2007 avalanche oil consumption

[Irate1]

Originally Posted by dr.gizmo

Another thing to ask, are you waiting 10-20 minutes after stopping the engine and parking on a level surface when you check your oil? Ignoring both of those steps can lead to false readings.

False readings? are you serious? We are way beyond false readings. I have six dealer documented oil consmption test that show increasing oil consumption. Its obvious tht some of you are getting paid to make excuses for GM. If I said that a whole tire and wheel assembly fell off my new car when I drove it out of the dealership you would say you still have 3 more relax and enjoy the ride. I have exceeded GMs oil consumption guidelines now and have all the GM bulletins and TSBs to proove that there is a problem with some of the 06 and 07 5.3 engines. Waiting for the zone rep to call back. Its realy sad the way GM is trying to get out of honoring there own warrentys. thats no way to keep your existing customers.

[dr.gizmo]

GM does not pay me anything nor have they ever. I work for a privately owned business that sell and services GM vehicles. I am just trying to help you. To me it seems that many people are under the assumption that cars are some sort of magic that should run forever without any maintenance. The basics of the gasoline internal combustion engine have not changed for over a hundred years. There is just a lot more plumbing added to the outside. Expecting it to perform beyond what the manufacturer publishes as normal is ridiculous. Please don't tell me that the only time you check your oil is when the low oil light comes on. That light only comes on when the oil is dangerously low, the same intent with any warning light. Letting the oil get to that point is probably the reason your oil consumption is increasing. You are running for long periods low on oil. The owners manual tells you to check your oil every time you buy fuel. You should add one quart when you get down to the one quart low line on the dipstick, not two to three quarts low when the warning light comes on. Oil does not cost much, why is it such an annoyance to spend $3 on a quart of oil very 2,000 miles. If given the choice to rebuild your engine for a normal amount of oil consumption for $6,000 or add a quart of oil every 2,000 miles what would you do? Why should GM spend that kind of money to fix your engine when you admit you abuse it by running it low on oil? I would love to see you at the doctor you probably would have your foot amputated for a hang nail. Also how loyal of a customer are you? Is the only time you go to the dealer is to complain or are you a regular service customer that has made a nice and friendly relationship with your local GM dealership. Friends tend to help friends more than complainers that only come in and fuss about problems. I have seen that the loyal customers get much better treatment by GM and the dealer than the ones who come in only when they want to complain and yell.

[FamilyTruckster]

I also have a 2007 Avalanche and I add a quart around every 3500 km of city driving. My co-worker also has a 2007 with the same results. We've both been told that this is normal.

Everything else checks out and I love my Avalanche. No big deal if I gotta put a quart in her every couple of months. But I gotta admit, I was concerned at first.

She now has 28,800 km.

As for your above remarks.

"False readings? are you serious? We are way beyond false readings. I have six dealer documented oil consmption test that show increasing oil consumption. Its obvious tht some of you are getting paid to make excuses for GM." - you don't need to be rude. We're just trying to help.

[linton23]

So you are doing what a preemtive complaint if you are waiting on the zone rep see what he says. You dealer is following his guidelines in order to make sure GM will cover the repair. As I have told my sister many times and she still does not listen be nice the service manager at any dealership decides if he is going to work with you or not having a bad attitude can lose his help. Dont kiss his a$$ but be nice. If you are a loyal and returning customer the dealer will try his best. By the way comming on to a GM followers site and complaning will get some bad responses but we dont all work for GM to fix this site. I work at a small dealer I use this site to get info and to help give info to people that need it. I dont have to go bother one of my mechanics to ask him the oil consumption rate of a 2007 Avalanche but I do to try and help someone.

[riverratt]

I have a 1996 Silverado with 150K on the 5.7L engine. No oil consumption between 5K mile oil changes.

[70W30]

I change the oil in my Avi when it says it's due. Around 10K miles so far since last change and no low oil indications.

[skbakanov]

Originally Posted by dr.gizmo

GM does not pay me anything nor have they ever. I work for a privately owned business that sell and services GM vehicles. I am just trying to help you. To me it seems that many people are under the assumption that cars are some sort of magic that should run forever without any maintenance. The basics of the gasoline internal combustion engine have not changed for over a hundred years. There is just a lot more plumbing added to the outside. Expecting it to perform beyond what the manufacturer publishes as normal is ridiculous. Please don't tell me that the only time you check your oil is when the low oil light comes on. That light only comes on when the oil is dangerously low, the same intent with any warning light. Letting the oil get to that point is probably the reason your oil consumption is increasing. You are running for long periods low on oil. The owners manual tells you to check your oil every time you buy fuel. You should add one quart when you get down to the one quart low line on the dipstick, not two to three quarts low when the warning light comes on. Oil does not cost much, why is it such an annoyance to spend $3 on a quart of oil very 2,000 miles. If given the choice to rebuild your engine for a normal amount of oil consumption for $6,000 or add a quart of oil every 2,000 miles what would you do? Why should GM spend that kind of money to fix your engine when you admit you abuse it by running it low on oil? I would love to see you at the doctor you probably would have your foot amputated for a hang nail. Also how loyal of a customer are you? Is the only time you go to the dealer is to complain or are you a regular service customer that has made a nice and friendly relationship with your local GM dealership. Friends tend to help friends more than complainers that only come in and fuss about problems. I have seen that the loyal customers get much better treatment by GM and the dealer than the ones who come in only when they want to complain and yell.

I agree...
I own a 2007 silverado ltz 75k miles, oil consumption is 1q per 2000k or so, no big deal.(my 98 bmw m3 is bout the same)
I've noticed oil level complaints start after introduction of a dash integrated "idiot light" that flashes as you get near 1q low, wich makes some panic. Most were worryless, or it didn't cross their mind before; as they pull-in, read their newspaper(instead of owners manual), pay $29 for cheapest service, put the reminder sticker on the windshield and never feel the urge or need to check oil level between the services. A friendly (flashing) reminder from GM is about to turn into an engine swap. And than we blame "inconsiderate back-stabing dealer" that sold you the truck, and made WHOPPING $1000 on the deal, which should more than cover all expences, tech's and supervisors time, and free oil for life.... Dont want to burn oil, get electric car.
Althogh GM did it to them selves, my warning light is always ON cause I run 305/55/R20 coopers at 50psi wich exeedes GM's spec. allowance of 30 +/-7psi, useless and annoying. LOVE MY TRUCK THOUGH, - IMPERFECT, BUT UNCONDITIONAL RELATIONSHIP.

[dhorrighs]

as far as the oil consumption goes on the 5.3 flex fuel engine goes...push ur service manager to look for bulletins on the subject. We have fixed several silverados with this complaint. It entails replacing the left valve cover and all of the lifters. Has fixed every one

[vm1971]

im having this too, with my 07 monte SS.
all of a sudden in the past several months. the rude dealer wouldnt look at it (which is why i use my own mechanic)... and then a good bud found a TSB on it - excessive oil consumption - for the engine i have (5.3L V8).. action?

confirm condition, inspect valve stems, replace cylinder heads if need be.

so my mechanic called a tech over at an ailing chevy dealer (who he trusts) ... they said the same - oh, no... its been revised - it will burn thru 2qts every 1000 miles. well, isnt that to the contrary of the whole schtick with the newer models needing fewer changes and their whole glorified "oil life" system in the DIC being so great? i love my SS, and GM stuff.. but.. what am i supposed to do? they wont even run it thru the consumption test. this car is under warranty til aug. of 2010 and i dont want something going really wrong AFTER.

any dealers out there, any techs... CAN YOU HELP?>
im in southern NJ.

Jeeez.

[dhorrighs]

in the active fuel management engines that are showing excessive oil consumption we have done two or three and fixed the problem. it is the lifters. there is a bulletin to replace them all as well as the left valve cover and it fixes the problem. anyquestions let me know

[Dana_15]

Originally Posted by nailhead425

I'd advise that you change the oil and then immediately take your truck for a long road trip. Get the oil good and hot and keep it that way for a few hours. Get some good full-throttle, heavy load, blasts on it once the oil is nice and hot and see if that helps. That is, after replacing the PCV valve.

I agree.

What oil are you using? Synthetic or dino?

If you are that unhappy with this, just sell the truck. I know thats a crap answer but you will get nowhere with GM on this. Just like you would get nowhere with another manufacturer.

[05ChevySilveradoSS]

Originally Posted by vm1971

im having this too, with my 07 monte SS.
all of a sudden in the past several months. the rude dealer wouldnt look at it (which is why i use my own mechanic)... and then a good bud found a TSB on it - excessive oil consumption - for the engine i have (5.3L V8).. action?

confirm condition, inspect valve stems, replace cylinder heads if need be.

so my mechanic called a tech over at an ailing chevy dealer (who he trusts) ... they said the same - oh, no... its been revised - it will burn thru 2qts every 1000 miles. well, isnt that to the contrary of the whole schtick with the newer models needing fewer changes and their whole glorified "oil life" system in the DIC being so great? i love my SS, and GM stuff.. but.. what am i supposed to do? they wont even run it thru the consumption test. this car is under warranty til aug. of 2010 and i dont want something going really wrong AFTER.

any dealers out there, any techs... CAN YOU HELP?>
im in southern NJ.

Jeeez.

You know i had another customer trade there SS impala in bc it was doing that, and i mean we ran all tests on it and it did use about .5qt every 3,000 miles. I personally think it has something to do with the engines design bc it is like 4inches shorter than the truck vortec 5.3L.

All of you guys your low oil issues are in the heads, HOWEVER replacing the heads will not fix this problem. Gm has sent TSB after TSB on this and thats pretty much what they tell the dealers as well. Its normal being under .5qt every 3000 miles. I really dont know why you guys are using 1 and 1.5qts every 3000 miles, im having somewhat of a hard time believing that lol, due to the high volume of engine oil changes we do on these specific engines but i guess anythings possible.

My 2002 seems to use just alittle but not enough to worry about before the next 3000 mile oil change, and i use Mobil 1 5w30 in the winter, and 10w30 in the summer.

[vm1971]

Originally Posted by dhorrighs

in the active fuel management engines that are showing excessive oil consumption we have done two or three and fixed the problem. it is the lifters. there is a bulletin to replace them all as well as the left valve cover and it fixes the problem. anyquestions let me know

HEY
thakns!
yeah - my QUESTION is what dealer will do this? so far, ONE said NO.
now, they lost their license and ... well... are very cranky. MY actual dealer acts like youre nuts when you ask for service, and really already lost my business due to some severe stunts they've pulled over the summer. they have an AWFUL reputation and i (as a customer) CHOOSE not to use them.
so do i just FISH around dealers with this bulletin and HOPE someone can FIX the issue? this is nuts. this is why GM gets such a bad rap. not their designs, vehicles or quality... but the "bad" eggs that are the face of the company.
any help is appreciated. im calling around as we speak and it sucks cause im in work, kinda busy, and this is turning into a fracas THANKS to these incredibly F'ed up dealerships.

(its been a venting kind of week all around.)

V

[GMCSonoma]

See:
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#PIP4574E: Excessive Oil Consumption And/Or Blue Exhaust Smoke - keywords BQMI - (Jun 19, 2009)


Subject: Excessive Oil Consumption and/or Blue Exhaust Smoke


Models: 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe

2007 GMC Sierra, Yukon

with 5.3L Engine (RPO LC9 - VIN 3)




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This PI was superseded to update Recommendation/Instructions. Please discard PIP4574D.


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The following diagnosis might be helpful if the vehicle exhibits the symptom(s) described in this PI.

Condition/Concern:
Some customers may complain that their vehicle has been using approximately 1 quart of oil every 500-1,000 miles. In most cases, the customer will advise that this did not start until it accumulated approximately 20,000 miles or more and no engine performance concerns will be noticed. They may also complain of occasional blue exhaust smoke.

In many cases, technicians have performed SI diagnosis, compression tests, and cylinder leakage tests with no problem found. Several vehicles with this complaint have had valve covers, lifters, complete cylinder heads, and/or stuck oil control rings replaced only to have the vehicle return with the same concern again.

As a result, PIP4574 was created on 2/5/2009 to explain that the cause of this concern is under investigation.

Since that time, engineering has inspected multiple engines that have been replaced for this concern and have also inspected multiple trucks with this complaint but have not found one common cause for this concern. And, with the help of many dealerships, engineering was able to collect a lot of information about this concern using the oil consumption checklist that was in PIP4574C.

At this point, the cause of this concern is still under investigation but the recommendations below have been updated to reflect everything that has been learned so far.

We really appreciate your help and patience with this and we want to assure you that this PI will be updated as soon as more information is available.

Recommendation/Instructions:
If a customer has this complaint, perform the steps below, document your results in the oil consumption checklist below, and attach the checklist to the repair order in case it is necessary for future reference:

Visually inspect the entire engine and the underside of the vehicle for any evidence of oil leaks and repair them as necessary.
Inspect the fresh air hose/pipe that is attached to the RF (passenger side) valve cover and all related connections for restrictions, such as plastic casting flash or a pinched hose, and repair as necessary. A restriction in this area may cause excessive crankcase vacuum and oil consumption through the PCV vacuum tube.
Perform an oil consumption test as outlined in the latest version of oil consumption of 01-06-01-011. Allow the vehicle to sit on a level surface with the engine off for at least 10 minutes to allow the entire engine to drain back to the oil pan before checking the engine oil level and adding oil. Match the oil consumption test results to one of the outcomes below to determine further direction:
• If oil consumption is Less than 1 quart of oil every 2,000 miles and no low oil light has been experienced, no repairs should be performed as this should be considered acceptable oil consumption as outlined in the latest version of 01-06-01-011.

• If oil consumption is Less than 1 quart of oil every 2,000 miles but the customer has experienced a low oil light, refer to the latest version of PIP3959 for a potential low oil light sensor concern.

• If the dealership verifies that oil consumption is More than 1 quart every 2,000 miles, perform the steps below as necessary:

Remove the LH (driver's side) valve cover and inspect the PCV baffle drain holes shown below to see if they are plugged with hardened oil deposits. If they are plugged, replace the valve cover, ensure that the customer is changing their oil according to the maintenance schedule in their owner's manual, and re-evaluate the concern. Generally, this would not be a concern until several thousand miles have accumulated.



With the LH (driver's side) valve cover removed, inspect the PCV baffle to ensure that it is properly sealed to the valve cover by flipping it over and adding a little oil to the corner of the valve cover as shown below. The oil should stay in place as shown on the 2 outer valve covers below. If the oil drains into the PCV baffle as pointed out on the middle valve cover below, replace the valve cover. Generally, if this is the cause of the concern, it would have been present early in the life of the vehicle or shortly after valve cover replacement.



Important: If Step 4 or 5 led to valve cover replacement, perform Step 5 again on the replacement valve cover before installing it.

With the LH (driver's side) valve cover removed, carefully check for an over-aggressive lifter by monitoring oil flow at the top of each push rod with the engine at idle. Very little flow should be observed at an idle. It will be obvious if an over-aggressive lifter is present because its flow will be greatly excessive when compared with the others and a great deal of cleanup will be required. If okay, perform the inspection a couple more times but momentarily raise the RPM off idle for a couple of seconds and let it return to idle before inspecting the oil flow at idle. If an over-aggressive lifter is present, replace all of the lifters on the driver's side bank and re-evaluate the concern.
Notice: If you verify that oil consumption is More than 1 quart every 2,000 miles and all of the suggestions above have been performed without isolating the cause of this or decreasing the oil consumption rate to an acceptable rate (less than 1 quart every 2,000 miles), do not attempt additional repairs at this time. The cause of this concern is under investigation and this PI will be updated with additional details as soon as they become available.

5.3L LC9 Oil Consumption Checklist:
VIN _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mileage at Start of Oil Consumption Test: _ _ _ _ _ _

Mileage at End of Oil Consumption Test: _ _ _ _ _ _

Total Mileage Accumulated During Oil Consumption Test: _ _ _ _ _ _

After allowing the vehicle sit with the engine off for at least 10 minutes during step 3 above, was it necessary to add additional oil to obtain a "full" reading on the dipstick? Y/N _________

If yes - how much oil had to be added? _________

If no - was the latest version of PIP3959 followed for a potential low oil light sensor concern? _______

Any oil leaks detected during step 1 above? Y/N _______

Any lifters replaced during step 6 above due to being over active Y/N ________

If yes - how many lifters and which ones? ____________


Please follow this diagnostic or repair process thoroughly and complete each step. If the condition exhibited is resolved without completing every step, the remaining steps do not need to be performed.

GM bulletins are intended for use by professional technicians, NOT a "do-it-yourselfer". They are written to inform these technicians of conditions that may occur on some vehicles, or to provide information that could assist in the proper service of a vehicle. Properly trained technicians have the equipment, tools, safety instructions, and know-how to do a job properly and safely. If a condition is described, DO NOT assume that the bulletin applies to your vehicle, or that your vehicle will have that condition. See your GM dealer for information on whether your vehicle may benefit from the information.

WE SUPPORT VOLUNTARY TECHNICIAN CERTIFICATION


© 2009 General Motors Corporation. All rights reserved.

[vm1971]

well,
looks like i found some help. an awesome dealer here in southern NJ is going to take a look. thanks for the input and replies, too. V