How many of you are getting to see high miles on your Chevrolet 2007 5.3L V8 with the oil consumption issues caused by the Active Fuel Management system.
I’ve currently got 93,000 miles on my 5.3L and I’m about a quart low every 2,000 miles.
Does just adding oil as needed and changing the oil every 3,000 miles keep the engine going just fine? Doesn’t that oil end up somewhere and cause problems? Tips and advice are appreciated. 5.3L V8 oil consumption milage issues
there is a couple of things you can do,complain to the dealer about until they fix it,this may take a year to get done as they consider the oil consumption “normal”.
it will take new pistons and rings to fix it.
or,you can take it to someone who can get into the computer and have them shut off the active fuel management,it will not affect your mileage.
it is an issue with the 5.3 engines that have the AFM,but not the others.
you may want to google Gm technical service bulletins for that vehicle and engine and see if there are any active recalls or dealer paid programs for it.
if you have a dealer you trust,give them the last eight digits of the VIN number to see if yours falls under any recall also.
there are also many forums on this issue online,google 07 chevy 5.3 oil consumption issue,probably more than you care to read there,but you will see what you are up against. good luck!!
Wade ,sorry to burst any bubbles but welcome to the GM 5.3 club !
What you experiencing is a common issue with most of those 5.3 GM engines,no known cure and some have said not even said a new Gm engine solved the issue after break in.
I myself believe it is a parts clearance issue with the rings to cylinder wall and the Active Fuel Management system with the GM produced engines.
I have seen some who lost as much a quart to 3000 down to a 1/2 quart to every 1000.
They never should have quit making the 5.7 engine.I have a 1996 5.7 with 278,00 plus on it and and only lose a 1/2 to a 5000 mile change !
Probably not what you looking to hear about your issue but it the facts I and other mechanic here have learned about those 5.3 engines.
I’m in the same boat with my 5.3L Silverado. About a quart low every 2,000-2,500 miles. Truck runs flawlessly so I can’t complain much other than the oil drips its leaving on my garage floor.
I knew this was a possible issue before I bought the truck. I read that it affected many but not all the 5.3L out there. I knew the truck’s history and owner plus I got a great price so I figured I’d gamble.
Unfortunately I’m not surprised to see I’m in the club.
I’ve read a lot on this and I’m finding conflicting internet responses regarding the issue. Very similar to what you guys have said.
I’m debating on turning off the AFM system. Since that seems to be the problem. Otherwise as long as Valvoline doesn’t charge to top off fluids, I could just swing in there as needed and top off the oil.
Wow, I have to say this hit home with me! I am going through this right now as well! Same engine, just a little less miles.
I have a 2011 GMC Sierra. At around 60K I needed new plugs as cylinder #1 had a misfire. Ok, whatever. I changed the plugs. Then I started noticing the oil useage going way up. In the amounts About like you have going on.
Long story short, I took it into the dealer, they did an oil consumption test. Mine was found to be excessive. Last week they tore apart my engine and ended up putting a complete set of Pistons, rings, a few lifters, valves and even a manifold, all because the Pistons were found to be machined to small and not to specs. Today I noticed a large oil leak. It goes back into the dealer on Thursday morning!
No cost to me, mine is lucky to be covered under the 100,000 warranty. Good luck, hopefully you can get lucky like I did. Luther Chev in Brooklyn Park has been amazing! Keeping me updated as they went. Letting me use a loaner truck for 3 days. All it took was 1 oil change and stopping in for them to document the dipstick. So totally about 3-4 months.
Chevy knows of the flaw, but they are not about to go public with something like this.
Well I have to chime in here !! As I sit here tonight my 2011 GMC with 166,000 is at my dealer getting a new cam & head. First it was a check engine light which was diagnosed as a misfire on #8. Compression check was good injector check was good and spark plug check was good. After calling GM for tech assistance they told my dealer to shim the push rod and see if the miss went away which it did. So they said new head so a new head was put on and walla the miss was back. So now it’s a new head plus a cam. It went from 2100 bucks to 4200 bucks. I would have been better off doing a new short block if it would’ve been diagnosed correctly the first time. It never used a drop of oil between changes and never had any trouble with it what so ever. But when it decided to give me trouble it was bad trouble !!
It would be nice if Chevrolet would step up and take care of this known issue and extend the warranty out a bit for original owners. I had a friend that had a 2 year old Chevrolet that was using a quart every 1000 miles. Took it to the dealer and they gave him the run around saying they will tear it down and if it is one thing it will be covered. If it were several other things that could be causing oil use it wouldn’t be covered. He said give him his keys and he traded in on a new different brand and hasn’t had a issue since. Feel bad for the new buyer of his old truck though.
My 03 Express burns about a quart every few thousand, and seems my 05 Tahoe is even less, although it’s still pretty new to me so lack of time with it.
Home Depot now has Mobil1 full synthetic super cheap so my latest oil changes have been to that. I wonder if this would actually be worse for these leaky engines? Similar to the gun barrel threads were some perform better dirty? Or maybe that’s not how engines work, I’m a newb, just curious.
If you are constantly adding a quart, do you ever actually have to do an oil change? LOL!
A range delete module will disable the AFM by plugging it in the OBD port and an oil catch can will stop oil from reaching the intake manifold when AFM is operating.
My 2010 5.3 sucked down a quart in a thousand miles regularly. All I got from Chev was a shrug and a blank stare as to why. The Chev garage was doing the oil changes with (I think) Moblie 5-30. I started using Amsoil for oil changes and oil use dropped to 1 1/2 per change. After that I went to the cheapest full synthetic (Man’s Mall less than half price) I could find and had the same results. After 100,00 miles I finally traded and got away from the 5.3. Oh for the days of the old 283’s and 327’s. Even the 348’s, 409’s and 427’s were a lot more trouble free and better fuel economy than these so called “modern engines”- – -jerr
I thought the 5.3 was a 327?
The 5.3 is the old 307.
01 5.3, no oil usage in 5k oil changes.
The 5.3 is 325 CI, loosely based off of the old 327.
this will get you close when you want to convert litres to cubic inches:
5.3 X .61 =323 and some change.
Huh, guess I’m one of the lucky ones. But I do nearly zero start/stop city style driving, maybe that plays a role too.
Huh, guess I’m one of the lucky ones. But I do nearly zero start/stop city style driving, maybe that plays a role too.
poomunk,do you have the one with active fuel management?? if you dont,you shouldnt have any issues with oil consumption,some of the very early non AFM’S did though,but most of those have been straightened out.
the 5.3 is one of the better later engines,I have seen many go three hundred thousand miles and hardly use a drop between changes,but the ones with AFM are trouble prone with oil consumption issues.
the 4.8 and the 5.3 have bullet proof bottom ends,many guys around here are turbo and twin turbo charging them and boosting them to over six hundred horses with stock bottom ends,and they are holding up unbelievably well,the 4.8 more so.
Somewhat common issue with these. I am a gm technician and have repaired quite a few of these. Yes gm oil consumption spec-1 qt every 2000 miles is acceptable. If you run in when lower it will burn more. Also an 11 should have the updated afm valve deflector in the oil pan and updated drivers side valve cover with improved pcv operation. These are the first stage of updates performed on an oil consumer, then stuck piston rings will be the cause if these do not help. Have repaired a few that the afm cylinder lifters can stay locked open and will not push the valve causing misfires and cam and lifter replacement is necessary. I have an 06 iron block aluminum head 5.3 non afm. 236000 miles pulls the ice castle like a dream. Does not burn a drop. Also keep to regular oil changes and don’t believe the crap about going longer. The oil will still collect blow by gasses and can do damage to bearings over time. Sorry for the rant just wanted to shed some light on what happens to these.
I’m a GM Tech, I’ve done at least a dozen re-rings on these engines for oil consumption concerns.
PM me the last 8 of you VIN if you’d like, and I can check if warranty will cover any repairs, or if any has been done.
Iowa – I do, it’s an 09 model. I’ve noticed mine kicks on far less than the newer models though too. My dad just got a 2015 (2500 though so not totally apples to apples) and his cuts down to 4 a lot more/longer than mine. I pretty much hover over the pedal and it jumps back to 8.
I have a 2007 Suburban that I put an AFM block on shortly after purchasing it with 65000 miles; by 105,000 miles I was burning a quart of oil every 1,000 miles & ended up with a roller follower failing and starting to burn off a lobe on the crank. I replaced it with a short block this fall for $5k…
marine_man
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