AFM/DFM disabler

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Looks good for someone who made a bad choice to purchase one of those, except it too might be a premature choice if you can wait for the Chinese to clone it and sell theirs for the price of lunch. It is too expensive for what it is. You can say it solves some more expensive problem but that is no justification for price. A band-aid may save your wound from becoming gangrene but that doesn't make it worth more than 10 cents.
 
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No problems with mine either. Plugging into the the OBD port is not the way to do it. It can be done with a programmer or break out the wrenches and remove all of it. Some people have reported their battery going dead with things plugged into the obd port for too long. I keep clean oil in mine. If it breaks I'll fix it instead of worrying about it.
 
Originally Posted by Dave9
You can say it solves some more expensive problem but that is no justification for price. A band-aid may save your wound from becoming gangrene but that doesn't make it worth more than 10 cents.

Wow, I think your metaphor proves the opposite of your intent.

A band-aid and good medical practice that prevents gangrene is nearly priceless. Just ask someone who is suffering from the condition what they would have been willing to pay to avoid it. I venture to guess that they'd be willing to pay a pretty penny.

This really comes down to the perception of value of a product.
Is a product only worth the cost to produce plus some arbitrary percentage of profit?
Or is the value of a product equal to the value of the problem it solves?

The market consistently demonstrates that it is the latter.

So if customers with GM products view the AFM system as a problem that must be solved, then the 3rd party can sell at the price the market demands. The way we find out what the market demands is that this company offers the product and they sell a ton of them at their asking price. Or they sell hardly any. Then we'll know one way or the other.

Cheers!!!
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I had one in the Caprice while it was under warranty. Nice thing about it is you can remove it and leaves no trace.
Having said that, if you leave it in there for more than 5 days without running the vehicle it can/will kill the battery.

It does not eliminate the mechanical portion which is the issue. It does make life easier on your torque convertor.

So if you don't want to have a dyno tune done, and you want the vehicle to stay in 8 cylinder mode this thing works great.
If you have happen to have a failure down the line you can have it tuned out when the new parts are installed.

Lots of the truck guys, Caprice guys used them until they could get around to a tune, a complete delete or they are out of warranty. It certainly makes for a better driving experience
and is cheaper than a dyno tune.

It was worth it to me. I had it in the car for over 3 years before I did the delete. It was just a better experience overall with less time spent going into and out of torque convertor lock up.
 
Originally Posted by Imp4
Originally Posted by Dave9
You can say it solves some more expensive problem but that is no justification for price. A band-aid may save your wound from becoming gangrene but that doesn't make it worth more than 10 cents.

Wow, I think your metaphor proves the opposite of your intent.
Only if you add in unnecessary expenses.

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A band-aid and good medical practice that prevents gangrene is nearly priceless. Just ask someone who is suffering from the condition what they would have been willing to pay to avoid it. I venture to guess that they'd be willing to pay a pretty penny.


Which is the wrong way to look at it. If you treat it right in the first place, you don't need ANY medical practice markup. Remember, we're talking band-aid, not limb severed off. In the GM vehicles, we're talking early progressive flaw, not engine locked up.

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This really comes down to the perception of value of a product. Is a product only worth the cost to produce plus some arbitrary percentage of profit? Or is the value of a product equal to the value of the problem it solves?


Not necessarily. There are literally thousands of examples. Food keeps you from dying of starvation but is it priceless? No because there is competition. Similarly, once there is a Chinese clone, there is competition. A simple broom, is priceless in keeping your floor swept, but is still only worth the labor and materials to make it. Clothing... don't leave home without it, lol. Not worth more than labor plus materials.

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The market consistently demonstrates that it is the latter.


No, the market almost never (only early adopter *tax*) demonstrates this. It is a one to a million ratio for early market penetration and even that is not a rule, just an opportunity.

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So if customers with GM products view the AFM system as a problem that must be solved, then the 3rd party can sell at the price the market demands.


That's called throwing good money after bad. The solution is sell the vehicle. The band-aid is wait for the cheap clone. The paying a specialist a premium is what the early to market product is.

I can understand, making a bad vehicle choice then making a bad band-aid choice. It's consistent.
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Originally Posted by dave1251
It's a waste for me. I don't have a single issue with AFM never have.


Here also, never a problem. But we are careful with our maintenance and never cut corners.

The fact is a serious number of engines have issues, but the other fact is there are millions out there happily enjoying the V-8 in their GM truck...
 
Originally Posted by Dave9


I can understand, making a bad vehicle choice then making a bad band-aid choice. It's consistent.
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The problem is, with trucks there is no good choice. I've been putting off getting a new truck.

Ford has had timing chain issues, gm has had afm issues, ram also has lifter mds camshaft failures.

I would use that until warranty is out then do mechanical delete.
 
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Using a range disabler on my 07 Suburban since last July and no problems so far ??
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Just a "band Aid" until I sell it and pick up my long term "dream truck" a decked out PPV tahoe
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Dave
 
My two are fine for now but if I decide to get one of these a long post about waiting for China clones is not the way I think.
And as for my "bad" decisions on vehicles … that to me is the worst subject ever, ever, ever, covered on this site.

Much of it is just self grandiosity …
 
I have one I bought for the wife's Yukon that actually
had a torque converter shudder issue, not an AFM issue so I took it out and leave it plugged into my Corvette. I prefer all 8 cylinders pull their own weight. For under $200 I'm happy.
 
Yeah, mine are hardly ever in 4 mode … and I'm doing 75 mph at 1600 RPM on 8 … don't really see much opportunity to save gas …
Guess from the OEM side it was getting hard for V8's to meet the current or projected mandates etc …
(of course they knew some would get deleted) …
The turbo chain monsters are not perfect either …
 
I belong to several GM truck/SUV FB pages with thousands of members and this is what I read regarding AFM...

AFM lifter/cam problems in 2007+ year 5.3L engines are one of the most posted complaints. Many using ODB2 disablers still suffer engine failure so the device does not make AFM engines more reliable. The only real fix is the replacement lifter/cam/valley pan kits. A few have reported ODB2 disablers frying the port, shorting out the PCM, draining the battery. Unlike its predecessors, AFM engines need stellar maintenance and quality oil of the correct grade. Lax oil changes and thick oil Lucas brews greatly increase the chances of failure. The pickup tube o-ring is prone to failure in these engines. Thats real bad for an AFM engine which relies on oil pressure to do its thing. IMO a $2 oring, not AFM is the real cause of engine failure.

All this over 2mpg, what a shame.
 
Originally Posted by LeakySeals
The pickup tube o-ring is prone to failure in these engines. Thats real bad for an AFM engine which relies on oil pressure to do its thing. IMO a $2 oring, not AFM is the real cause of engine failure.

That is all LS based engines over a long period of time. That O-ring is not the main reason for the lifter failure. That would mean you see it often in stuff like the 5.3 or 6.0 prior to 07 or an LS1, that is not the case. While oil pressure issues are the problem it is usually in the VLOM.
Failure of the o-ring will cause an overall loss or lowering of oil pressure. A failure or "clog" in the VLOM is generally what causes a specific lifter failure.
 
Originally Posted by spasm3
Originally Posted by Dave9


I can understand, making a bad vehicle choice then making a bad band-aid choice. It's consistent.
wink.gif



The problem is, with trucks there is no good choice. I've been putting off getting a new truck.

Ford has had timing chain issues, gm has had afm issues, ram also has lifter mds camshaft failures.

I would use that until warranty is out then do mechanical delete.


So get a gas 3/4 ton or up. You can get them for the same price as a half ton, better everything (except MPG) with the gas motor and Ford and GM do not have AFM in their 3/4 ton and up gassers.
 
Don't buy it for a band aid...See my post.

Buy it for your torque converter(6L80E) and the fact that you don't like 4 cyl mode and you don't want to spend 500-600 dollars for a dyno tune until you actually swap out the cam and associated components to the non AFM stuff.

If you are serious about it do the complete delete with some BTR stuff and LS7 lifters like I did in the Caprice. Maybe mild LS3 Cam or LS9 Cam if you are cheap and want it pretty much stock.

I think I have done or assisted in 20 LS cam swaps. 10 of those being removal of the AFM stuff.

This tread hurts my brain a little.
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No issues here [85K miles] with AFM. Had a co worker with a 2007 Tahoe that had 200K miles who also had no issues with AFM. It was serviced every 4-5K miles. Only M1 was used.
 
Originally Posted by Tahoe4Life
No issues here [85K miles] with AFM. Had a co worker with a 2007 Tahoe that had 200K miles who also had no issues with AFM. It was serviced every 4-5K miles. Only M1 was used.



This is mainly for the 2014 and older GMT900 trucks. Your 2016 doesn't have that problem GM fixed the issue for the 2015+ trucks


I'd be more concerned about any future A/C condenser issues $$$$$$ in that Miami "Sauna" than your AFM



Dave


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SbdN5x_d1E
 
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