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Driving in M5 all the time


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My white 2014 had over 20,000 miles from April to December and never used any oil. All three oil changes completed by the dealership when the OLM told me to change it. Truck didn't smoke, leak or burn oil. I ran it on 87 octane and according to my fuelly account I tracked 15220 miles and averaged 15.5 mpg. It was a 5.3L 6sp w/3.42 gears I put it in auto and let it do its thing.

20,000 is half of 40,000....which is where the oil consumption problems seem to start showing up. I'm sure some of us would spend more time in V4 than others, thus some may get more miles before problems show up, or have no problems at all. GM didn't do this because it is good for your motor, they did it to help meet CAFE standards. Why take the chance if you plan on keeping your truck?

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Okay I've got a 100,000 mile power train warranty so it's still on GMs dime to fix it. This isn't rocket science either it happens or it don't nothing anyone can do to prevent it. Naysayers blame it on AFM. Others blame it on mechanical parts. There is always a chance anything mechanical can break. I am on my third AFM truck and haven't had any issues when I do then I will fix it. With as many as these trucks on the road with it the few that have this issue makes it the least of my worries. I have a better chance of being hit by some one playing on the telephone than having oil consumption problems. It's your truck and warranty tune it out leave it factory I could care less. Who cares.


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Edited by mudeater
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Okay I've got a 100,000 mile power train warranty so it's still on GMs dime to fix it. This isn't rocket science either it happens or it don't nothing anyone can do to prevent it. Naysayers blame it on AFM. Others blame it on mechanical parts. There is always a chance anything mechanical can break. I am on my third AFM truck and haven't had any issues when I do then I will fix it. With as many as these trucks on the road with it the few that have this issue makes it the least of my worries. I have a better chance of being hit by some one playing on the telephone than having oil consumption problems. It's your truck and warranty tune it out leave it factory I could care less. Who cares.

 

 

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Unless you are using more than 1 qt every 1000 miles, GM will tell you nothing is wrong. You know I just passed on the information. I've said all along DO WHAT YOU WANT! No need to get testy!

"WHO CARES"? Well if you don't, why did you bother to comment at all? Why did you even click on this topic? This is what forums are for. I got my information from GM MECHANICS with about 50+ years of combined experience.......Probably know a little more about it than you I'm guessing! And I'm positive they know a whole lot more about it than me.

Edited by mike5511
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  • 1 year later...

I have a 2009 Silverado. 5.3 vortec. After my last oil change I checked the oil every 500 miles. I was burning, losing, using 1 quart per 500 miles. I've never noticed smoke. It doesn't leave marks on driveway. I topped it back off and have been driving in M5. First 500 miles when I checked, expecting to add a quart, it was right on level. Didn't have to add a drop. What's is the best programmer that won't break the bank? What's the benefit of using the programmer as opposed to driving in M5? I realize this is an old post but I thought I'd try anyway.

Edited by snowman24
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I have a 2009 Silverado. 5.3 vortec. After my last oil change I checked the oil every 500 miles. I was burning, losing, using 1 quart per 500 miles. I've never noticed smoke. It doesn't leave marks on driveway. I topped it back off and have been driving in M5. First 500 miles when I checked, expecting to add a quart, it was right on level. Didn't have to add a drop. What's is the best programmer that won't break the bank? What's the benefit of using the programmer as opposed to driving in M5? I realize this is an old post but I thought I'd try anyway.

My 2009 Sierra, 5.3 also went through oil as you describe. It had nothing to do with the transmission and had major engine work done a 50k miles all under warranty. Next 100k miles I never had to top off oil between changes!

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I have not seen a lot of oil burning problems on the new DI engines 2014 and up. I like a lot of other 2009 5.3 Aluminum block owners had a oil consumption problem with it all the way up to 82,000 miles at tradein time. My 2014 5.3 never needed any oil added between changes up to 61,000 miles at tradein time and you can bet that I am checking regularly after that 2009 truck LOL. This 2016 6.2 is doing OK at 14,000 miles no sign of oil consumption so far. Would like for someone to point out a thread where a 2014 plus DI engine has an oil consumption problem. I cannot seem to find anything with the search feature??

Here is a spark plug pic out of my 2009 5.3 yup she burned so much oil that she fouled the spark plugs!!

post-127028-0-32940400-1475571806_thumb.jpg

post-127028-0-32940400-1475571806_thumb.jpg

post-127028-0-32940400-1475571806_thumb.jpg

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My 2009 Sierra, 5.3 also went through oil as you describe. It had nothing to do with the transmission and had major engine work done a 50k miles all under warranty. Next 100k miles I never had to top off oil between changes!

I had the same thing done on mine @ about 70,000 miles. Edited by snowman24
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I drive mine in M5 when I'm around town then put it in M6 when I'm on the highway. (M6 does not lock out V4 mode).

 

Where I live there are lots of hills and lots of stop lights. I rarely get over 50 MPH for very long. Keeping the truck from shifting all the way into 6th gear gives me a little better throttle response around town. There is nothing more frustrating than driving up a hill and having the engine bog because the tranny only has it spinning at 1200 RPM.

 

On the highway, V4 is great. I rarely notice the switch in terms of throttle response, but the gas mileage improves substantially.

 

I think other posters have hit it on the head. You don't really notice the switch between V4 and V8 unless you are watching the indicator on the dash. (Unless you have a non-factory muffler, in which case, you can hear the difference in the exhaust note.)

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Ok so I've had my truck a week now and I love everything about it except the worthless AFM. Would it affect the longevity of the engine and or transmission to just leave it in M5 all the time ? Would the extra rpms take a toll over time on the engine ? I have the 3:42 ratio. It pulls just fine in 6th gear when it's in V8 mode so I know it's the AFM causing the delay. And also I'm thinking by not letting the AFM operate it would prevent any possible oil consumption issues that some have had with the AFM system.

The technology of using only four cylinders when more are not required is an asset to these trucks. Defeating this feature is a waste, imo. If your AFM is causing a performance problem then your truck needs repair. You definitely should be able to use "D" for most of your driving needs.

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  • 2 years later...

i’m at 66k miles and my lifters for AFM collapsed...sucks i know... when i have it on “D” it makes this ugly helicopter taking off noise when it goes into v4. so what i have been doing is driving around in m5, at first wasn’t sure but now i really like it to me it shifts better and just drives a little better..( could be my head just telling me that) also no ugly sound! but once the dealership fixes the lifters i’m probably still going to keep driving in m5 but i got a couple of questions.

does driving in m5 bad for tranny or engine long run? 

why not go into m6 instead?

what are signs of oil consumption? ( wanna get this check out asap before warranty ends) 

what i been doing is city driving i drive in m5, highway i leave it in D, is that a good or should i just go up a gear and drive in m6 in highway? 

thanks again! 

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i’m at 66k miles and my lifters for AFM collapsed...sucks i know... when i have it on “D” it makes this ugly helicopter taking off noise when it goes into v4. so what i have been doing is driving around in m5, at first wasn’t sure but now i really like it to me it shifts better and just drives a little better..( could be my head just telling me that) also no ugly sound! but once the dealership fixes the lifters i’m probably still going to keep driving in m5 but i got a couple of questions.
does driving in m5 bad for tranny or engine long run? 
why not go into m6 instead?
what are signs of oil consumption? ( wanna get this check out asap before warranty ends) 
what i been doing is city driving i drive in m5, highway i leave it in D, is that a good or should i just go up a gear and drive in m6 in highway? 
thanks again! 
A couple things here, if you have a aftermarket exhaust you'll get that helicopter sound. I drive my truck in M5 up until 60mph then I'll put it in M6, all highway driving is in M6. If you dont want to deal with putting the truck in M5 you can tune out v4 or buy yourself a Range device.

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21 hours ago, bowtiemark said:

i’m at 66k miles and my lifters for AFM collapsed...sucks i know... when i have it on “D” it makes this ugly helicopter taking off noise when it goes into v4. so what i have been doing is driving around in m5, at first wasn’t sure but now i really like it to me it shifts better and just drives a little better..( could be my head just telling me that) also no ugly sound! but once the dealership fixes the lifters i’m probably still going to keep driving in m5 but i got a couple of questions.

does driving in m5 bad for tranny or engine long run? 

why not go into m6 instead?

what are signs of oil consumption? ( wanna get this check out asap before warranty ends) 

what i been doing is city driving i drive in m5, highway i leave it in D, is that a good or should i just go up a gear and drive in m6 in highway? 

thanks again! 

Driving in M5 will not hurt anything other than a loss of fuel economy at higher speeds. In town in every automatic I've ever owned I've locked out overdrive when possible. Driving in M4 or M5 on these trucks is how to do that. 

 

M6 is essentially the same as D, AFM will will activate and make that awful noise. I also feel like it causes hesitation. 

 

You need to check the oil level on your dipstick periodically and look for the level dropping.

 

I drive in M4/M5 and switch to M6 on the highway generally. On long trips I just use D but there generally is no real difference other than I think grade braking is disabled in "M" mode.

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