Thinking about buying a Ford.

[miketa95]

I like my truck a lot, its a 5.3 Silverado and since I use it for my landscaping company it gets a lot of usage. It's never let me down, in the year I've owned it I've gone from 47,000 miles to just over 71,000 tonight. My bumper to bumper warranty ended at 71,000 miles and of course that's when the trouble starts.

I get my oil changed at every 3,000 miles, and usually about every 2,900 miles I get a "low engine oil" message on the dash. The trucks are suppost to burn 1 quart of oil every 3,000 miles (or so the dealer keeps telling me). My last oil change was at 70,000 miles, and today I got the "low engine oil" light at 70,996 miles. I called the dealer and the service manager told me again that GM says the 5.3 will burn a quart every 3,000 miles. My issue with this is that if this is what the truck is meant to do, why do I get a warning light? Also, I don't think I've ever heard of a vehicle that is meant to burn so much oil away in such a short period of time. The dealer won't look at my car even though it happened 4 miles from the end of my warranty without me paying for it. They screwed me over with free rentals while the truck is getting work done already before too. I feel like the thing is going to blow up on me from having low oil all of the time. Originally I hoped to get 200k+ out of it. My landscaper friend drove me around in his f-250 and the thing was older but smooth, slow but it felt a lot more solid and even though it had more miles, it was quieter and had no stupid little quirks like my truck. I think it's time for a trade in.

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

Something's not right. My mom's 5.3 doesn't go through oil like that, and she's now at like 75k miles.

And I drive a F*rd. It's not that bad

[DaSkinnyGuy]

Get a cummins and call it a day

[Frosty]

Try going to a different dealer.

[cdacda13]

Burning oil issue is weird. I have a 5.3 in my GMC. Its a shade under 90k miles, but doesn't burn any oil, nor has any low oil light, or low oil pressure has come up. I've gone 5k between oil changes(using Mobil 1), and I've had zero problems.

[BigAls87Z28]

I know ford's that eat 1-2 qts of oil. We used to joke thats why the 4.6/5.4's take 7qts to the Chevy's 6qts.
Sounds like somethings up with the car. If you were looking to go new, you really cant go wrong with the Big 3's trucks in either direction, and thats probably why the sales of either of them have not shifted much over the years.
Best bet is to drive them back to back to back to see which one really drives teh way you want. Problems will happen with all cars, new or old.

[SteveR]

I haven't heard of that before. You might want to take it somewhere else as the stealership might be trying to get out of having to do warranty work on the truck.

[JL8Jeff]

Nothing should burn a quart of oil every 3000 miles. Something isn't right with the engine, my 5.3 is very quiet with 78K miles. It does have the typical slight piston slap at startup but almost every LSX engine does. If you have records of being in for service and complaining about the oil issue you may still have a valid complaint that falls under warranty. Try going to another dealer or talking to GM directly to see what they say.

[CHRIS67]

Originally Posted by JL8Jeff

Nothing should burn a quart of oil every 3000 miles. Something isn't right with the engine, my 5.3 is very quiet with 78K miles. It does have the typical slight piston slap at startup but almost every LSX engine does. If you have records of being in for service and complaining about the oil issue you may still have a valid complaint that falls under warranty. Try going to another dealer or talking to GM directly to see what they say.

Agreed. My 5.3 burns nothing. I'd go directly to GM if another dealer gives you the run around.

[V]

my ls1 would burn 1qt every 1000 miles. it was "normal" according to gm

[sweetbmxrider]

yup, i agree with jeff. get your maintenance records and start bitching. that isn't right

[nj85z28]

i'm on my second 5.3 silverado and my father has had several as well. Neither one of us have ever heard of this issue burning oil, or have had the problem. go someplace else.

[sweetbmxrider]

i just poked through the tsb's and its 1 quart every 2,000 miles is to be considered normal. for the low oil message to kick on, that would mean you have about 1-1.5 quarts in the system. clearly you truck is burning an absurd amount of oil in a short amount of time.

TECHNICAL

Bulletin No.: 07-06-01-007F

Date: December 10, 2009

Subject: Excessive Engine Oil Consumption (Verify Condition, Inspect Valve Stems, Replace Cylinder Heads if Necessary)
Models:
2006-2007 Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado Classic, Suburban, Tahoe
2006-2007 GMC Sierra Classic, Yukon, Yukon XL
Equipped with 4.8L or 5.3L V8 Engine RPOs LR4, LM7, L59
Please Refer to GMVIS

Supercede:
This bulletin is being revised to remove the reference in Step 6 to servicing the complete cylinder head as an assembly. Please discard Corporate Bulletin Number 07-06-01-007E (Section 06 - Engine/Propulsion System).

Condition

Some customers may comment on excessive engine oil consumption. The rate of oil consumption described may usually be around 0.946 liter (1 quart) of engine oil in 805 to 1125 km (500 to 700 mi). This usually occurs on low mileage engines.

Cause

This condition may be caused by a nick in one or more valve stems.

Correction
Important
If one or more damaged valve stems are identified in one head, BOTH heads MUST be replaced.

tell the dealer to look at this bulletin #07-06-01-007F and then get loud when they try blowin smoke up your ass. tell them you want each valve stem examined thoroughly. fully disassemble the heads, on or off the truck, and complete inspection of each valve stem. if i were you, i'd get under the truck and look for any large oil leaks too.

[miketa95]

I'll check it out. I mean if you just google the truck there are many complaints about the oil burning issue.

[miketa95]

Now that I think about it, I had the valve cover gaskets replaced under warranty because they were leaking.

[fmybody]

Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider

i just poked through the tsb's and its 1 quart every 2,000 miles is to be considered normal. for the low oil message to kick on, that would mean you have about 1-1.5 quarts in the system. clearly you truck is burning an absurd amount of oil in a short amount of time.

TECHNICAL

Bulletin No.: 07-06-01-007F

Date: December 10, 2009

Subject: Excessive Engine Oil Consumption (Verify Condition, Inspect Valve Stems, Replace Cylinder Heads if Necessary)
Models:
2006-2007 Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado Classic, Suburban, Tahoe
2006-2007 GMC Sierra Classic, Yukon, Yukon XL
Equipped with 4.8L or 5.3L V8 Engine RPOs LR4, LM7, L59
Please Refer to GMVIS

Supercede:
This bulletin is being revised to remove the reference in Step 6 to servicing the complete cylinder head as an assembly. Please discard Corporate Bulletin Number 07-06-01-007E (Section 06 - Engine/Propulsion System).

Condition

Some customers may comment on excessive engine oil consumption. The rate of oil consumption described may usually be around 0.946 liter (1 quart) of engine oil in 805 to 1125 km (500 to 700 mi). This usually occurs on low mileage engines.

Cause

This condition may be caused by a nick in one or more valve stems.

Correction
Important
If one or more damaged valve stems are identified in one head, BOTH heads MUST be replaced.

tell the dealer to look at this bulletin #07-06-01-007F and then get loud when they try blowin smoke up your ass. tell them you want each valve stem examined thoroughly. fully disassemble the heads, on or off the truck, and complete inspection of each valve stem. if i were you, i'd get under the truck and look for any large oil leaks too.

thats dooin your homework.. BOOOM!

[r0nin89]

Originally Posted by DaSkinnyGuy

Get a cummins and call it a decade or 2

Fixed that for you.

[JL8Jeff]

Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider

i just poked through the tsb's and its 1 quart every 2,000 miles is to be considered normal. for the low oil message to kick on, that would mean you have about 1-1.5 quarts in the system. clearly you truck is burning an absurd amount of oil in a short amount of time.

TECHNICAL

Bulletin No.: 07-06-01-007F

Date: December 10, 2009

Nice follow up, thanks! Hopefully he can use the information to show the work should have been done when he first brought the truck in.