2010 5.3 Burns 1 Qt in 5000 miles

August 23, 2016

2010 5.3 Burns 1 Qt in 5000 miles,

Truck is 100% stock, has 68,000 miles ..

When do I start to worry that I have the famous 5.3 oil burning problem ? where is starts to burn 1 Qt every 500 miles ?

is mine starting ?

any help or suggestions would be great, thanks !

dsr611 · August 23, 2016

Ask GM and 1 qt in 5000 miles is well within their acceptable range. Get a custom tune and permanently disable AFM or get the Range AFM disabler and plug it into the OBD port and turn the AFM off.

Plenty to read here...

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/127812-is-your-gmt-900-truck-or-suv-using-oil/

August 23, 2016

Thanks, I understand 1 qt in 5000 miles is well within spec, but was hoping to catch it early ..

Is it absolute fact that disabling AFM will solve the problem ? I thought before I read about it, and some people still had problems ?

wehowardjr · August 23, 2016

I am a fairly new owner of a Range AFM disabler and can tell you it works. My oil level has not dropped at all and I leave it plugged in 24/7 with zero issues. My truck stays in V8 mode all the time.

August 24, 2016

I am a fairly new owner of a Range AFM disabler and can tell you it works. My oil level has not dropped at all and I leave it plugged in 24/7 with zero issues. My truck stays in V8 mode all the time.

thanks for the helpful insight. How much oil were you burning before ? how many miles are on your engine now ?

is there a discount to order this for forum members anywhere ? or was Ebay the cheapest ?

wehowardjr · August 24, 2016

My truck currently has 75600, 62900 when I bought it last September. With the 5w-30 full synthetic I burned about 1 quart in 5000 miles. When the dealership put 10w-30 full synthetic for my free oil change i burned about half that. Since installing the Range I have not seen the oil drop yet.

I have no clue about discounts. There are members who sell their Ranges.

Stex · August 24, 2016

My 09 5.3 with 80,000 still drinks oil. Probably 2 qts or more in 5,000 miles. 10-30 Mobil 1. AFM off since 55,000. Tried a semi-synthetic and it was worse. GM put on the revised valve cover and the oil pan baffle. Along with the ring cleaning/soak. I stopped short of new pistons and rings. I strongly Recommend a catch can.

August 24, 2016

My 09 5.3 with 80,000 still drinks oil. Probably 2 qts or more in 5,000 miles. 10-30 Mobil 1. AFM off since 55,000. Tried a semi-synthetic and it was worse. GM put on the revised valve cover and the oil pan baffle. Along with the ring cleaning/soak. I stopped short of new pistons and rings. I strongly Recommend a catch can.

Well, I was all set to order the Range AFM dissembler until I read this...

this kind of stuff, oil pan baffle, ring cleaning/soak, etc. etc. is all a bunch of BS as far as I'm concerned, I'm not playing that game, and not going down that road. meaning if I have to do that, I will just trade in my truck and get a 6.0 3/4 ton, or I hate to say it, but will a Ford with the 6.2 V8 be any worse ?

I would also like to add I bought this truck brand new, back in 2010 before I ever heard of any of this oil burning..

Stex · August 24, 2016

^ I think disabling the AFM may help the oil burn issue and may help to save the lifters. Some say the catch can can keep the pvc vapor oil from clogging the rings. this will minimize the future oil burning. If you like the truck, I would not do anything unless it gets much worse and you can not stand adding a 1/2 qt of oil every so often.

August 25, 2016

Alright, I ordered the Range AFM anyway, just changed my oil 2 days ago, so I will check my oil once or twice a week and monitor it with mileage, see how it goes ...

thanks for the help everyone . If it works, I'm sure I could get another 10 years out of my truck, instead of losing my shirt and pants on a trade in .

KARNUT · August 25, 2016

I bought a 94 Z28 in 95, burned a gt evey 2500 mile for the next 130K till I sold it. Same thing with a 99 Ford P/U I bought new I even put a vortex S/C on that at 100K I traded it in. I've read that turning off the V4 will fix most the older GM V4 oil burn. I would do that with a tune if it was me. I put tunes in 90 percent of my rides anyway.

MaverickZ71 · August 25, 2016

Well, I was all set to order the Range AFM dissembler until I read this...

this kind of stuff, oil pan baffle, ring cleaning/soak, etc. etc. is all a bunch of BS as far as I'm concerned, I'm not playing that game, and not going down that road. meaning if I have to do that, I will just trade in my truck and get a 6.0 3/4 ton, or I hate to say it, but will a Ford with the 6.2 V8 be any worse ?

I would also like to add I bought this truck brand new, back in 2010 before I ever heard of any of this oil burning..

Pretty much ALL of the GM V8 and V6 engines since like 2010 have AFM. So you may get a 6.0 liter 3/4 ton that ends up being worse than the truck you have now.

The Range V8 module will eliminate most of your oil usage, but not all, if your piston rings are already stuck/fouled up. That's where the revised valve cover PCV orifice and oilpan deflector can help. But even with all of those done/installed, my 09 Silverado 5.3L uses 1/3 of a quart on a 80mph 100mile freeway trip. Before those were installed, it used almost 2 quarts on the same trip.

I'm a believer that also installing a catch can in your PCV line is an important part of this 'fix'.

Stex · August 25, 2016

Alright, I ordered the Range AFM anyway, just changed my oil 2 days ago, so I will check my oil once or twice a week and monitor it with mileage, see how it goes ...

thanks for the help everyone . If it works, I'm sure I could get another 10 years out of my truck, instead of losing my shirt and pants on a trade in .

Do you have a catch can? If you are about out of warranty, you might consider a drivability tune. Sure takes away the hunting and slow trans response.

And MaverickZ17 is right on, hard higher speed driving and hills adds to the oil burn on mine too. Catch can highly recommended before you start the oil burn.

August 25, 2016

Pretty much ALL of the GM V8 and V6 engines since like 2010 have AFM. So you may get a 6.0 liter 3/4 ton that ends up being worse than the truck you have now.

The Range V8 module will eliminate most of your oil usage, but not all, if your piston rings are already stuck/fouled up. That's where the revised valve cover PCV orifice and oilpan deflector can help. But even with all of those done/installed, my 09 Silverado 5.3L uses 1/3 of a quart on a 80mph 100mile freeway trip. Before those were installed, it used almost 2 quarts on the same trip.

I'm a believer that also installing a catch can in your PCV line is an important part of this 'fix'.

Is there a way to know if my piston rings are stuck/fouled up ? would I have much worse oil burning ? like 1 Qt every 500 miles ? or how would I go about finding out ?

MaverickZ71 · August 25, 2016

Pretty much ALL of the GM V8 and V6 engines since like 2010 have AFM. So you may get a 6.0 liter 3/4 ton that ends up being worse than the truck you have now.

The Range V8 module will eliminate most of your oil usage, but not all, if your piston rings are already stuck/fouled up. That's where the revised valve cover PCV orifice and oilpan deflector can help. But even with all of those done/installed, my 09 Silverado 5.3L uses 1/3 of a quart on a 80mph 100mile freeway trip. Before those were installed, it used almost 2 quarts on the same trip.

I'm a believer that also installing a catch can in your PCV line is an important part of this 'fix'.

Is there a way to know if my piston rings are stuck/fouled up ? would I have much worse oil burning ? like 1 Qt every 500 miles ? or how would I go about finding out ?

So far, it sounds like you are only burning 1 quart of oil in 5000 miles. I would say that means your piston rings aren't gummed up very bad. So if you use the Range V8 module and use Dexos1-equivalent oil, you should be fine. If you really want to go the extra mile, make sure you have the revised valve cover and oilpan deflector installed, have the top-engine cleaning process done and install new spark plugs, install a catch can, and run some AutoRx or equivalent in your motor oil to clean/unstick any sticky piston rings. That is all you can do, short of having your engine taken apart and having new piston rings installed. Some of these LS motors use a little bit of oil anyway, due to 'clearance' issues of the parts. In the good old days, GM used to match the pistons/rings to the bores. Not anymore--they wanna do it fast and make more money.