... Next they'll put a 'deflector' in the engine that keeps oil from splashing on the cylinders that get shut off in V4 mode, something about this oil builds up on cylinder wall and when its reactivated the oil goes out the exhaust valve. When that doesn't work they'll do a couple of things, have heard they'll tell the computer not to go into V4 mode, have heard they'll put new rings and pistons in. Most say that this solves the problem for only a certain amount of miles before it comes back, basically GM doesn't have a solution, they're grasping at straws and trying to act like they're doing something. Nobody said what they do after the rings and pistons, but several said it didn't solve their consumption permanently. Google it, many many many boards discuss the issues with all the same conclusion.
I bought mine as a GM Certified Used Vehicle. Though I brought it in past the 12 month/12,000 mile warranty, they were still fixing stuff under the 5 year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty.
Since there was a service bulletin in place, they went ahead & put in the deflector for me. Then they claimed that there were leaks at the oil pan, transfer case, and rear seal (!), so they fixed all of those. When I got it back, the car was wandering all over the road, with about 120 degrees of play in the steering wheel, so I had it towed back to them (on their dime). Turns out they forgot to tighten up the steering box when they put it back together...
.
And... after all that... there's no difference in my oil consumption. They claim that the next step would be to break open the engine for new pistons & rings, but they won't do that 'til I get to 1 qt. burned per 2K miles. They're really dragging their feet about it, too: I can't even get them to read the damned dipstick the way I see it.
I've got to assume it's not doing my catalytic converters any good to be sending that much oil through the pipe for them to deal with. But it looks like I get to eat this problem. Now I need to figure out if it's better to cut my losses & sell it now before the value plummets, or just ride it into the ground with the possibility of having to replace the engine at my own expense at some point.
I bought this truck specifically BECAUSE of the 5.3L engine - I didn't realize it wasn't the same as the one I'd had before.
FC
