Range AFM Disabler - Long Term Review 

It has been 15k miles since I first plugged in the Range device. Still no issues! Fuel economy is down approximately 1 MPG. We’re getting ready to flip 200k shortly!

I used my range when it had 146k miles. I’m rolling 300k as we speak! It’s worth it!

If you wear gloves while installation. You will gain 5hp

I have a 2018 GMC Sierra with only 21k miles and it was doing some crazy things. It would feel like you're driving side ways across a freshly plowed field. Local dealership kept saying they can't find anything wrong and charging a diagnostic fee. A service manager at another dealer knew what it was within 30 seconds of me describing the symptoms. Installed the Range AFM disabler and so far no issues.

I've had this in my Camaro for about 30k miles and have not had any issues. Runs great and gas millage is about the same. I must say however... A word of caution if you live in a state that does SMOG testing.. When you pull out the AFM disabler it will reset the OBD monitors and cause your car to fail the emissions test. In that case just drive it around for a day or two before you take your car for the emissions test.

Good clear no-nonsense review, thanks.

I drive my truck for 6 years and no problem Using this device 👍

Who the hell buys a 4x4 to save fuel what the hell was GM thinking

Another way to keep AFM disabled until you get this device or go full AFM disabler with new lifters, cam shaft, and pcm reprogram is to only drive in L or M (depending on truck model) and set it to the gear one less than your transmission actually has. If a 6 speed, set it to L5 or M5 so that is the max gear it will use. This will disable AFM.

I installed this 2 years ago on my 14 Silverado it's been in v8 since love it

Just installed on my 2018 Sierra Denali and works perfectly

I have two of these trucks with AFM, 07 Silverado and a 08 Sierra with the 5.3...I had to replace the engine twice in 08 Sierra because of the AFM sistum before I heard about the Range disabler installed it and I have 40022 thousand miles on it with absolutely no issues with the engine I haven't done anything else to the truck just keep the oil an filter changed every 3000 miles and change the transmission fluid & filter every 80 thousand miles that's it...and no the 07 Silverado was consuming like 1to1and a half quarts of every 3000 miles with lifter tick, installed the range disabler absolutely on more issues. Zero oil consumption and no more lifter tick, I have over 230 thousand miles on it and it runs great. This device saved this engine.. These things are awesome 👍

Your honest approach to everything makes you easy to listen to and get advice from. It also makes me a subscriber.

I got a afm disabler and im extremely happy! Im not losing oil anymore I recommend this to anybody

Great clear, informative, drama free, level headed review Hilltown. Wish more of RU-vid was like you.

Just to make something clear, if you leave your AFM equipped truck in park it will always stay in V8 mode. As for the oil consumption, in order to get less friction the ring tension was reduced and the low tension rings let more oil get past. One of the service items for restoring a problem AFM engine is new rings. I had an 07 that failed at 101,000 miles and the ring replacement was the item that convinced me to go with a factory remain. If I was going to spend the money for lifters, cam, top cover, rings and other incidentals I wanted a guarantee. There's a limit to the amount of money I would throw at an engine with 101,000 miles. I do think that AFM failure can cause excess oil to get drawn past the rings and fowl them but that's not the main reason.

Ive had mine for over a year and works perfect. Not a single issue

Also change the PCV valve that is integrated on the drivers side valve cover. E z to do and helps a ton on oil consumption.

I purchased the Range AFM Disabler in January 2019 and my 2007 Tahoe LTZ 4x4 uses no oil and stays in V-8 mode all the time.

Thanks for making this video! Straight and to the point. I went ahead and bought one can’t wait to start using it.

I didn’t see any comments but I also hear that the stock valve cover with the PCV valve has a tendency to get stuck open and lets oil through. A friend of mine who is a GM mechanic said that replacing the valve cover on the driver side should also help.

Thanks for doing the vid. I just ordered one for my Corvette. I can't comprehend why GM wouldn't make the AFM V4 mode a switchable feature to begin with!

Interesting product - I’m not a mechanic type guy although on the older vehicles ive turned a wrench or two. I think it’s cool that you have a workaround something that didn’t pan out as the manufacturer thought it might. Kept my interest through the whole video! Have a good one!

I’ve had this device on my 13 Yukon for about 8 months (since about 47k or so) with no issues at all. MPG did not change. I bought it for what I’m hoping will be a successful preventive measure.

Just bought one from Range was expensive especially since I live in Canada and got nailed duty price to door $290. Have a 17 High Country 6.2L one thing I noticed right away was no more transmission clunking which is caused by AFM I was told. As far as MPG can't say yet but didn't buy it for fuel mileage. Have the latest version and it does what it says no codes and doesn't run battery down. Left it plugged in for a month and didn't kill battery I think that issue was solved also throwing codes. Truck feels smoother but I wasn't that bad before either.

I have a 2014 Silverado with the 6.2 it's got 120k miles no issues with oil consumption but it's currently back at Chevrolet with afm lifter failure and possible cam damage . Chevrolet and I have had some pretty heated conversations over this shit !!

Great Review , I run one on a 2010 5.3 Silverado , works very well , helped with oil consumption considerably , can't tell any difference in mpg one way or the other.

So glad I found this video.. just bought a 2024 Sierra 1500 elevation. Being new to gmc, I didn’t know about this but from all my research, this seems to significantly fix these trucks issues.. makes sense because no engine should switch from v8 to anything.. completely stupid. Glad it’s a simple $200 fix though. I really do like the GMC Sierra out of all the other trucks I saw. I can deal with an issue like this.

I never run my engines the full 7000 miles I have 35 of these trucks burning $10,000 worth of fuel a month our oil gets changed religiously at 3500 miles. We never had any real engine, failures, 350,000 is the average mileage before I trade them in. I have done the oil test several times on many different engines that operate in different conditions and it was advised to me to change it at least every 4000, as for the cylinder delete of the AFM set up. Sounds cool. I just ordered my first one. everyone can do what they want on their own oil changes the last time at one of the big meetings I tend to go to. It was brought up that most the oil changes are not due to mileage but mostly due to the sierra club, if Ford Chevrolet, or dodge any of them would be tickled to death if you change the oil every 500 miles lol so it’s kind of up to the owner Great video.

Not to many know either but the DOD system kills the life of your lifers as well.

wow...wish I had discovered this product before I towed a trailer full of heavy bikes from Springfield to El Paso and back in crazy high heat, on the way down it burned a quart of oil and the tranny was pushing the temp gage too close for my comfort, on the way back I used that tow button on the end of the shift lever, even though the RPM's were higher the tranny stayed cooler and I didn't burn any oil which now I realize its prolly because the AFM was deactivated. 07 Tahoe 5.3ltr 160,000mi. thanks Hilltown!

Adding this after I get my truck back together. Third time in 3 years I've had multiple lifters fail. Finally ended up replacing the VLOM and essentially everything else to do with the AFM system but this will at least get me to the dealership to trade her in LOL. Great video👍🏻

Didn’t work for me on my 07 gmc envoy Denali with a 5.3. I plugged it in and headed on a 600 mile trip, ,3/4 of the way through, my check engine light came on and the engine quit firing on one cylinder. One lifter had failed to reset. So… did a full AFM delete, reprogram, and trashed the RANGE disabler. I haven’t noticed a decrease in fuel mileage, maybe because on the Interstate I drive 75 most of the time, BUT, it seemed to cure my oil consumption issue. The next trip I took, 750 miles, I used NO oil, normal would have been almost a quart. A HUGE thanks to Crazed Performance for tools and tips for the Delete!!!

Had this in my Saab 9-7x for 4 years now. Have 191000 miles on my 5.3, and it uses very little oil, runs like new.

Exactly. I don't buy a truck for fuel economy

Yeah I used to run the range tool before I bought my truck somebody had issues so I ended up swapping the cam and lifters doing a DOD delete.... Pcv valve maybe bad checks out if you have a oil consumption... monitor your oil pressure levels to on the truck if it starts skipping around you might have to change or clean the screen under the oil pressure switch and or you might have to drop the oil pan to change the rubber gasket on the pickup tube into the pump..

Put a catch can on it also. You’ll be surprised at the oil it collects. I used the Diablo intune3 to program the AFM out.

I have a 2015 Denali with a 6.2. Not a good year I know. They just replaced engine as lifters went bad, among other things. I just ordered my Range. Interesting thing to know.... Driving in tow mode does not shut out V4 mode. Would have been nice to know before I tired a trailer up and down the West Coast! Great video, thank you! I will have to study that seafoam trick..... Baby steps! Looking forward to having my 8 cylinders back full time!

7500 miles between oil changes? Yikes. Your oil is super black because its burnt from going 7500 miles per oil change. Try changing it every 3k miles and you wont have any issues.

I have a 2014 5.3, started burning oil at 40k. Did the oil consumption test and after back and forth they replaced my pistons and rings at 48k miles under warranty. Im now 1500 miles on the new pistons and rings and havent used any oil yet. Prior to the replacement i was burning more than the GM threshold of 1qt per 2k miles. considering getting this product to shut off the v4.

I have a v6 Colorado and this thing was using 2 quarts between oil changes almost right away. Just got the Range AFM and it's working well so far.

Change your oil when you get to 50%oil life...that's the advice I got from a mechanic who seemed to know his stuff....

I just picked up a used 2013 gmc sierra z71 with 82k miles last Saturday after trading in my 2003 silverado z71 with 175k. The afm scares me at this point. Haven't had any issues so far but I plan to change the plugs on it and run synthetic oil only. I drive it everyday mabye 10 to 12k miles a year. Thank God I have a powertrain warranty on this truck. So far no complaints

I was getting oil consumption and replaced the Drivers side Valve cover with the PCV and it helped a lot as well. I also have a Range and had no issues with it.

Good job catching it before it ruined your rings. My wife’s Tahoe was going through a quart a week when I bought one. Too late. We traded for a 19 Yukon with low miles and transferred the.Range to it.

I had seen comments about battery drain when left plugged in. A parasitic draw check shows about 25 mA draw that shouldn't be a problem for daily drivers. 50mA is considered the max draw.

Only problem is you should have put it in day one when you bought the truck. From what I have read those cylinders are already damaged.

We're on year 2 or 3 I can't remember with ours; so far and still no issues. It seems to do exactly as it says.

just put mine in my escalade, so far works great

Great Presentation...Step by Step...Thank You so Much !!!!!

If that device does what it’s supposed to do reliably, it’s worth every penny.I want 8 cylinders all the time.

I'm a mechanic I specialize in de governmenting vehicles and I have done a TON of these LS/LT platform DOD jobs I would highly recommend a full mechanical removal and a real tune of the system it can and will still activate with those devices no matter what it says on the dash and eventually the VLOM will begin to leak and you will experience low oil pressure poor idle and it will typically be accompanied by a P0420 P0430 and P0106 code catalyst efficiency codes and a MAP sensor performance code and the continuing to activate will cause cylinder damage just because it says it's "in v8 mode " on the dash doesn't mean it will not intermittently activate with a true disable tune you swap to LS7 style lifters drive plugs in the towers that supply oil to where the dod lifters used to be and you unplug the VLOM and disable the DOD as well as set the minimum activation speed to 300mph So that the ECM will never see a condition where it could possibly activate unless you strap a jet engine on the back of it as well as deactivate the PIDS for the VLOM plate so there is no electrical connection to the solenoids it will be 100% impossible for it to activate and unlike diesel deleting that is a legal modification because the 3/4 ton trucks were able to be optioned without the DOD from the factory just a bit of knowledge for you the other thing is you may still have a lifter collapse condition with the range device

Good job on the video... very informative!

Excellent review. I did the same on a 2011 Silverado 5.3 - seafoam & disabler and my oil pressure improved greatly.

Really good video my man,much appreciated...

I never knew this was an issue, I've got a 2010 ram with a similar system and it's never had a single issue with the cylinder shut down.

Thanks for the video man! I'm in need of a little more help. I have an 08' sierra as well and it has never showed my fuel economy on the cluster. Also does show mpg or V8 mode like yours after plugging in the AFM disabler. I saw in your video after you plugged in the AFM disabler, your cluster displayed your mpg and said it was in V8 mode. Did it show mpg before you had the plug in or is that an affect of the AFM disable. Thanks.

Came across this only because I want an exhaust job and don't want the 4 banger sound. My question here is 1. Will it void warranty on my truck? 2. Will it throw off codes or do anything haywire with the computer system Thank you

I read it can drain the battery if it sits to long glad you haven’t had any issues with that. My question for the manufacturer is, Why have a light that stays on if it can drain the battery? Also, why is there a light at all?

I see most people talking about buying this to remedy excessive oil consumption, but I’m wanting to buy this to prevent another engine rebuild. Recently, one of my AFM lifters went out. Luckily I have a wonderful mechanic friend, or it would’ve cost my ~$4000 to have my engine fixed. So my question is, do you think this will prevent another AFM lifter from going out? I mainly am looking to purchase this thing because I’m terrified of that happening again.

I don't get it. Why not add an ECO mode botton and let the driver make the choice whether they want to use AFM or not.

I’m just saying this as someone who has had both. I hate the range device. Always having to yank it when I needed to scan codes, undiagnosed hard shifts with the device plugged in, and the annoying lights at night did it in for me. I got a tuner (hp tuners I think) and I disabled it that way. I would strongly advise investing a little more and doing it that way. No lights, no hard shifts, no device in the way when you need it. $50 bucks more. No brainer

Fyi I saw a response by Range to concerns about the battery drain and they said the device goes to sleep when the vehicle is off and the power drain is extremely negligible. The parasitic drain from the device is around 3mA, and the average normal drain on a truck that is turned off from its various components is 50-75mA. There’s no chance this thing device is gonna make an appreciable difference in battery drain when the vehicle is switched off. Honestly I don’t know why they even mention it.

The V4 mode is pointless to begin with. It doesn’t activate when your at idle, it only seems to do anything when you are in like 5th gear cruising on the highway. Then as soon as you hit any incline on the road, it has to go back to V8 mode. I took a trip from Dallas-Houston, and kept my eye on it. The longest it stayed in V4 mode was 45 seconds. Out of a 265 mile drive, the truck ran in V4 mode for 23 miles, but it was never engaged for a complete mile, lots of switching back and forth. Eliminating it is my next project.

Got a 2015 GMC Sierra with the 4.3 has 90k miles thought about one of these but i dont have any oil consumption issues runs great.

Funny how GM advertising said that you will get 18 to 20 mpg on these trucks.

Make sure that you update to at least version 8.6 which should solve any problems. Range will update for you. Look on the box for your current version.

Going that long between oil changes is a dangerous game sir. The factory recommended interval is way to many miles. Remember, they want you to buy a new one!

I change my oil in my 09 5.3 lt every 3000 miles and I’m at 128k rn hoping to get to like 200 or 300k definitely buying this hate active fuel management on mine !

Just put this in my 2011 silverado with 220k miles og lifters I just can't stand the drone from my aftermarket exhaust mine still uses no oil been a damn reliable truck really

We bought one for my son's 08 silverado 5.3 and it would make the transmission down shift real hard. Had to threaten to sue to get a refund. The fix for oil consumption was the valve cover and the oil pressure relief valve deflector. The deflector is what did the trick.

ANOTHER ISSUE WITH OIL CONSUMPTION is to replace the valve cover with the pcv valve .My 5.3 was doing that.

I had this and it drained my battery. Never had my truck sitting for more than a day. Took it off and no more battery issues.

My 2011 tahoe ltz has 129k I run mobile 1 full synthetic truck and suv oil and add Schaeffer’s oil additive every oil change since new, I check the oil every other oil change, I haven’t burned a drop somehow my old 04 Yukon XL with the 6.0 burned 1 QT from 100k-294k miles when I got rid of it. I’ve been a tech since I got out of trade school at 19 and am a service manager of a big dealership, maintenance is key never go by the oil life always go by mileage after 6 months or 5k miles the additives in most oil have disintegrated and aren’t preventing sludge or carbon build up, I change my oil with full synthetic and additive every 4K miles

Not sure if this applies to anyone but on my 2014 camaro SS after about a year of use, plugging in prior to start every time, I plugged it into the OBD and it just doesnt turn off AFM anymore. Not sure what happened..

How do you know if you have oil consumption problems? I have a 2009 Silverado with the 5.3 V8, just ordered one of these. Thanks.

Dear author, I use this Range Device on my 2011 chevy camaro SS and do not like how auto transmission is shifting. Could you please advise. If I replace all 16 lifters, AFM and non AFM, will it help ? Or I need to replace also the valley cover ?

I heard these engines have problems with lifter tic due to the afm, does this stop that?

I was back and forth because of the price. I have a 07 Suburban with 145k. It kind of jitters in low gear slow speed. Plus I bought a V8 I dont want a V4. I will update after I use it.

Gm tried the cylinder deactivation back in the 80s on Cadillac it was a failure back then also.

i had to replace my engine at 117k miles in my 2011 escalade, lifter issue blew the engine, i just bought a 2018 escalade, im thinking of getting the disabler

What does the instrument panel read BEFORE you installed the AFM ? Never saw messages there when I start my suburban. Thank u

installed this on my 14 silverado to avoid the 3k$ repair fixing the afm lifters when they shit on you.

I bought one on there website for my ram 1500 seems like a great product

I put this on my 2016 Suburban. Had it a month and no trouble yet. Stays in the V8 mode. Glad it don't Change to the 4 mode it did that a lot pain in the A**

today is monday, sept 16th, i got my range module earlier, plugged it in, here in hot ass florida,, i had to get a piece of rubber we use to help grip jar lids to remove it,, it's a tight fit, i drove around the block, not really enough to see the difference, my fuel mileage average before plugging in says 16.9 mpg, this coming weekend during our shopping trip, i'll see if i can tell a difference in shifting, dead stop acceleration speed etc. i got just over 21000 miles on my 2016 silverado, i only drive it on weekends, hopefully this helps with the oil consumption i noticed recently and the erratic transmission behavior and odd shifting , i left it plugged in, i don't think i'll have battery drain, time will tell, i got 10 bucks off, so 189 shipped, i ordered it last friday from colorado, here monday to florida, excellent speed

Put range in my 2008 Avalanche.175,000..blew up my transmission within 6 months 3 Grand replace.... good luck😬

I have a 07 suburban and I've been dealing with alot of weird vibration when the SUV switches from v4 to v8. I'm interested in this afm disabler. Would u recommend this to someone like me dealing with this problem??

How do you know this product actually changes the code to prevent AFM and not just program the display to show V8. Im hesitant when I read some reviews saying MPG didn’t change or didn’t change by much or that the exhaust sound didn’t change. How do we know it really is operating 8 cylinders?

What's your warm engine oil psi at 1500 rpms before and after using AFM disabler?

Hate to be THAT guy asking questions an a yr old video, but i have a 2010 silverado i have to add a qt every 500 miles and just started burning oil...is it too late to try one of these or can it possibly help at all?

Sitting in park it will always be in V-8 mode. Doesn't matter if you have the Range plugged in or not.

I’ve had one of these on my 2018 Grand Sport Corvette for 6 months. Works perfect. GM????

I had a 2007 Silverado that was eating oil also. It would lose a quart every 3000 miles. I found a TSB for a revised valve cover for the 5.3L AFM engine. I took it to the dealer since the oil consumption was documented as starting at 35000 miles on the truck. They explained that the oil was being splashed up on the PCB valve. The oil was being sucked through that system. The revised valve covers had a PCB splash guard installed to minimize the oil being sucked into that system. They wouldn't put it on my truck though since my vehicle had 96000 miles on it at the time when I found the TSB. Of course the TSB came out in like 2013 and my truck was a 2007 and way past warranty. Being a TSB and not a recall they had no obligation to put the new valve covers on my truck. I told them where they could put the truck and sold it soon after. So I don't think the cylinder deactivation has anything to do with the oil consumption. Search on "10-06-01-008G: Engine Oil Consumption on Aluminum Block/Iron Block Engines with Active Fuel Management (AFM) (Install AFM Oil Deflector and Clean Carbon from Cylinder and/or Install Updated Valve Cover) (Jan 3 2013)"

Oil changes every 7500 is bad no matter what the manual says..every 3 to 5k miles for oil... and seafoam in your oil can cause problems....like wash your bearings by thinning oil and knocking debris loose to clog passages. Good luck rolling those dice.-ASE certified for 20 years.

I didn't catch the year of your truck ,unless you didn't say. I have a 2016 silverado z71, I ordered my range last night, shipped today. I'm in Florida so hopefully by next Tuesday

I bought one of these for my 2013 gmc sierra cause I put an exhaust and I didn't like how it sounded like when v4 mode but I didn't knew it would end of saving my engine from a bunch of problems 😅

I have a 2014 Tahoe with a new valve cover and catch can and still using too much oil. I installed this a month ago and now using even more oil!

I'm having the same issue. . Changed both of my vehicles oil same day nd my charger says 80% oil life my truck says 18%. Goin to have to order this.

I just bought my truck at 145,000 miles. I have a cylinder 1 misfire that is random enough that the check engine light will turn it self off between the misfires. I haven't noticed that I burn oil. Is the damage done? Or do I invest in the range?