Range AFM delete

[jacob461]

My 2014 5.3 silverado is about to roll over 100k and sounds noticeably different when it idles in 4 cylinders now days.
Thinking about ordering the range obd2 plug in to disable the afm. Anyone have first hand experience with them?

[AirForceAngler]

My neighbor had one. Seemed to work pretty good. Some had an issue with running the battery down if left plugged in, but I think that was fixed with an update.

[jacob461]

My neighbor had one. Seemed to work pretty good. Some had an issue with running the battery down if left plugged in, but I think that was fixed with an update.

The battery issue is my main concern. I have a company vehicle and my personal truck rarely moves unless I’m fishing.

[jmiller21511]

My 2014 5.3 silverado is about to roll over 100k and sounds noticeably different when it idles in 4 cylinders now days.
Thinking about ordering the range obd2 plug in to disable the afm. Anyone have first hand experience with them?

I lurk on the boards a lot but finally have something I can respond to...

I have a 2016 with the 5.3 that has 96k miles. I have had a range disabler for about 10k miles. Since I bought it, I have not unplugged it and never had battery drainage issues (longest it has sat is probably 3 days). It has kept my MPG consistent around 16-17mpg with most city driving and I have heavier 33" tires. I like it and recommend it as I also hated hearing the tone change when I had an exhaust on my truck.

[acfire]

My 2013 5.3 has 73,000 , mine has sat up to 9 days and no problem with it running battery down .

[mactlman]

Your engine never idles in four-cylinder mode. Only goes into4 cylinder mode driving under light load conditions Might have a manifold leaking??

[Kanuck1958]

Your engine never idles in four-cylinder mode. Only goes into4 cylinder mode driving under light load conditions Might have a manifold leaking??

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This

[Highcentered]

A buddy of mine has had the Range deal in his 2018 Silverado since new. At 97k he had lifter issues. He got it because everyone was saying that would keep the lifter failure from happening. It's now in the shop for the second time after getting one bank of lifters fixed less than a month ago. Possibly shoddy work from the mechanic he used but he's not the first one I've known to get lifters replaced on a 5.3 and have problems soon after. Most of his driving is all highway and rarely tows anything. He's had regular oil changes with what they claimed was Havoline synthetic. Not sure how good that oil is for a 5.3.

[jacob461]

Your engine never idles in four-cylinder mode. Only goes into4 cylinder mode driving under light load conditions Might have a manifold leaking??

My dash stays on the radio setting so the v4/v8 isn’t displayed. I’ll have to pay more attention the next time I drive it. It’s not that noticeable idling in park but you can almost feel it when your stopped at a red light. Makes me think something is about to come apart.

Edit to add that the dealer replaced my oil pump between 60-70k. Check engine light came on and they said it wasn’t dropping oil pressure like it should when it dropped cylinders. The truck has wreaked of coolant since they worked on it. That was probably 4 years ago and I’ve only had to add about a quart of coolant since then. There’s no telling what they did when they worked on it. The low oil warning came on half way home from that repair and I found the sending unit wasn’t plugged in.

[jacob461]

My 2013 5.3 has 73,000 , mine has sat up to 9 days and no problem with it running battery down .

Good to know. It’s not uncommon for mine to sit over a week.

[jbh3]

I have it on my 2018 5.3 w/6 speed. From what I have read on the Chevy forum (https://www.silveradosierra.com/), the battery drain issue was resolved with the later/current version of the device. My 2018 has less than 15K miles, so it sits a lot. The device improved the "drive-ablity" on mine a lot. Well worth the $$, IMO. FWIW, I ordered directly from Range. The site was very easy to navigate and they shipped quickly.

[mactlman]

If you buy a range technology device, make sure you buy it from them directly and that way you get the latest Greatest software lots of people buy them somewhere cheap because they’re old and outdated then you have to send it in and get it updated it’s not worth it little bit of savings

[jacob461]

I have it on my 2018 5.3 w/6 speed. From what I have read on the Chevy forum (https://www.silveradosierra.com/), the battery drain issue was resolved with the later/current version of the device. My 2018 has less than 15K miles, so it sits a lot. The device improved the "drive-ablity" on mine a lot. Well worth the $$, IMO. FWIW, I ordered directly from Range. The site was very easy to navigate and they shipped quickly.

I’ve tried to make an account on that forum several times and it rejects me every time.

[Toddph]

I have one on my 2018 Denali 6.2, only 30k miles that most times sits for a 5-10 days and have had no issues with battery drain, truck does drive better, shifts better and haven’t noticed a real drop in mpg. And I will agree with two above statements to buy directly from range, you may pay a couple dollars more but it will be updated.

[OkieBud]

we have a 07 Chevy Avalanche with one that stays plug in and gets drove every other week and no battery issues..

[61Woody]

I have it on my 21 Silverado 5.3 8 speed. Has sat for up to two weeks and no ill effects on the battery but at least once a week if I drive it everyday the auto stop kicks in. Sent it back to range and they said they found nothing wrong with it but sent a new one(in the same box as the old) It still does it after 4 months so I wonder if it is preventing cylinder deactivation like it should.

[JR19]

I bought my 16 Silverado in 19 with 37K and a few months later I ordered a Range Technology chip. I simply plug it in and my motor stays in V8. Even without the chip I never could tell when mine was in V4 or switched back to V8. I occasionally scroll through the info screen on my dash looking at tire pressure, engine hours, transmission temperature and various other things. I always look to see if I'm in V4 or V8 and its always in V8. As an experiment I have turn my truck off and removed the chip to see if it goes back to V4 and it does. The only 2 down sides I have is it did drop my fuel mileage around 1 mph and there is a small parasite amp draw on your battery because the chip does draw power even when the motor is off. My truck is a garage queen that sits for long periods so I have to unplug my chip. If you put 4-5 K a year on your truck like I do I would unplug the chip when not in use. If your driving it 3-4 days a week on a regular basis then there is zero worries on battery drain and your only draw back will be a loss of around 1 mpg.

[JR19]

I also should add the Range chip does not delete AFM. It simply overrides the signal in the computer and does not allow it to drop out to V4. If you unplug the chip there is no way to trace it was ever plugged in and your vehicle simply goes back to normal function. Now there is a process to permanently delete AFM but its a lot more work than simply plugging in a chip to override the signal in the computer.

[The Bass Junkie]

My 2014 5.3 silverado is about to roll over 100k and sounds noticeably different when it idles in 4 cylinders now days.
Thinking about ordering the range obd2 plug in to disable the afm. Anyone have first hand experience with them?

You may already have a lifter on its way out..what is your current mileage?

[5keepers2]

I have it on a 2016........I like it. BIL did not have it on a 2014 and he just spent several thousand dollars on a lifter failer and had a piston fail also. Did motor rebuild! OUCH for him!