022 Sierra with the 5.3 and it was a noticeable improvement with little to no impact on the fuel consumption that I have seen. It simply plugs into the OBD port and off you go. I purchased mine from Range Technology.
85Hokie
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get one or get the 4.8 that did not use that bs........... yeah i know they dont make the 4.8 any more!!!!!! 
North Idaho Wolfman
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85Hokie
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je1279
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I had one of the Range units on my 2015 Silverado with the 5.3. It worked well, but it would kill the battery if the truck sat for a few days. Unsure if that is still an issue or not.
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I have the Range unit on my 2019 Suburban with a 5.3. No difference in fuel mileage, and I think it runs smoother in cruise.
Well the old Silverado has almost 90K on the clock, and knock on wood no issues. I need at least 100K more out of it so I can buy a new one, if ever I should love so long. And I really dont want to have to replace a motor because of this BS AFM crap
RCW
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I don't know if it accomplishes the same thing, but I drive my '17 Silverado with 5.3 in Manual 5th gear exclusively.
That locks it out of going to 4 cylinders, and overdrive. I think using the Tow/Haul button does the same.
I drive short distances (less than 20 miles) on 2-lane rural roads. Hardly ever on an interstate. I don't need 6th gear/overdrive, and don't need to run on 4 cylinders.
Going to/from work for years it does 55-60 mph at 1,700 RPM or so.
Bet it doesn't have 500-1,000 miles in "D" and doesn't burn any oil, etc. Part of the reason they went to 8-quart motor oil capacity was because of some of the oil issues with the AFM and VVT as I understand it.
I've had 6 Chevy Silverado's since 1997. This one seems to get the best fuel mileage of all of them. My driving habits haven't changed much in 30 years.
I often get 20-23 mpg in the summer by the meter thing in the dash.
Can't take that meter thing in the dash as gospel, but when I fill up, it's at least in the ballpark......
Not sure it's the right thing to do, but after 7.5 years and 67k miles, I doubt I'll change anything.
Be curious what the other guys think of this tactic. Like I said, not sure it's right, but certainly fits my driving habits much better.
I don't know if it accomplishes the same thing, but I drive my '17 Silverado with 5.3 in Manual 5th gear exclusively.
That locks it out of going to 4 cylinders, and overdrive. I think using the Tow/Haul button does the same.
I drive short distances (less than 20 miles) on 2-lane rural roads. Hardly ever on an interstate. I don't need 6th gear/overdrive, and don't need to run on 4 cylinders.
Going to/from work for years it does 55-60 mph at 1,700 RPM or so.
Bet it doesn't have 500-1,000 miles in "D" and doesn't burn any oil, etc. Part of the reason they went to 8-quart motor oil capacity was because of some of the oil issues with the AFM and VVT as I understand it.
I've had 6 Chevy Silverado's since 1997. This one seems to get the best fuel mileage of all of them. My driving habits haven't changed much in 30 years.
I often get 20-23 mpg in the summer by the meter thing in the dash.
Can't take that meter thing in the dash as gospel, but when I fill up, it's at least in the ballpark......
Not sure it's the right thing to do, but after 7.5 years and 67k miles, I doubt I'll change anything.
Be curious what the other guys think of this tactic. Like I said, not sure it's right, but certainly fits my driving habits much better.
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je1279
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I don't have the range disabler, but I had it tuned out via EFILive. Also adjusts some parameters, a little bump in power but not something to destroy driveability, just more passing acceleration if needed, I have regular and 90+ octane tunes. Also with the tunning, it allows them to tune the trans and fix the lockup parameters that end up killing the transmissions when the converters come apart, at least on the 6-speed in my 16 Yukon.
RCW
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I just happened to try it to avoid OD, and had the benefit of locking out some of the other stuff as well.
Some of my earlier Silverado’s didn’t care for the shifting. I would take it out of “D” to keep a better gear on rural roads.
This seemed to kill two birds with one stone.
Put a plug in one on my 2018 GMC 1500 maybe 6 months now works fine. Is a band-aid yes butt the best price for a cam & lifter change kit is over a $1000 bucks. From all I have looked up the little pin in the lifters is "NOT" engaged when "NOT" in AFM mode so my simple mind thinks if the pin is not engaged it cant wear out or brake.
Because an oil pump drive belt, or phasers and tensioners that fail are better? All of the OE's suck in one way or another. All the shortcuts and over-engineering that have gone into these to meet EPA and CAFE standards are making engines less reliable than they were 20-25 years ago.
that stuff is blown out of proportion and part of that is because people don't use thought to maintenance. Book says oil change every 10,000 miles, but they don't see the footnote below that says "more often under severe conditions". 5000 mi, it'll be fine for hundreds of thousands of miles. And put plugs in it more often than the books says too. Run em 100,000 miles and there ain't much left of them, hard to get out, takes out the coil(s), etc.
but to answer the question yes the phasers do a job, and they do it better than a simple non VVT chain/sprocket arrangement.
The newer stuff is a LOT more reliable than the older stuff-which GM is still using-just a whole lot more expensive to fix, and that is what people remember the most. The cost.
Ford went back to a push rod v-8 for reliability. The lack of maintenance, and the OE's pushing lower Total Cost of Ownership is a big contributing factor, like you mentioned on the 10k oil changes. I run a fleet of over 350 mainly F series pickups for our local water utility. I've seen a good amount of change in the industry in the 20+ years I've been in the field, not all of the better. Low tension rings to get that last little bit of MPG and then 10k oil changes that don't get done until 12 or 15k, the rings stick and then there's oil consumption issues, cats go bad, this vehicle is junk. Where if you change at 5k or even by engine hours in some cases, those failures are dramatically reduced.
One example of TCO I came across doing a side job about 2 years back on a buddy's Subaru. The Subaru America maintenance planner says the ATF is lifetime fluid and never needs changing. Subaru Canada maintenance, for the same engine and trans, recommends 30k drain and fill intervals.
For the most part you can't really over-service your car, truck, tractor, etc. There's a point where you're just tossing good fluid, but compared to a major engine or drivetrain repair, $60 in fluid here and there is a lot easier to swallow than $5k for a trans.
One last thing on DOD lifter failures. GM issued a bulletin years ago about lack of maintenance being a contributing factor and specifically called out lack of air filter maintenance, or using "high performance" air cleaners. A K&N flows more because it filters less. Using a quality OE air filter is all your car needs in a stock application.
One example of TCO I came across doing a side job about 2 years back on a buddy's Subaru. The Subaru America maintenance planner says the ATF is lifetime fluid and never needs changing. Subaru Canada maintenance, for the same engine and trans, recommends 30k drain and fill intervals.
For the most part you can't really over-service your car, truck, tractor, etc. There's a point where you're just tossing good fluid, but compared to a major engine or drivetrain repair, $60 in fluid here and there is a lot easier to swallow than $5k for a trans.
One last thing on DOD lifter failures. GM issued a bulletin years ago about lack of maintenance being a contributing factor and specifically called out lack of air filter maintenance, or using "high performance" air cleaners. A K&N flows more because it filters less. Using a quality OE air filter is all your car needs in a stock application.