Should I Disable AFM? Advantages and Disadvantages
Should I disable AFM? That’s a question lots of truck owners ask,
The debate about whether you should keep your AFM activated or disabled isn’t new.
Now, for the uninitiated, Active Fuel Management (AFM) is a fuel-saving feature on some trucks that shuts down half of the engine’s cylinders when they’re not needed. The downside is that it can make the truck feel sluggish or even stall out when you need power.
Some people disable it because they don’t like how it feels or they think it’s dangerous. But is disabling AFM really the right thing to do? Or are we just avoiding something that takes a little getting used to?
Let’s find out the answers here.
Should I Disable AFM?
The short answer is yes, you should as it will help with oil consumption and higher performance peak.
The primary purpose of this technology is to improve the fuel mileage of your vehicle. It does this by deactivating half of the cylinders of your engine. So, your engine will be shifted to half its capacity – suppose from a V8 engine to V4 when AFM is activated.
But it’s not all great with the AFM. There are multiple reasons why the majority of consumers and established authorities like Roadweekly.com have highly encouraged disabling AFM. We’ll discuss these reasons in the next section.
Benefits of Disabling AFM
There are several advantages of disabling AFM; let’s get to know them.
You will get a higher performance peak
As we have stated before, AFM functions by shutting off half the cylinders to improve fuel economy. To do this, it has to sacrifice its higher performance peak.
While some may not notice this, to enthusiasts, this change will be immediately noticeable. In terms of the engine’s performance and power, this technology will cause a downgrade, which we don’t think is worth the few advantages.
Get a Better Exhaust Sound
When a car makes the roaring sound from its exhaust, it is simply a joy to the ears of many car lovers. If you have a powerful engine and a loud aftermarket exhaust in your vehicle, it will make that wonderful noise that’ll make you feel like you’re in a movie.
However, by activating Active Fuel Management, you will be losing this nice little touch. It won’t sound like a very weak engine, but it’ll just be as good as an average vehicle’s exhaust sound. Therefore, turning the AFM off will give you back that roaring sound of your car.
Your Car Will Be More Reliable
After enabling AFM, you may notice that your car is not accelerating as quickly when you press the gas pedal, and it hesitates like this quite often.
Moreover, your car could also start to shake while you’re driving without any cause. These issues are something you will face when your AFM lifters fail, which happens surprisingly often.
The worst thing that this failure does is that it makes your car stop suddenly, putting the passengers and drivers at risk for accidents. You could simply disable the AFM in the first place, so none of these things happen, and your car runs smoothly without any hiccups.
Reduction of Engine Oil Consumption
If the AFM in your car is activated, it can result in an increase in the consumption of engine oil. This happens when oil is sprayed onto the pistons by the AFM system, and then the oil heats up and leaves this build-up. This buildup then goes on to trigger more engine oil consumption.
You could possibly damage your engine if the decrease in oil in the engine goes unnoticed. All you have to do to prevent this issue of increased oil consumption is just delete or deactivate the AFM.
Lower Chances of Engine Failure
As we have mentioned above, engine oil is quickly used up when AFM is on, which means that it could cause more wear and tear to the engine parts. These damages to the engine can still be repaired relatively easily, but the real issue arises when there is a whole engine failure.
You heard us right; the AFM system could be responsible for a complete engine failure. This means you may have to spend thousands of dollars again on an engine, whereas you could have just avoided this in the first place by a simple AFM disabler.
We think this reason alone is sufficient to convince you to disable your AFM system as soon as possible.
The Disadvantage of Disabling AFM
If we have to be honest, there is no major disadvantage to disabling AFM. The only thing you might miss is a slightly improved gas mileage, which could have saved you some fuel money. However, some users have said that the change in their mileage has been almost unnoticeable.
Final Words
At this point, you should no longer be asking; should I disable AFM? Because the answer is a clear yes. There is no good logic behind why you might want to keep this technology activated. Take good care of your vehicle, and drive safe!
