I have gotten a lot of questions if I was still doing programming, answer is YES, I have not stopped doing programming, nor do I plan to at all. This is my full time job. LT1SWAP.COM was created in 2002. 24+ years later I'm still here! Thanks, Brendan - 1/29/2025 - AFM Programming also gets top priority so be sure to mark package "AFM" on the outside. 1 day turn around on boxes marked "AFM" If you need it back faster, select the $100 option below. You are responsible for shipping it to me. The service you select is for the programming and return. USPS - Postal Service has had major slow downs recently, I am currently using UPS for most all return shipping.
If you have found this page you may be experiencing issues with your 2005-2018 GM Truck or SUV/Car that has the active fuel management, or sometimes called DOD (Displacement on Demand) This is the system that shuts down half the lifters in the engine and places it in a 4 cylinder operation mode. While this idea to shut down cylinders to reduce fuel consumption sounded great on paper, it has also been causing a lot of issues for people. Some of the issues observed deal with oil consumption, fouled spark plugs, and in some cases failed lifters, and repeat failures of lifters. Repair process gets expensive due to requirement of removing the cylinder heads to replace lifters. There are options to mechanically delete AFM from your engine when failure happens. (programming ECM required) To learn about that continue to read below. As a preventive measure you can have AFM disabled in your ECM programming, which is a service I offer. For probably the best video information, and some tools/parts for AFM repair, visit, Crazed Performance Repair CPR has tools to help release stuck lifters, as well as tips and tricks to help prevent reoccurrence of lifter problems. Also has a list of shops around the USA that have done these repairs and deletes, and willing to do them for you.
Vehicles Supported for AFM Delete Programming
2005+ Trail Blazer, Envoy, Saab 9-7x, Buick Rainier, Impala 3.9L & 5.3L (Some 3.9L Impala did not have AFM, some did)
2007-2018 GMC and Chevy Pickups with the V6 or V8 Engine
2007-2020 GMC, Chevy and Cadillac SUVs: Tahoe, Yukon, Suburban, Escalade
2019+ Pickups with the E90/E93 ECM, L84/L87 ARE NOT SUPPORTED. ****Some early 2019 pickups had the L83/L86 with E92 ECM, I can still do those specific 2019 pickups.****
Any Hybrid vehicle please contact me before purchasing or sending an ECM.
2007-2013 Vehicles with E85 Flex Fuel support - 5.3L LMG/LC9, 6.0L L77, 6.2 L9H, L94 The flex fuel system on these vehicles use what is called a "virtual flex fuel sensor" It uses signals from oxygen sensors after refueling to determine an E85 was added to the tank or regular gasoline. The computer updates the calculated percentage and adds fuel to the injector pulse to compensate for E85 fuel being used. This causes over fueling rich condition, the oxygen sensors read rich, causing computer to pull the fuel back out with fuel trims. I often see vehicles with P0172 and P0175 (rich fuel trim banks 1 and 2) because the ECM "thinks" the vehicle is filled with E85 when in reality, it is not. This will cause rough running cold starts, random misfires, and possible black exhaust when suddenly accelerating, and poor fuel mileage. The learned ethanol content can be viewed and reset with a scan tool. The ethanol content should not be over 10% if E85 has not been used. Resetting the content to 0% will usually fix the problem for a few weeks or months. Worn, slow oxygen sensors are likely the cause, but really ANYTHING that can mess with the o2 sensor signal could cause the false ethanol content. I can disable E85 compatibility and disable the fuel content learning feature in the ECM. If you would like this done at the time of AFM delete programming, simply include a note stating so. I DO NOT charge anything extra to turn this off, just tell me you want it done. Just know that after this programming, the vehicle will not be able to use E85.
You can include payment in the box however you like, or use the payment link below. If you send $50 I ship UPS Ground/Priority, if you send $100, I ship express/next day air automatically. Any payment inside box should be in an envelope or folded in paper, and taped well to the computer so nothing gets beat up or lost. ****I NO LONGER SHIP TO CANADA, MEXICO, OR ANY OTHER INTERNATIONAL DESTINATION, USA Only.
Ship your ECM to:
Brendan Patten
5411 County Road 2350
Pomona MO 65789
ph. 417 277 5836 <-- Land Line
The programming for preventive measure on your stock engine that currently runs fine, and the programming for a mechanically deleted engine the way I do them, ARE THE SAME. Devices such as the Range Technology AFM Disabler, DiabloSport AFM Disabler and hand held programmers, such as Superchips, Hypertech, may allow you to disable AFM on a completely stock engine, but these devices WILL NOT disable diagnostic codes for AFM. If you do a mechanical AFM delete, these devices WILL NOT WORK. ECM Must be programmed with laptop based tuning software, such as service I offer below.
Specific Mechanical AFM Delete information for 2005-2006 Trailblazer, Envoy, Saab, Impala, Monte Carlo Vehicles see here for details
Specific Mechanical AFM Delete information for 2014-2018 Vehicles with direct injected engine, L83 5.3L, L86 6.2L: see here for details.
I have been working with a few local shops; we have had dozens of trucks in my small town already with repeated lifter failures after replacement with new AFM lifters. The AFM lifters appear to fail two different ways. I have seen the lifter come a apart, causing valves to bend, and have also seen them get stuck in a compressed position, causing valves to stay closed, and pushrod to bounce around unloaded. I believe that the lifter should not fail as soon, or maybe not at all, if you disable the cycling from on to off of the AFM lifter. There are some vehicles where I have seen worn lifter guides, causing the AFM lifter to rotate slightly, and go into deactivated position on its own, also there are issues with the oil control solenoids that leak oil when not commanded, also causing cylinder deactivation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
OIL CONSUMPTION: It is my conclusion that the oil consumption has something to do with a spray or mist of oil created when the lifters exit the cylinder shut down mode and the oil used to compress the lifter is exhausted. This oil sprays on bottom of cylinders and enters the PCV system, drawn into the intake and burned. This means depending on each persons driving style, the more the engine enters/exits 4 cylinder mode, the more oil consumption you may see. This theory is backed up by the presence of oil fouling on spark plugs, which is usually worse on the AFM cylinders, but is present on all 8 cylinders. Some vehicles with 3+ qt consumption in an oil change the AFM delete dropped it by half, and an updated valve cover replacement further dropped the oil consumption. 2007-2010 vehicles there is an updated valve cover with revisions to the baffle/shield under the drivers side valve cover. read this: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2012/SB-10062524-7690.pdf GM also has a shield that goes over a valve in the oil pan. This IS NOT needed if AFM is disabled. I have done the AFM delete and the new valve cover on vehicles and completely eliminated oil consumption.
I have programmed hundreds of local trucks to simple disable the AFM. Last year I have programmed over 350 mail order ECM's for people doing hardware deletes using methods I describe here! Most notice almost no difference in fuel economy due to the very tight conditions required to enter 4 cylinder mode. (2014+ direct injected engines may see 1.0 to 1.5 MPG loss when disabling AFM) Oil consumption appears to be eliminated by disabling the AFM system when valve cover was replaced, as would be expected if my above theory is correct. Some vehicles may be too far gone; oil rings already to dirty to come back to life. I have seen a few vehicles that oil use tapered off over a year following AFM delete.
DISABLING THE AFM SYSTEM: If your vehicle is currently running with no mechanical problems; meaning, no misfires due to no compression, no stuck lifters, no loud lifters, I believe simply programming the ECM to disable the AFM activation will prolong the life of the engine, and eliminate oil consumption. If you have experienced a lifter failure, and have a cylinder with zero compression, lifter replacement is now required! I would highly suggest removing the AFM hardware from the engine since you will have the cylinders heads off anyways. !!!PROGRAMMING REQUIRED IF YOU REMOVE THE AFM HARDWARE!!! If you remove the AFM components, and start the engine, DTC P3401, P3425, P3441, P3449 will set. These are codes for the 4 solenoids that control AFM. When these codes set, the PCM will disable the injectors for those cylinders. So the ECM has to be programmed to disable those diagnostic codes. See bottom of this page for programming info. Devices such as the Range Technology AFM Disabler, DiabloSport AFM Disabler and hand held programmers, such as Superchips, Hypertech, may allow you to disable AFM on a completely stock engine, but these devices WILL NOT disable diagnostic codes for AFM. If you do a mechanical AFM delete, these devices WILL NOT WORK. ECM Must be programmed with laptop based tuning software, such as service I offer below.
If you have had a lifter stick and the pushrod/rocker arm is loose, there is a chance you maybe able to free it up. Watch this video below. Programming should still be done to disable AFM to prevent reoccurrence of the failure. This method could save you some time and money getting you back on the road. More info and the tools used for this are found here: Crazed Performance Repair
PARTS NEEDED FOR COMPLETE AFM MECHANICAL DELETE
Part numbers/prices change over time, below is likely old information, and stuff may have changed. I now recommend a kit from either Texas Speed or Brian Tooley Racing, Summit Racing now has AFM delete kits as well. Please avoid Amazon/eBay at all costs.
Head Gaskets GM PART# 12498544 for a PAIR, 2 head gaskets. These are the exact same gaskets you probably removed. Will say 5.3 HO / 5.7 on the gasket its self. 6.0 6.2 should use proper head gaskets for that engine. These are great for the money.
Head bolts GM PART# 17800568 Stock GM head bolts, enough for 1 cylinder head, so buy 2 of this part if doing both heads to do the full delete. Fel-Pro likely cheaper.
Valley Cover Plate - GM Part# 12598832 This will replace the stock valley cover that contains the oil control solenoids responsible for activating AFM. This new valley cover will also block off the 8 oil ports on the block. Should include gaskets. No need to drill & tap the towers, or otherwise seal the towers, this cover does that for you. !!!!THIS COVER IS ONLY TO BE USED IF INSTALLING STANDARD NON-AFM CAM/LIFTERS. DO NOT USE IF YOU STILL HAVE THE STOCK AFM CAM/LIFTERS INSTALLED!!!!!
Lifters - GM Part# 12499225 Your AFM engine will have 8 standard lifters, and 8 AFM lifters. This part# gets you 16 new standard lifters. Be careful of cheap Amazon/eBay lifters.
Timing Cover Gasket Set - Fel Pro Part# TCS45993 includes gaskets for timing cover, harmonic balancer seal, water pump, and oil pump pick-up tube o-ring.
Lifter Guides - GM Part # 12595365 These are the plastic guides that keep the lifters from rotating, keeping the roller going correct direction on the cam lobe. These guides are different for AFM lifters, and you will need 4 of these.
Cam Thrust Plate - GM PART# 12589016 This part retains the camshaft in the block and also has an oil seal that is likely flattened out and should be replaced.
CAMSHAFT - The AFM engines have a special camshaft. The mechanism required for the AFM lifters to turn on/off requires the individual lobes of the cam with AFM lifters riding on them to be DIFFERENT than adjacent lobes with standard lifters. You MUST replace the camshaft if you are going to replace the AFM lifters with standard lifters. Failure to do so will result in 4 cylinders that are about 25 lbs low on compression. This WILL cause misfires at idle. (Learned this the hard way, take my word, CHANGE THE CAMSHAFT)
GM PART# 12689035 is the stock camshaft used in the 4.8L/5.3L engine that DID NOT come with AFM. This camshaft is a direct replacement for the 5.3L AFM cam when you want to do the AFM delete and use standard lifters. This cam will have a groove in the 2nd bearing journal that is used to supply oil for use in VVT (variable valve timing) that started in 2010. This cam works just fine in 07-09 WITHOUT VVT, as well as 10+ WITH VVT when deleting AFM from 5.3l engines. This cam will use the stock single bolt timing gear and bolt from the 07+ engines as well. As of this writing, this cam is around $120 brand new from GM, you can also get it from Summit Racing. (This cam WILL NOT work for 2005-2006 5.3L Envoy, Denali, Impala SS, Monte Carlo SS or any engine with the E40 ECM those two model years. You must have 3 bolt cam sprocket for those applications.)
GM PART# 12623065. This cam is the factory 6.2L L9H camshaft from non-afm 6.2 in 2009+. Use this for 2007+ applications on 6.0/6.2 when deleting AFM for best matching lobes for the larger engine/heads used on these engines. This cam also uses the stock single bolt timing gear and bolt, works with or without VVT.
If you have a 2004-2006 Trailblazer, Envoy, Saab, Impala, Monte-Carlo, please see this link for camshaft info.
If you have a 2014+ Gen5 L83/L86, see this link for camshaft info.
2nd option for camshaft; the cheapest way is to find a used 4.8/5.3/6.0 camshaft from 1999 to 2007 Gen 3 engine that did not have AFM. These can often be had for as cheap as $20 online. There is one small difference. The Gen 3 camshafts use 3 bolts to hold the timing gear on, and the 2007+ use a single large bolt in the center. On the 2007+ engine you must use a cam gear that has a 4x trigger wheel for the camshaft position sensor. GM Part# 12586481 has a 3 bolt flange, and 4x trigger and will do this task and costs about $25.00. The gen 3 camshaft option WILL NOT WORK if you have a 2010+ with VVT. In that case, use the previously listed GM PART# 12689035 camshaft.
3rd option for camshaft, is to purchase an upgraded performance camshaft. If you go this route, such as a COMP cam, you can ask for a Gen 3 cam grind, made on a single bolt core. You need to let them know your intention to remove the AFM lifters, and you need all the intake lobes the same, and all exhaust lobes the same. Some cam manufactures are making camshafts to be used with the AFM lifters, so be sure to get this right... On the 2007+ trucks even the smallest performance camshafts will need a custom tune to get it to run perfect. You need to find a local tuner or dyno shop to talk about options after the cam install.
Camshaft sprocket bolt part# 11561283 for single bolt camshaft. This is a one time use bolt according to GM, its about $4.00
2007+ All Vehicles MUST use a 4x cam gear pattern. You can get this gear for a 3 bolt camshaft, or single bolt camshaft. 2010+ will have VVT Cam Phaser.
|
|
|
|
VVT, Variable Valve Timing - Some vehicles starting in 2007 had VVT, the 6.0L LY6, L76, and 6.2L engine family in the trucks ALL had VVT. Starting in 2010 ALL 4.8/5.3 engines also had VVT. This required a change to the camshaft, which will be a groove in the 2nd bearing journal to supply oil to the VVT control valve located inside the cam bolt on these engines. If you are doing the AFM delete on an engine with VVT, you can decide to keep the VVT, or get rid of it too. Removing VVT will require a new timing cover, cam gear, and cam gear bolt. The camshaft part# 12689035 for 5.3L listed above will work with or without VVT. IF YOU WILL BE DELETING VVT, AND I WILL BE PROGRAMMING YOUR ECM, YOU MUST LET ME KNOW BOTH AFM/VVT WILL BE DELETED, BY DEFAULT, I WILL ONLY DELETE AFM ON ECM'S I RECIEVE.
IF YOU SEND AN ECM TO ME FOR PROGRAMMING PLEASE READ THIS
ECM should be original to the vehicle. If you wish to purchase a spare ECM, and ship it instead, you will have to have security relearned. The ECM you purchase MUST have the exact same Service Number on the white sticker. There is an additional $50 for VIN programming, select service below in the white box. GM Sometimes has new software for your vehicle, including some recalls for emissions. If you take your vehicle in for a recall that involves reprogramming the ECM, they will overwrite the AFM Delete programming I do. This could result in only running on 4 cylinders if you have done a mechanical delete. I can perform the same GM programming and get you the latest GM software for your vin. To see what updates maybe available for your vehicle, click here, enter your VIN, click 'Get CAL ID', Select 'ECM Engine Control Module', click 'Next', and click 'Complete History' This will show all software for your ECM specific to your VIN#. There are 8 modules in your ECM. Some scan tools will display what your current vehicle software is, and you can use this tool to see if updates are available, and what that update is for. If you want this service at time of AFM delete, select it below by clicking in the white box, and choose the option with VIN Program, and select which shipping option you want. Please note, an ecm which is programmed with NEW GM software, may require a relearn procedure once you get it back in and running. If you get P0315 code, this will mean you need to have a "crankshaft position sensor variation lean" procedure done with a scan tool. This code will not cause any poor running or issue, but will prevent ECM from detecting misfires until the relearn is completed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
PREVENT DAMAGE TO YOUR ECM WHEN REMOVING CONNECTORS PLEASE VIEW THIS DOCUMENT. PDF FILE.
How to properly clean and remove E38/E67 ECM Harness Connectors
also a YouTube video here showing removal of ecm: https://youtu.be/zQJlmCuTtMY
Ship to:
Brendan Patten
5411 County Road 2350
Pomona, MO 65789
If you mark the outside of the box with black marker in big letters AFM, and ship it to me USPS, I often will program, and ship back out the SAME DAY! Be sure payment is included inside the box, or made prior to me receiving the ECM for the quickest turn around time. Any questions on this call me, 417-277-5836 <<< land line no text!
E-Mail with questions: brendan@lt1swap.com
DO NOT SEND ECM MOUNTING BRACKETS. ONLY SEND ECM. BRACKETS WON'T FIT IN SHIPPING BOXES I USE AND WILL INCUR ADDED SHIPPING COSTS.
****I NO LONGER SHIP TO CANADA, MEXICO, OR ANY OTHER INTERNATIONAL DESTINATION, USA Only.
| Select Service Below, USA Addresses ONLY |