L96 questions

TheCaddyMan04 · July 28, 2022

So why don't any aftermarket companies make a better quality product?

CamGTP · July 28, 2022

The camshaft must be changed because the cam lobes of the AFM cylinders have a different duration/lift than the non AFM cylinders. So if you put in a standard lifters on the AFM lobe, it would have a constant misfire at lower rpm.

A vast majority of trucks never have a problem and you only read about it on places like here for people that do have problems. They wouldn't sell the product if 1 in 10 trucks had the problem but if 1 in 5,000 do, they will be fine with that. GM sells a lot of trucks so the number of failures in reality isn't that extreme.

Bad batches of parts were to blame for lots of failures, that why many of the new trucks had issues. They even have a TSB out for trucks with those parts with a special coverage for a repair I believe.

TheCaddyMan04 · July 29, 2022

I watched a video the other day of someone who had cut one of the 2009 AFM lifters apart, and he was explaining how it works. Part of a video of unsticking the lifters. To me that seems like a very temporary solution to that problem.

Also, if you say the problem isn't as common as I think it is, then why should I replace the cam and lifters with non AFM ones if I could realistically just replace the AFM ones with the latest design?

I know I'm going to just end up finding another L86 to make my swap work, I haven't decided what method I want to go down about procuring one yet, but I'll figure that out when all the fab work is done, that's a down the road issue I guess.

But now I'm thinking about my daily, I already went through the 8 speed trauma and got the updated valve body and full transmission flush service done. I'm now approaching 82k miles, and I'm starting to get lifter anxiety. I change my oil on my own, every 3k miles with royal purple and an AC Delco filter. Since mine is one of the earlier engines, should I have any real concerns?

diyer2 · July 29, 2022

Well Caddyman I believe your 3 k mile oil changes and using a quality oil like Royal Purple is a big key to the longevity of these lifters.

TheCaddyMan04 · July 29, 2022

I know it seems excessive to change it so frequently, but I try to take care of my stuff the best I can. A lot of people tell me that I could do the oil every 5-6k, but something about that doesn't seem right to me. call me crazy, but I make it a point to flush the coolant, brake fluid, and change the oil in the diffs, transfer case and transmission every two years at the very least. especially on my 05 EXT and 04 ESV, I spent a lot of money to have those 4l60e's rebuilt, I'm not gonna let something stupid like a missed service interval take them off the road again.