Unknown Oil 5.7L V8 '97 Suburban - Ugh

[Donald]

People do loose receipts. While I think the oil was in bad shape, it may not have gone a full 26K. How did it look, like driveway sealer?

The prior owner seemed to take pretty good care of the vehicle, so why did they let it go so long this time? They may have not been aware that the oil should have or would have been changed with the intake gasket replacement.

 

[TooManyWheels]

The gasket leak problem on the Vortex 5.7 engines comes from the number and spacing of the intake manifold bolts, which was changed from the design which had worked since 1955. There is also some talk about the gasket material being inadequate, but that pales next to the bolt issue.

 

[steve20]

that 5.7 was a great motor-much better than the 5.3 that replaced it. BTW GM still used the 5.7 in 99 Tahoes

 

[Winston]

To clarify. The reciept with the intake gasket change showed that the oil was changed at that time. However, there is no oil change since. The intake gasket was done by the dealer in 2004. (total bill of $2700 - $950 for the gasket repair - 7 hours labor)

I have a feeling that these people just took the truck in periodically for service and never told the shop specifically what to do. The shop forgot to recommend an oil change. Not that that excuses the owners, just explains how I think the oil got left in there for so long. Based on the amount of money spent on repairs, they werent trying to save money by skipping oil changes. However, they quit going to the dealer after getting that huge bill.

BTW, the oil looked pretty black, but not particularly thick.

 

[Donald]

So part of the high silicon was due to the oil being in for so long and part due to the repair, gasket sealer, etc.