Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Update on an oil-guzzling 5.3

Picked it up, & they claim "excessive valve guide wear" allowed oil to leak down & burn off in the cylinders. New heads, valves, etc.

Of course, the oil was overfilled when I went to pick it up, so they had to remedy that. Then, as they were pulling it out of the shop, one of the service guys runs into the office to say, "that Yukon's got an exhaust leak on the left side...".

This is not giving me a whole lot of confidence.

FC

Did the dealership do a compression test before and/or after replacing the heads?

That would be the one question I would want answered to rule out any problems with the pistons/rings.




The true test will be if it uses any oil after the repairs. It shouldn't since the rings are already broke in.

Dunno if they did the compression test. I drove it about 20 miles, & it sounds like it did before I gave it to them.

I just get pissed about them overfilling the oil: they're a friggin' GMC dealership - they should know damned well how much oil goes in one of those engines! It makes no sense to try to sandbag the oil consumption test, if they're going to get reimbursed for the repairs by GM, anyway.

All I want, is to never have to see them again. Is that too much to ask?

FC

My brohter has a 07 GMC Yukon XL that was doing just what yours is doing. They put heads on it, no fix, they finally tore it down and put rings and pistons in it. That has fixed it for now and it had around 65 k on it when it started. Also bought used as a GMC Certified Pre-owned. I think it took 4 or 5 trips to the dealer before they tore it down. I know of one other but it was in a Chevy Silverado z71 and it was a 07 NBS also, both trucks have the 5.3 with the fuel management systems. They should fix it because they know that year model had that probelm. I might would try another dealer if one is close by.

I had a 07 Z71 I bought used Certified at 65K miles. I drove it less than 300 miles before the oil pump went out and fried two lifters before I could get it stopped. They replaced all the lifters and the cam, oil pump and some other small stuff. I traded it in on my wife's 2010 Suburban with the same motor and it runs like a champ.

My brother has 65k on a newer Suburban that burns 2 quarts of oil to a 3000 mile oil change. He has no idea what to do next the dealership said it is part of the shut off cylinder approach.
He told me to hang on to my 350, more towing torque and no oil burning. Kind of scary for a Chevy Suburban fan. Buckfever1

Find another dealer, & have them start working through the TSB's: 07-06-01-007 = valve stems / cylinder heads, 05-06-01-019F = leaking rear main seal, and there are others relating to "excessive oil consumption". Mine is a 2007, and had a 5 year, 100K powertrain warranty. If your brother's is newer than mine, he should be good to go for getting it repaired.



FC

I believe this problem is mostly with the 07 models NBS. My wife had a 08 Tahoe with the 5.3 that had the fuel managemnet system and we never experienced any issues with it. Only put about 55k miles on it though. I have a 2011 Silerado so I hope they fixed the problem by now.

Update:

I took it in this am, 1130 miles after the head replacements. The Service Manager documented that it used another � quart.

He shook his head and told me to come back in another 1,000 miles. I pointed-out that my 5 year In-Service date was coming up, but said they'd be sure to "take care of me."

They're fast running out of things to replace.

FWIW, the 1,130 miles weren't highway miles - not a whole lot of AFM kicking in.

FC

FC - I'd get that in writing! I don't trust service managers!

X2!!!!

Ask the service manager if he thinks that your truck is going to magically fix itself in the next 1000 miles! Tell him you want it fixed NOW! I would settle for nothing less than a new engine and an extended warranty

I have an '03 Suburban 5.3 with almost 270,000 miles on it. I have the oil changed every 5,000 miles. It has just now started using a quart between changes. I also have an '01 Silverado with the 4.8 and about 150,000miles. It hasn't used any that I can tell. I'm learning from this thread that apparently there were some changes after my two were produced. My Suburban has been the best vehicle I've ever owned, and the only one I've ever driven this many miles. I hope they get yours straightened out. Sounds to me that a complete engine replacement is in order.
Good Luck to you,
Rick

The AFM gizmo came into being for the 2007 model year, because my '06 Sierra Z71 5.3L didn't have it.

The GMC also got about two miles per gallon better (20 MPG) highway fuel mileage, than my current '10 Silverado Z71 gets. So as far as I am concerned, it is essentially worthless as a fuel management tool.

The window sticker on my '10, listed highway mileage at 21. It actually averages around 18 MPG, which I notice is what most all 2012 1500 Z71 ext. cabs (5.3L) are listed at now.

No oil use issues with my truck, at almost 22,000 miles. I generally change oil/filter at around 5000 miles, same as I always have with the past three GM pickups.

So... with the new heads/valves/valvetrain, etc., it drank 1� qts. in 1,900 miles. I dropped it off again this am, & it's getting pistons & rings: they claim they'll have it ready tomorrow. I don't think even NASCAR engines get torn down & rebuilt this often.

I reminded them that the 5 year in-service period ends 7/30, so they're going to give me a 12 month, 12,000 mile warranty on the work.


FC

Way to go!

If it continues to burn oil I would think the next step would be a new engine

A fitted block is typical.

Man they go to extreme lengths to waste time and money.... New crate motor and about 6-8 hours labor. Done..... geezz


W

Sounds like trade in time after they fix it.

Sounds like they're finally going to fix what was causing the problem. Good deal.

You probably know this but ...

One thing worth mentioning is since they're putting new pistons and rings don't panic if it uses a little oil during the break-in period. A quart or so in the first 1500 to 3000 miles wouldn't be unusual. After 3000 or 4000 miles it should stop using any oil and be fully "broke in".

Good luck.