Oil reccomendation

[stchman]

I have owned two Silverados with the 5.3L AFM engine. Neither have had oil consumption issues.

Short little trips like the OP is doing is really hard on an oil, definitely severe service.

 

[DeepFriar]

Originally Posted By: stchman
I have owned two Silverados with the 5.3L AFM engine. Neither have had oil consumption issues.

Short little trips like the OP is doing is really hard on an oil, definitely severe service.


That's always the way isn't it? There are always those who have been more fortunate. But many do have the problem. What years was your other Silverado? BTW, strangely, consumption seems to be higher in highway cruise rather than around town.

 

[sprint_9]

Originally Posted By: DeepFriar

That's always the way isn't it? There are always those who have been more fortunate. But many do have the problem. What years was your other Silverado? BTW, strangely, consumption seems to be higher in highway cruise rather than around town.


AFM is more active at highway speeds rather than in town.

I pulled my spark plugs yesterday and they were dry. That marks around 500 miles since I turned off AFM and no oil on them. Prior to turning AFM off they were pretty wet, only the AFM cylinders were wet I should note. Hopefully things keep on this track.

I also used seafoam in my oil before an oil change. It didnt keep my lifter from sticking under AFM activation but it seems to have helped with my oil consumption. AFM being off cured my lifter ailments since it no longer collapses along with lessening or eliminating my oil consumption.

 

[stchman]

Originally Posted By: DeepFriar
Originally Posted By: stchman
I have owned two Silverados with the 5.3L AFM engine. Neither have had oil consumption issues.

Short little trips like the OP is doing is really hard on an oil, definitely severe service.


That's always the way isn't it? There are always those who have been more fortunate. But many do have the problem. What years was your other Silverado? BTW, strangely, consumption seems to be higher in highway cruise rather than around town.


I owned a 2008 and now own a 2013, both 5.3L and both AFM engines.

Each truck uses about 1/2 qt every oil change (~6K miles).

 

[LubricatusObsess]

Apologies to OP for getting too far off track, but GM 5.3L AFM oil consumption is too big an issue to ignore.

I had 2007 Silverado 1500 with 5.3L AFM, used Mobil 1 5W30 exclusively. Started consuming oil noticeably ~50k miles. Blogosphere reports this ~20k miles with conventional oil.

I additized the oil with cleanser & it did cut down consumption by about half, but not enough for me. I got rid of the truck & never looked bad at Chevy, bought Ram 1500 with 5.7L HEMI. No issues @ 55k miles now.

Oil consumption on the Chevy was over 1 qt per 2000 miles, prior was only about 1/2 qt per 6000 miles (OCI).

 

[DeepFriar]

Originally Posted By: LubricatusObsess
Apologies to OP for getting too far off track, but GM 5.3L AFM oil consumption is too big an issue to ignore.

Oil consumption on the Chevy was over 1 qt per 2000 miles, prior was only about 1/2 qt per 6000 miles (OCI).


And I think I'm making progress at 1 per 2000.

. It's a wide ranging problem across several engine families that GM should never have allowed to happen. The reasons vary from the GenIII LM4 aluminum engines like mine, 2003-2004, up through the L33 to the GenIV AFM engines. My opinion FWIW is that the excess oil through the intake has been a source problem throughout causing, ultimately, the sticky rings.

It seems as though they improved the situation by a lot with the changes to the VC/PCV in 2007-2008 only to be overtaken by the AFM problem. That will seem obvious to some but I wasn't comfortable stating it till I went through it as far as I could. It is unclear to me if a syn blend or HDEO might help after backfitting the 2007 oil control VC referenced earlier. One thing at a time.

 

[sprint_9]

Originally Posted By: LubricatusObsess
Apologies to OP for getting too far off track, but GM 5.3L AFM oil consumption is too big an issue to ignore.


I enjoy the conversation, and this topic is one of the reasons I came on here to do some research. I would have probably just ran mobil super 5000 had I not had issues, made me think twice about maybe using something Dexos approved, instead of one of the cheaper alternatives.

 

[DeepFriar]

Originally Posted By: sprint_9
Originally Posted By: LubricatusObsess
Apologies to OP for getting too far off track, but GM 5.3L AFM oil consumption is too big an issue to ignore.


I enjoy the conversation, and this topic is one of the reasons I came on here to do some research. I would have probably just ran mobil super 5000 had I not had issues, made me think twice about maybe using something Dexos approved, instead of one of the cheaper alternatives.


I included an open question in a previous post about how to rename and cross post this thread to the Maintenance topic area but had no response. I will ask it again if anyone knows. Anyone know?
I think it might be useful to people doing a google search or similar for 5.3 oil consumption problems and easier to find if named properly, etc.
Cheers