Dreaded Lifter Failure in 2021 GMC Sierra 1500

SilverMak · February 13, 2022

On 2/9/2022 at 8:26 AM, Black02Silverado said:

It is a design flaw. No way around it considering the failure is at such low mileage, or it could be a material quality flaw a well. Since GM goes with the lowest bidder for parts. Sad that they will not address it any more than what they are now.

Yep, mine failed at under 5,000 miles.

Jeffj1964 · March 4, 2022

I have a 2019 SIerra with a 5.3 engine with 78,000 miles. Up until last week, it was a great vehicle. Out of nowhere, I suddenly had a real bad misfire, scary sounding ticking sound and a flashing check engine light. Onstar then told me I needed immediate service. I brought to the nearest dealer and they diagnosed as bad lifters. Once they had it apart, they said the camshaft was damaged and the engine needed either a complete rebuild or replacement. They opted for replacement. The total bill for the repair is over $12000. This happened 4 hours from home while on a business trip requiring a rental car during the duration of the repair.

GM has offered to help with the cost, In spite of being out of warranty, no one should have an engine failure with only 78,000 miles. Out of warranty at this point should mean an alternator, waterpump or brakes. I have owned 15 GM vehicles the last 13 have lasted over 200,00 miles. That is what I have come to expect.

This vehicle was serviced at a local dealership religiously using the proper Dexos oil. It was properly serviced. The mileage is 80% highway miles. Again, there is no reason for this type or repair being needed outside of a true manufacturing defect.

There has to be a design flaw.

voided3 · March 4, 2022

2 hours ago, Jeffj1964 said:

I have a 2019 SIerra with a 5.3 engine with 78,000 miles. Up until last week, it was a great vehicle. Out of nowhere, I suddenly had a real bad misfire, scary sounding ticking sound and a flashing check engine light. Onstar then told me I needed immediate service. I brought to the nearest dealer and they diagnosed as bad lifters. Once they had it apart, they said the camshaft was damaged and the engine needed either a complete rebuild or replacement. They opted for replacement. The total bill for the repair is over $12000. This happened 4 hours from home while on a business trip requiring a rental car during the duration of the repair.

GM has offered to help with the cost, In spite of being out of warranty, no one should have an engine failure with only 78,000 miles. Out of warranty at this point should mean an alternator, waterpump or brakes. I have owned 15 GM vehicles the last 13 have lasted over 200,00 miles. That is what I have come to expect.

This vehicle was serviced at a local dealership religiously using the proper Dexos oil. It was properly serviced. The mileage is 80% highway miles. Again, there is no reason for this type or repair being needed outside of a true manufacturing defect.

There has to be a design flaw.

Yep, design flaw and under-spec'd components. The sad thing is it's probably worth paying for the repair and keeping the truck at least two or three more years given what you would pay for an equivalent new truck to replace it in today's market. The new engine should last roughly that long before it happens again at the same mileage, giving you enough time to replace the truck in advance. $12,000 ideally should be a down payment on a better truck, but here we are.

I'll be genuinely amazed if any of these V8-powered T1-platform trucks make it to six or eight years old with their original engines and transmissions in-tact. We plan on trading in our '21 Silverado within the next year or two (already had lifter failure at 585 miles). Owning these out of warranty only makes sense if you have the skills and tools to do an engine swap yourself. Hopefully in the future, there will be DFM-deleted L84 and L87 crate engines for these with standalone ECUs.

2021 Sierra X31 · March 17, 2022

2021 Sierra SLT here, 5.3 Liter... 25,000 miles on the clock. Was driving home from work the other day, stop and go traffic and stop lights. I start to take off from a stop light and I hear a loud "tap, tap, tap", the truck loses power and continued to make the loud tapping noise. I knew it was bad right away. Limped it along until I could get it parked in a parking lot. As I made my way to the parking lot, the computer started flashing a bunch of codes. I quickly got it parked and shut it down. Called a tow truck and had it towed to my local dealership. They looked at it the next day and let me know that there was a intake valve lifter failure on cylinder 7. Subsequently, the collapsed lifter also caused other damage and bent a pushrod. I immediately asked the tech to please replace ALL lifters in the engine. He told me that per GM, they aren't allowed to do that unless the truck has 8,000 miles or less. So, I had no choice. They replaced only the lifters on the bank of cylinder 7. I'm extremely disappointed that with a brand new truck i've already had a catastrophic valvetrain failure. I'm sure they are sourcing half or more of the engine parts from CHINA. Now I just am driving and expecting any minute that i'll have the other side of lifters fail. Not to mention, I don't even know if they installed parts that are actually sound, or if they are no different and will fail again. Finally, after the lifters were replaced, now my truck idles more rough, and I can feel more vibration coming from the engine at different RPM's. Just really sucks. This was also my first GM product... so this leaves a really sour taste.

brewtus · March 17, 2022

4 hours ago, 2021 Sierra X31 said:

2021 Sierra SLT here, 5.3 Liter... 25,000 miles on the clock. Was driving home from work the other day, stop and go traffic and stop lights. I start to take off from a stop light and I hear a loud "tap, tap, tap", the truck loses power and continued to make the loud tapping noise. I knew it was bad right away. Limped it along until I could get it parked in a parking lot. As I made my way to the parking lot, the computer started flashing a bunch of codes. I quickly got it parked and shut it down. Called a tow truck and had it towed to my local dealership. They looked at it the next day and let me know that there was a intake valve lifter failure on cylinder 7. Subsequently, the collapsed lifter also caused other damage and bent a pushrod. I immediately asked the tech to please replace ALL lifters in the engine. He told me that per GM, they aren't allowed to do that unless the truck has 8,000 miles or less. So, I had no choice. They replaced only the lifters on the bank of cylinder 7. I'm extremely disappointed that with a brand new truck i've already had a catastrophic valvetrain failure. I'm sure they are sourcing half or more of the engine parts from CHINA. Now I just am driving and expecting any minute that i'll have the other side of lifters fail. Not to mention, I don't even know if they installed parts that are actually sound, or if they are no different and will fail again. Finally, after the lifters were replaced, now my truck idles more rough, and I can feel more vibration coming from the engine at different RPM's. Just really sucks. This was also my first GM product... so this leaves a really sour taste.

Just curious - what was your build date? If it were me I'd be sending this one down the road. Wouldn't feel comfortable with only 1/2 of the lifters replaced as they all obviously came from the same batch.

2021 Sierra X31 · March 17, 2022

Where is the build date listed? I looked around engine bay. I see dates on individual parts, they all vary. Looked at paperwork on truck, didn't see it there.

voided3 · March 17, 2022

16 minutes ago, 2021 Sierra X31 said:

Where is the build date listed? I looked around engine bay. I see dates on individual parts, they all vary. Looked at paperwork on truck, didn't see it there.

It will be on your driver's door jamb sticker, the one below the trailering information sticker (not the yellow load info sticker, the other GM-specific one). Our '21 Silverado has a 11/2020 build date and our lifters went out early, too.

2021 Sierra X31 · March 17, 2022

1 hour ago, voided3 said:

It will be on your driver's door jamb sticker, the one below the trailering information sticker (not the yellow load info sticker, the other GM-specific one). Our '21 Silverado has a 11/2020 build date and our lifters went out early, too.

Yep, found it. Thanks. Looks like my build date is also 11/2020... so you and I are in the exact same boat. As far as demanding they replace both sides, that's going to go nowhere. That would mean the dealership would be taking around a $2000 hit.

I actually just got back from dealer again today. I had them change the oil (they were supposed to when lifter was replaced) and look at why the truck is now idling rough after they replaced one bank of lifters. The shop foreman drove the truck, acknowledged that it does idle rough. He wants me to drive it 2,000 miles first, since it was a major repair, and see if it still persists. If it does, they are going to look into it further. We all know it's not going to correct itself. So, I will be taking it back in 2000 miles from now.

voided3 · March 17, 2022

25 minutes ago, 2021 Sierra X31 said:

Yep, found it. Thanks. Looks like my build date is also 11/2020... so you and I are in the exact same boat. As far as demanding they replace both sides, that's going to go nowhere. That would mean the dealership would be taking around a $2000 hit.

I actually just got back from dealer again today. I had them change the oil (they were supposed to when lifter was replaced) and look at why the truck is now idling rough after they replaced one bank of lifters. The shop foreman drove the truck, acknowledged that it does idle rough. He wants me to drive it 2,000 miles first, since it was a major repair, and see if it still persists. If it does, they are going to look into it further. We all know it's not going to correct itself. So, I will be taking it back in 2000 miles from now.

Yep, they replaced the lifters only on cylinders #6 and #8 on ours around 1700 miles. This was before the updated TSB guidance, otherwise we would have had the whole bank or all of them replaced. The truck now is at about 12,500 miles and still runs fine, but I also change the oil every 3,000 miles and drive exclusively in L7 on the 8-speed to disable both DFM and auto start/stop. We plan on trading in the truck before the 3 year/36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty is up, even though they gave us an extended component coverage letter on the engine to 100,000 miles; that's how little I trust this thing.

2021 Sierra X31 · March 17, 2022

41 minutes ago, voided3 said:

Yep, they replaced the lifters only on cylinders #6 and #8 on ours around 1700 miles. This was before the updated TSB guidance, otherwise we would have had the whole bank or all of them replaced. The truck now is at about 12,500 miles and still runs fine, but I also change the oil every 3,000 miles and drive exclusively in L7 on the 8-speed to disable both DFM and auto start/stop. We plan on trading in the truck before the 3 year/36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty is up, even though they gave us an extended component coverage letter on the engine to 100,000 miles; that's how little I trust this thing.

*Edit - I see now you actually have 100k warranty on engine.

Well, your powertrain warranty should be thru 60,000 miles. Which, should cover any issues with the lifters/engine. That's my understanding anyways. But, getting rid at 36K might be the safest route! I really like this truck and wanted to keep it 3-5 years. But, I just can't see it at this point. Not with problems like this already.

Edited March 17, 2022 by 2021 Sierra X31

voided3 · March 17, 2022

Just now, 2021 Sierra X31 said:

Well, your powertrain warranty should be thru 60,000 miles. Which, should cover any issues with the lifters/engine. That's my understanding anyways. But, getting rid at 36K might be the safest route! I really like this truck and wanted to keep it 3-5 years. But, I just can't see it at this point. Not with problems like this already.

Correct, basic powertrain is 5 years/60,000 miles, though I've had other issues that were non-mechanical, as well. Given current trade values, we intend to trade in the truck late this year or early next year and I would recommend the same to you.

We'll probably end up doing what we should have done in the first place and get a gas 3/4 ton like an F250 with the 6.2 V8, even though our current travel trailer is only 4,000 lbs. GVWR. My dad is getting a '22 Sierra 2500 6.6 gas soon so I'll be curious how his truck treats him in comparison.

WeGone · March 17, 2022

The build date on the motor is what counts in regards to the lifter issues. On the back of the drivers side cylinder head, can be seen by looking up past the bell housing.

Edited March 17, 2022 by WeGone

2021 Sierra X31 · March 17, 2022

53 minutes ago, voided3 said:

Correct, basic powertrain is 5 years/60,000 miles, though I've had other issues that were non-mechanical, as well. Given current trade values, we intend to trade in the truck late this year or early next year and I would recommend the same to you.

We'll probably end up doing what we should have done in the first place and get a gas 3/4 ton like an F250 with the 6.2 V8, even though our current travel trailer is only 4,000 lbs. GVWR. My dad is getting a '22 Sierra 2500 6.6 gas soon so I'll be curious how his truck treats him in comparison.

Curious what other issues you have had. I've got the issue with the driver's side DRL light that has turned purple in color. GM can't figure that out either. They replaced the entire headlight assembly and the new one turned purple the next week.

I agree. Not sure how long i'll keep this one. It's just the uncertainty of not being able to get my hands on a new truck. Unless I build one and wait 5 months I suppose.

voided3 · March 17, 2022

2 minutes ago, 2021 Sierra X31 said:

Curious what other issues you have had. I've got the issue with the driver's side DRL light that has turned purple in color. GM can't figure that out either. They replaced the entire headlight assembly and the new one turned purple the next week.

I agree. Not sure how long i'll keep this one. It's just the uncertainty of not being able to get my hands on a new truck. Unless I build one and wait 5 months I suppose.

To summarize, the engine has been apart twice for lifter failure (before they finally figured it out), the idler pulley and serpentine belt prematurely failed at 6300 miles, the bed was incorrectly installed crooked at the factory, and the front seats had to be removed to fix incorrectly installed/non-functioning HVAC ducting to the rear. I also have to hold it in neutral for three seconds between reverse and drive or it slams into 2nd gear on the first 1-2 shift of the day.

After each repair, the dealer also messed up something and I had to fix it myself: They didn't clip a heater hose back into place so it would rub on the frame going over bumps and squeak, the body shop bent the plastic deflector in front of the passenger side rear wheel so I had them send me the part to install myself, and they didn't reconnect the wiring harness for the rear seat USB ports after removing the front seats so I had to pop the bezel off and reconnect it. They also put over 500 miles on the truck test driving it across the four service appointments for the lifters and burned half a tank of gas without refueling it on the last appointment and never reimbursed me after providing a receipt. They also ran over my floor mats at some point; the front passenger side mat had a distinct Michelin Primacy tread print in it I had to scrub off with a drill brush....

In conclusion, there are some days I hope this piece of $#!^ catches fire on the side of the road and puts itself out of my misery. I might call the fire department to come put it out after a half hour or so, just to be safe.

2021 Sierra X31 · March 17, 2022

1 hour ago, WeGone said:

The build date on the motor is what counts in regards to the lifter issues. On the back of the drivers side cylinder head, can be seen by looking up past the bell housing.

Is it just me, or is there not a date shown there? If not, how do you interpret date codes?