Im sorry if I have not immediately updated this thread because I simply do not have the time and this is not my priority. This GM vehicle is not my personal vehicle, but just one vehicle in our business fleet. Our last GM vehicle was a 2016 Chevrolet Suburban which was a lemon and we stopped buying them after that vehicle. So we wanted to try one of the newer GM SUVs and purchased one for the experiment. Thankfully we only purchased one because there has been many other issues besides oil burning. We purchase all Ford/Lincoln. These Ford/Lincoln vehicles have their issues, but not like this GM SUV.
Here are a few things I want to address:
* Scotty Kilmer- I do not follow this Youtube page but when I did my Google searches he seemed to appear at the top so I viewed his video. However, there was a vast amount of posts on this forum and other forums about this issue of oil burning GM 5.3 V8 engines.
* PCV Valve and system- Scotty is not the only source of information about the PCV system causing issues but there are past posts on this website and many others. On the Fords we always change the PCV valve when changing the spark plugs because its cheap and simple. When doing the plug change access is open up to the valve and its a good time to get it done.
* Valvoline Restore and Protect- I have zero experience with this new offering by Valvoline and so I cannot really say anything about it. What I can say is the oil being burnt is not simply evaporating like water, but probably leaving behind some residue inside the engine. I am guessing it does make sense to use a product which would get at that residue. Over here we do have an engine flush that we are very happy with and used on the Fords with great success. I do not at all believe any oil product will cure the issues with this GM engine.
* 5W30- It does make sense to use a thicker oil when you know the engine is burning oil. However, this will not cure the problems with this engine. It will mitigate the issue but not be a total solution. I do not own and operate a railroad, but a much smaller business and problems hit us a bit harder than a railroad thus we are more sensitive to these issues. Basically, this engine has some serious design faults and thicker oil or a different formulated oil wont cure it.
* Past posts on here and other websites about the 5.3- I received some messages about past versions of this 5.3 liter engine burning oil so this issue is not entirely new. I just read a post dated year 2011 and it talks about the burning oil issue to include someone suggesting 5W30 and looking at the PCV valve. I also found posts on this website dating 2017 talking about it. All of this is good advice but it doesnt seem to have changed anything in regards to this engine.
* OCI- I know this website enjoys talking about long OCIs. The OCI we do is 3000 mile intervals as dictated by our mechanics. There is considerable engine idle time and there is an issue about documenting the engine idle hours+miles. So we just change it out at 3000 and we use bulk oil from sources like Valvoline Global Store. What we do over here is not subject to debate because our mechanics dictate this oil change interval and not anyone on a website forum. If you want to come over to my business and debate the OCI with the mechanics you sure can, but its not going to be a subject of debate in this forum.
Conclusion...I am leaning to this being our last GM SUV. It does not appear anything has changed since our last 2016 Chevrolet Suburban. A lot of different issues popping up with this vehicle. We will change out the PCV Surge valve and I will report back with the results which will take time, but I think nothing is going to change whether the PCV system is perfect or if 5W30 is used or if we switched to Valvoline Restore and Protect. My thinking is the engine has serious design flaws to which no oil product can address. If someone is looking for a light truck for their business I might suggest one with the Ford Ecoboost 2.7 liter or the non-Ecoboost versions of the engine. As for GM I dont see where its path has changed in regards to long term engine or transmission reliability.
