5.3 Gen IV a bad engine?

muzz · April 5, 2013

My '08 5.3 Yukon used a little oil, not bad though, and sold it with 102K on it.

I just bought a '13 Sierra with a 5.3, but it has < 1000 miles on it......we'll see!

mfennema · April 5, 2013

My '07 5.3 has used oil since about 50k miles. Its to the point that I use the oil monitor to tell me when I need to change oil. I put 6 quarts in it when I change the oil, then when the light comes on I put in another quart that I keep in my truck. Then when the light comes on again, and I don't have a quart in my truck I know its time to change it.

Does this usage bother me? Yes. Am I going to go buy a different truck because of it? No. Would I consider another GMC for my next vehicle? Absolutely. As other have posted, every manufacturer has issues...some you can live with, some you can't.

Bad Bowtie2 · April 5, 2013

My '07 5.3 has used oil since about 50k miles. Its to the point that I use the oil monitor to tell me when I need to change oil. I put 6 quarts in it when I change the oil, then when the light comes on I put in another quart that I keep in my truck. Then when the light comes on again, and I don't have a quart in my truck I know its time to change it.

Does this usage bother me? Yes. Am I going to go buy a different truck because of it? No. Would I consider another GMC for my next vehicle? Absolutely. As other have posted, every manufacturer has issues...some you can live with, some you can't.

Are you still in the 5yr/100K powertrain warranty coverage??

mfennema · April 5, 2013

Are you still in the 5yr/100K powertrain warranty coverage??

Negative ghostwriter I'm at about 150k miles on my truck and the 5 years was up in November of last year.

I did have the oil consumption looked at by the dealership when it first started, but it wasn't using more than their "standard" amount of oil usage so they wouldn't do anything with it.

tanked_darren · April 10, 2013

See the problem is we would hear more bad on the net because people come on here to post about it, they are mad. Look around at other forums there are issues with all brands.

I bet the guy across from him would tell you hemi's are junk and his buddy says the ford 6.0 diesel is junk. Don't get me started on Nissian trucks. And forget about Toyotas!!!

Where does it end?

Do you see what I mean?

My 4.8 burns oil. Like a quart every change.

That is acceptable. Believe it or not the nature of combustion engines is some will burn oil. Why the diesel machinary at my work, they all burn oil!!!

tanked_darren · April 10, 2013

My '07 5.3 has used oil since about 50k miles. Its to the point that I use the oil monitor to tell me when I need to change oil. I put 6 quarts in it when I change the oil, then when the light comes on I put in another quart that I keep in my truck. Then when the light comes on again, and I don't have a quart in my truck I know its time to change it.

Does this usage bother me? Yes. Am I going to go buy a different truck because of it? No. Would I consider another GMC for my next vehicle? Absolutely. As other have posted, every manufacturer has issues...some you can live with, some you can't.

You shouldn't be going by the idoit light. Thats like going to buy fuel when the fuel light comes on.

mfennema · April 10, 2013

You shouldn't be going by the idoit light. Thats like going to buy fuel when the fuel light comes on.

Why not?

They both have a factor of safety built in to them, and I watch mileage too to make sure I don't go over about 6k per change. Never have yet.

mferry22 · April 10, 2013

My 2009 was down 3 qrts and the oil light never came on. I found out because I checked my oil the old fashioned way.

Edited April 10, 2013 by mferry22

kstruckcountry · April 10, 2013

The 6.0 power stroke is the most consistently bad engine made in a while. Luckily aftermarket support to toughen them up is pretty good now.

Edited April 10, 2013 by kstruckcountry

Prokopchuk_9 · April 10, 2013

You shouldn't be going by the idoit light. Thats like going to buy fuel when the fuel light comes on.

Why not?

They both have a factor of safety built in to them, and I watch mileage too to make sure I don't go over about 6k per change. Never have yet.

I can't vouch for 1/2 tons but my truck froze a PCV valve on me this winter,

Popped dipstick from the pressure pumped 5-6 quarts out on the highway. The Duramax holds 10L of oil, It was down over half. Not one light came on nothing, I still had oil pressure tho just a little lower. I only noticed when I stopped for fuel, I could smell burning oil on the turbos...

To people that think its okay to burn oil it's not normal LOL...my 06 lq4 wouldn't burn an oz of oil in 10000km intervals. I owned a 5.3 before also, didn't burn anything. Also any old 350 we had growing up didn't start burning oil till about 200k miles. The fact that these brand new "sophisticated" v8's burn oil right off the lot is pathetic IMO. My Duramax doesn't burn any oil, not any other truck I've owned. Never owned an AFM truck tho, don't think I would either!!

Also, these engines if running properly and you're using good fuel go ALOT further between oil change intervals as well, much more than one would think. Ask notamember he will tell you!!

Badass69 · April 11, 2013

In 22000 kms between oil changes on my 05 I am down approximately half a quart of oil...... which I attribute to loss through the PCV system in that time frame. Oil consumption is not okay, and not acceptable but I guess to some it is. I have never owned an AFM equipped truck, nor ever will, so I have no input there. But I do go through a lot of GMT800 6 liter trucks and haven't had one that uses oil yet.

Properly maintained these LS's last a very, very long time. This can go for the afm engines as well but they just seem to have more issues than the non afm versions....... forum or not.

BrassMonkey · April 19, 2013

To burn a quart of oil between 3-5000 mile oil changes is not uncommon. I would say that is normal.

I would also have to agree w/this. I think every other oil change I end up having to add about a quart every few thousand miles, but that's the sum of it. My '08 has 90K on it w/no majors issues (no knocking, no ticking, no abnormal noises).

It's been reported on for several years that the 5.3L is the workhorse of GM, and by far one of their most successful engines to date. The GM fleet couldn't move w/out the 5.3. I would imagine for some of our north-of-the-border members that the 4.8 is more popular (I'm not an expert, so i can't say if they rate better in the cold than it's sibling motors), but in the States the most sold GM truck engine by far is the 5.3.

ShadowGM · April 20, 2013

If any new or prospective owners is stressed out by the AFM and oil burning issue it would seem to me there is a fairly inexpensive way to turn off the AFM. Just buy one of the Range AFM units (site sponsor) a Diablosport Intune (site sponsor), buy any other handheld programmer, or get a Blackbear Tune (site sponsor) With AFM off the new 5.3 should be no more likely, in my opinion, to burn oil than any previous gen 5.3. I know some will say you shouldn't have to spend $$$ to do this, but by comparison invest in the latest and greatest technology, say the Ford Ecoboost, and see how you feel about replacing turbos for an added expense of ownership a few years down the road. Will all Ecoboost owners have to do this, no, but will some, yes. No one builds a perfect truck. No one. But if the AFM oil burning issue was as widespread as some believe, RenCenter in Detroit would have long ago been burnt to the ground by the angry masses of the owners of inferior GM 5.3 motors. For those who have experienced the oil burning problem, of course it is real and I'm not trying to diminish your frustrations. But the OP makes this sound like the dawning of the Apocolypse; in the grand scheme of things it just isn't.

BTW: If the 5.3 still scares anyone, they still have the option of the 4.8 or 6.2 until the new trucks come out.

That's a very reasonable reply. At the same time, widespread issues would likely result in manufacture adjustments for corrective measures. A manufacturer doesn't have to perform a recall unless it hits a threshold ratio of affected cases to unaffected, so I suppose one would have to offer an ounce of trust that GM isn't trying to get around the alleged issue, certainly if they're continuing to offer AFM on brand new engine designs. There are probably a lot of variables we're not aware of, but I tend to think the ratio of satisfied truck buyers is significantly higher than that of dissatisfied buyers. I mean, is there some sort of grand expectation that perfection is a minimum requirement?

In my case, people asked me what engine I had. When I replied with the 5.3 nobody has said anything but, "Good choice." The majority say because it'll give greater overall satisfaction over the 4.8 - and less overall daily-driving cost than the 6.2 (I suppose they generally mean in gas consumption - but that's subjective as well).

I have no opinion on oil consumption or engine issues as I have only 4,700 miles on mine. So far, so good.

*Steps off soapbox

Nando in LR · April 30, 2013

I have owned both a 2004 and 2012 5.3 with not one bit of trouble out of either. My 2004 was running great when I traded it last year, and got a great trade in on it. Just wanted to upgrade to a crew cab with 4X4.

zedbear · May 1, 2013

My oil level hasn't dropped at all from 90 miles when I bought it new a few months ago to about 4000 miles, when I dumped the factory oil. This also included an 1800 mile round trip at interstate speeds. Of course, it only has 4000 miles but there was literally no noticeable drop in oil level on the dipstick.

I do notice a metallic "tink, tink, tink" echoing off the building when I'm sitting in a fast food drive-thru, for example. My 2000 never did that. Perhaps its just the nature of the AFM lifters? I remember reading about "The Hemi Tick" when I looked something up a couple years ago for a friend with a 5.7 Hemi with DOD and that it was normal....