Are Chev 5.3L,6.0L, and 6.2L all oil burners?

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I have read here and other places that the GM 5.3L V8 is an oil burner. But it usually comes out it is because the 5.3 always comes with AFM & Flex Fuel. You can't order a new GM car or truck with the 5.3 w/o the AFM & flex fuel. You could get the 6.0 or the 6.2L V8 without the AFM/Flex Fuel but they were gas hogs. Yesterday I went on the GMC and Chevy official sites and it now looks like the big 6.0 and 6.2 NOW also come with the AFM and flex fuel. Is that correct? Does this mean the 6.0 and 6.2 will now also burn oil?
I heard on a radio show this past Sat. am that one dealer is responding to the oil burning complaint on an under warranty 5.3 by adding oil pan baffles and two valve cover oil baffles according to TSB procedures. How is that going to reduce oil burning?
 
It sounds to me that the baffles are for noise. Just like a muffler in the exhaust has baffles. This is probably to address the piston slap and valvetrain noise that is common on every 5.3L that has been built since day 1.
 
I have almost 213k miles on my 4.3L and other than a little alternator whine, you can't hear a thing when it is idling!
 
My 5.3L has 162K miles, and it burns about a quart every 2000 miles. I add one quart at about halfway through the OCI. Other than that it's been great.
 
The 5.3 with AFM in our 2010 Tahoe consumes very little oil. 6k on the last oil change, and it dropped about 1/4" on the dipstick over that time.
 
Originally Posted By: Jim Spahr
I have read here and other places that the GM 5.3L V8 is an oil burner.


NO!

I have 183,000 miles on my originally owned 5.3L and it is still FULL even at 7,500 miles into the oil change!!
 
Originally Posted By: tpitcher
Originally Posted By: Jim Spahr
I have read here and other places that the GM 5.3L V8 is an oil burner.


NO!

I have 183,000 miles on my originally owned 5.3L and it is still FULL even at 7,500 miles into the oil change!!




I think the 5.3 with AFM is the one he is talking about. I have that engine but have not noticed any oil consumption....yet....just shy of 15K on it



Goose
 
My 5.3L & 6.0 HO with over 120K and over 150K miles respectively only used 1 quart max. (Mobil 1 5w30 EP) every 15,000 miles.

These are not the AFM versions, I hear that those are using a bit more oil.
 
Originally Posted By: Jim Spahr
I have read here and other places that the GM 5.3L V8 is an oil burner. But it usually comes out it is because the 5.3 always comes with AFM & Flex Fuel. You can't order a new GM car or truck with the 5.3 w/o the AFM & flex fuel. You could get the 6.0 or the 6.2L V8 without the AFM/Flex Fuel but they were gas hogs. Yesterday I went on the GMC and Chevy official sites and it now looks like the big 6.0 and 6.2 NOW also come with the AFM and flex fuel. Is that correct? Does this mean the 6.0 and 6.2 will now also burn oil?
I heard on a radio show this past Sat. am that one dealer is responding to the oil burning complaint on an under warranty 5.3 by adding oil pan baffles and two valve cover oil baffles according to TSB procedures. How is that going to reduce oil burning?


Where are you getting the idea that the 6.2 is a gas hog? We have one in a yukon xl denali and the fuel mileage has been good for a full size SUV. In fact, we get better gas mileage with the 6.2 than we did with old suburban which had the 5.3, this in spite of the Denali weighing more than the old suburban.
 
I've got a 99 chev silverado with a 5.3. It has 270k and I wasn't easy on this truck. It's cammed and tuned on the stock bottom end. It burns absolutely no oil. I was running Amsoil sso 5w-30 in it at 15000 km intervals and never had to add oil. I've since moved to pennzoil and still no consumption whatsoever.
Perhaps these "oil burning" engines were not properly maintained thus causing oil consumption issues.
Mine consumes no oil
 
Originally Posted By: Clevy

Perhaps these "oil burning" engines were not properly maintained thus causing oil consumption issues.
Mine consumes no oil


The topic is about the AFM engines, not the regular ones.


I don't think flex fuel is the issue here, I think it's the AFM. I have heard of some bad ones, but many don't seem to use a horrendous amount of oil. I guess it remains to be seen whether the new generation will have the same issues or whether they will figure out a way around it.
 
Originally Posted By: cchase
Originally Posted By: Clevy

Perhaps these "oil burning" engines were not properly maintained thus causing oil consumption issues.
Mine consumes no oil


The topic is about the AFM engines, not the regular ones.


I don't think flex fuel is the issue here, I think it's the AFM. I have heard of some bad ones, but many don't seem to use a horrendous amount of oil. I guess it remains to be seen whether the new generation will have the same
issues or whether they will figure out a way around it.

Oh. Fair enough.
Then for debates sake if the engine was run on e85 for it's lifespan would that possibly contribute to the oil burning issue.
I read something( on bitog I think) that suggests running e15 contributes to accelerated wear than e10.
Would the elevated alcohol content cause the rings to wear quicker?
Interesting to say the least.
 
I have 50k on an 09 6L afm (L76) 7000 mile oci pulling a 7000# trailer almost all of those miles,less than half a quart between oil changes.I use 5w-30 qsud or mobil one.It does tick often on cold starts.
 
I am a Chevy fan and a LS engine fan as well. I just don't want to buy a new Chevy or GMC light truck and fight and butt heads with a service manager over whether or not an engine is burning a significant amount of oil. It is hard to prove, esp. when it is the svc mgr's job to not allow warranty claims. Not my idea of how to spend the next 36 months or 36K miles, or what ever the warranty is these days. I read the above posters and most were obviously pre AFM 5.3L engines or they didn't say if the engine came equipped with AFM. My concern is today you cannot buy a truck without the AFM feature. I threw in the Flex Fuel feature because it apparently comes with the AFM as a package. I have no problem with Flex Fuel feature. You can use E85 or not use E85 as you wish. It is not apart of this post. Again my concern is with the GM engines with AFM/Flex Fuel: 1./ Are the 5.3, 6.0, and 6.2L all NOW coming only with AFM/ and 2./ Are a significant number of the engines equipped with AFM still having excessive oil burning problems?
 
30K miles with zero issues, 2011 truck. Very frequent light trailer towing included.
 
Originally Posted By: 05Blazer
It sounds to me that the baffles are for noise. Just like a muffler in the exhaust has baffles. This is probably to address the piston slap and valvetrain noise that is common on every 5.3L that has been built since day 1.


Completely wrong. The piston slap was eliminated with coated skirts in 05 in the pickups. As for valvetrain noise we own several 5.3's and 6.0/6.2's and we have none. One of them is the quietest engine you have never heard with 120k miles, never uses a drop. Another 6.0 has over 400k miles and works daily with no smoke, no leaks, and no oil consumption at all!

I personally believe the TSB is trying to stop the pumping issues that are occurring when 4 cylinders close their valves tightly. But I checked today with two people I know with Silverados with 5.3 and AFM and they have no issues at all. One of them is in home health care and beats the snot out of her truck every day.
 
Another issue is aluminum block vs iron block. I would guess that the Aluminum block is more prone to burn oil that an iron block engine because it is more stable. Just a guess. Please state if your 5.3 or what ever LS engine that burns or doesn't burn excessive oil is a aluminum or iron block.
 
I don't think the non-LS engines have aluminum blocks. Some have aluminum heads, but all that I've seen are iron block. Perhaps some of the one-off engines like the Vortec Max 6.0 is aluminum block, I don't know the answer to that.

And I don't think there are any aluminum block AFM engines out there. Certainly none of the LS engines are.
 
I thought the rule was if it is a car, it had an aluminum block and if it was a truck,it was iron block. Now I am hearing a few of the trucks do have aluminum blocks.
 
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