High Mileage Oil - 01 Silverado w some consumption

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In my 01 Silverado HD 6.0 auto, at 102k/mi now, I drove a severe service 2 - 5 mile lightly loaded city trips several times per day for six years at my previous job. It would barely warm by the time I reached my destination. Trucks lives in north Florida, see temps from 25°F - 100°F, and gets driven fairly slowly to get its best mileage (like 13- 14mpg).

In a few cases about 3 - 5 years ago, I went somewhat beyond, like 1 to 2k more, than the truck's OLM, which said 4800 - 5100 miles consistently. On a 3 or 4 runs the oil went almost 2 qts low during the OCI in a 6 qt CC from not bothering to top up.

After getting a new job that's 15 miles away and doesn't require short trip driving, several problems seem to linger on that are likely motor oil related...

There is consumption, about 1 qt every 4 - 5 fillups, or 1200-1600 miles.

It looks like the PCV scavenging of the CC causes some of the (vaporized) motor oil to not only burn in the cylinders but get into the intake manifold and ports and leave varnish/ gum / resin deposits on the throttle body that can make it stick shut at idle.

Probably the piston rings are allowing more blowby than they should and that's at least somewhat responsible for the LS's oil consumption.

I have used Berryman's carb cleaner on the throttle body maybe 4 different times, ran seafoam thru the intake manifold twice, replaced the pcv valve twice, switched to high mileage oil about 20k/mi ago, and for the last 10k miles ran MMO in the gas (definitely reduced light pinging, made idle smooth, and quieted the fuel pump down).

Could a lower NOACK rating oil fix the consumption issue, or should I resort to a running a cleaner in the CC to maybe free up the rings more?
 
what oil are you using and whats your OCI now? I would check the pvc system blow carb cleaner thru all the hoses etc and do a couple short changes with Pennzoil Conventional or HDEO.
 
Make sure you are using a dealer bought genuine delco PCV valve - if the thing even has a pill valve MY '07 SB W/T 4.3 5mt ate oil like crazy and had an "open" pcv system with no "backfire" pill. Caused rough Idle too. Of course the throttle body came loose for no reason and cause a worse idle and surging and misfire - all under 20k miles. I like the chassis though.

You may have the rings all varnished up. Sound like a piston soak is in order. A LOW/ No ash , low saps Modern turbo diesel oil might clean things up. I would stop the UCL just to eliminate variables at this juncture.
 
Back when I bought a 1998 Silverado, I was told GM had loosened the rings for better mileage. I thought that was a joke, but that truck burned a quart of oil every 3,000 miles.

So I guess they were telling the truth, and yours fits that time line.



I have a 2007 chevy Colorado (123,000 miles) and it does not burn.
 
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Originally Posted By: CentAmDL650

Could a lower NOACK rating oil fix the consumption issue, or should I resort to a running a cleaner in the CC to maybe free up the rings more?


Maybe if you engine is running 275*F...

But if your engine is running 275*F you better have at least a 20W-50...
 
Originally Posted By: cknight49090
what oil are you using and whats your OCI now?

I bought the truck new and I've used Mobil 1 10W30 & 5W30 "synthetic" since about 5000 miles. The first two oil changes I did were with Valvoline 10w30 conventional, thinking it would aid in the break-in process. Current OCI is about 5000 miles on Mobil 1 High Mileage 10W30 or 5W30 API SL, about when the monitor goes off.

Originally Posted By: cknight49090
I would check the pvc system blow carb cleaner thru all hoses etc and do a couple short changes with Pennzoil Conventional or HDEO

The PCV valve rattles freely, and the hoses have little if any buildup in them.

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Make sure you are using a dealer bought genuine delco PCV valve - if the thing even has a pill valve MY '07 SB W/T 4.3 5mt ate oil like crazy and had an "open" pcv system with no "backfire" pill. Caused rough Idle too OF course the throttle body came loose for no reason and cause a worse idle and surging and misfire - all under 20k miles. I like the chassis though.

How is an auto parts store Delco part any different from a dealer-bought Delco part?

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
You may have the rings all varnished up. Sound like a piston soak is in order. A LOW / No ash, low saps Modern turbo diesel oil might clean things up. I would stop the UCL just to eliminate variables at this juncture.

Rings varnished up is what I'm afraid may be the case. But why go with a piston soak and not a CC cleaner added to the oil?

Originally Posted By: Mackelroy
Back when I bought a 1998 Silverado, I was told GM had loosened the rings for better mileage. I thought it was a joke, but that burned a quart of oil every 3,000 miles.

So I guess they were telling the truth, and yours fits that timeline.

I've heard them called low tension rings, and I've been told they and the "loose clearance hypereutectic pistons" (which have had cold start knock since about 20k miles) are made to allow the engine to operate for longer periods of time at high power output because they don't get seal tight until the heat is really on. Apparently not the best for drivers who have short trips and modest power needs, like me.

Originally Posted By: TFB1

Originally Posted By: CentAmDL650
Could a lower NOACK rating oil fix the consumption issue, or should I resort to running a cleaner in the CC to maybe free up the rings more?

Maybe if you engine is running 275*F...

But if your engine is running 275*F you better have at least a 20W-50...

I don't know the temp the crankcase oil runs at, but the pressure indicated is usually between 40 - 60 psi. I think pressure relief/ bypass happens at about 65 psi, as I've never observed any pressure higher than that, even on cold starts.

The Trans Temp gauge usually will go as high as 170° - 180°F on hot days and 30+ minutes operating time. Coolant temperature goes up to about 200°F.
 
But did you get an oem pcv valve? It's almost impossible to tell if a cheap aftermarket is sealing.

In any event just keep up the same routine, and top her up with a good product like Pennzoil Conventional.

Mobil 1 5w30 high mileage plus top up with Pennzoil Conventional is what I do on my Taurus. Also since I got it on clearance right now I top up with Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5w4.

Probably not much you can do besides a piston soak.
 
How is an auto parts store Delco part any different from a dealer-bought Delco part?

Back in the 90s most all indie AP stores sold Delco knockoffs NOT THE REAL THING.; I had a photo of a knockoff 4.3 distributor cap somewhere ... . I Ended up with a NAPA part to get something serviceable (then I came to realise GM had a garbage DIST design on this engine which was prone to crossfire).
IIRC around this time GM pulled most aftermarket product off the indie market.
Same goes these days with Genuine Toyota. Most all you will be buying is Chinese (or ??) K.O.'s - unless it has a Toyota laser 3d label on the box; Look for the Hologramme.
 
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