On the fence from MN

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Welcome new members, please make your first post in this section. Say hello & tell us a little bit about you and your car. We're happy to see you here!
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CountDooku
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2016 12:18 pm

On the fence from MN

Post by CountDooku »

Hey all,

I have been reading up on the Caprice and have 4 of them in my sights with 130k to 150k on them, ex county police vehicles, all 2013's. It sounds like the likelihood of lifter failure is very high and odds are I would need to end up doing the DOD/AFM delete with a new cam, etc. Is this true? Would these cars possibly have been fixed? Even if the lifters were replaced, does that mean they might fail anyway? I want this as a reliable daily driver and need to know if I need to dump whatever the cost of a delete kit and tune into it right after I buy it to stay safe. I don't have a backup car to drive while this one sits in the shop and would probably be doing much of the work myself to save cash. What would it cost to do this delete?

Thanks!
CrashTestDummy
Posts: 2300
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 2:31 pm
Location: Pearland, Texas

Re: On the fence from MN

Post by CrashTestDummy »

Welcome Count!

The departments would usually let GM handle any failed lifters under warranty work. Unfortunately, since they are GM, they won't disable AFM, so the potential for later failure is certainly there. So even if it was repaired on the particular car you eventually-purchase, you'll need to decide if you want to disable/remove AFM, or live with it, and any potentials for failure.

There are several ways to disable AFM, anything from plugging a $100 module to 'fool' the ECU into thinking the AFM is enabled, to hardware kits with the parts that disable the AFM followed by a new ECU tune, which can cost a few grand if you let someone else do it. The latter does enable you to upgrade parts, like better cams, full roller rockers, different heads, etc. The sky is pretty much the limit.

Some feel if the AFM equipment is still there, there's still an opportunity for failure, so the 'cheap' fix may not be The Fix. ;)
Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas
2012 Caprice 9C1
1992 B4C 1LE Camaro
2018 Tahoe PPV (her car)
1995 DGGM Impala SS
1985 Firebird - 310 LS1 C Prepared autocross car.
1980 Bluebird Wanderlodge
And some others
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CountDooku
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2016 12:18 pm

Re: On the fence from MN

Post by CountDooku »

Yeah it is really sounding like I should be planning ahead for the full cam swap if I get this car. How many people have done the AFM turn off without the delete? I was reading up on the G8 forums on how many people have had problems and even the high mile people seemed to be hitting the lifter failure eventually. Two guys upgraded different hardware and kept the DOD somehow and swore that swap was the best of both worlds.

My dad and I have done engine swaps in the past so I'm thinking we could pull off the install but now that he works nights that makes things more difficult.
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