Old oil pressure problem but looking for advice

Phil Black · January 30, 2019

2010 Silverado 5.3 AFM motor has 153K miles. I have burned 4 quarts of oil in the last 200 miles. Aside from this, the truck is immaculate.

Dealer charges $100 an hour. TSB #10-06-01-008M says that it's ~5.7 hours to address if pistons do not require replacement - about $600 parts and labor. It's another 17.5 hours if pistons do require R/R. Dealership is not guaranteeing TSB #10-06-01-008M will fix the problem. For both, with parts and labor, I would be all in at about $2900.

Options are replace the truck (back to payment$!)

Replace motor ($4,500)

Or deal with the uncertainty of dealership workmanship / more problems with current motor. $2900++

I am stuck in the middle - weighing option 2.

KARNUT · January 30, 2019

I’d be checking all options and how warranty’s applies. I’d compare factor remain vs new. If you know people who have experience with other shops I would price them. With AFM motors I’d stay away from used.

hollywoodsle · January 30, 2019

How can they guarantee anything is going to fix anything when, from what it sounds like, the trucks not at the shop and hasn't been torn down?

Best bet is to pay the hour or two to take off the valve covers and inspect whats going on. Anything more than a decarb, valve cover, and deflector do the engine. The warranty is better and less chance for human error. Also 5.7hrs is warranty time for the G8 book time is going to be more.

Grumpy Bear · January 30, 2019

21 minutes ago, KARNUT said:

I’d be checking all options and how warranty’s applies. I’d compare factor remain vs new. If you know people who have experience with other shops I would price them. With AFM motors I’d stay away from used.

Nothing wrong with a factory remanufactured motor. Cost is less than new. Last as long as new. Takes the local guy who may or may not know his craft out of the loop. And you get a warranty. How cool is that? Even if it were $5K that is a fraction of a new truck. You did say the truck is very nice otherwise, right?

Just a thought and it's a long shot but a compromised PCV 'may' pump oil like a Texas Oil Rig. Worth a look, eh?

Brummie99 · January 30, 2019

In a post from Monday, someone was quoted $9100 for a new motor in a 2009 so $4500 sounds like a bargain. If it's a reman, they normally come with 3 years/100k warranty.

If the difference between a 'may fix' and new engine is around $2000, I'd go with the new motor.

KARNUT · January 30, 2019

Nothing wrong with a factory remanufactured motor. Cost is less than new. Last as long as new. Takes the local guy who may or may not know his craft out of the loop. And you get a warranty. How cool is that? Even if it were $5K that is a fraction of a new truck. You did say the truck is very nice otherwise, right?

Just a thought and it's a long shot but a compromised PCV 'may' pump oil like a Texas Oil Rig. Worth a look, eh?

I think you click me instead of the op. In the 90s we had a secretary who’s 350 engine was using oil. A brand new GM crate engine was the same as a remain and it came with a 12/12. Good old days.

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MaverickZ71 · January 30, 2019

There are 2 different possible issues here: 1) oil pressure problems/warnings, usually caused by a clogged filter screen at the back of the intake manifold, and 2) the infamous excessive oil usage problem, caused by the AFM (cylinder cutoff for fuel mileage) system.

Have you read the poll "Does your GMT900 (07-13 GM 1500) use oil?" pinned at this top of this forum? It is 52 pages of questions and answers on the all-too-common AFM oil usage problem.

Having that TSB procedure performed helps most trucks. But it is not a miracle cure. Somewhere during the 2010-2011 timeline, GM started installing the new valve cover (revised PCV orifice) and deflector in the oilpan at the factory. So your truck might already have one or both of those parts. Your GM dealer should be able to tell.

They say the new valve cover does more good than the oilpan deflector. By having the TSB work performed, including the all-important top-engine cleaner (removing the sparkplugs) to try to help free the stuck oil control rings on the pistons, it did cut my oil usage. Be forewarned that when the turn the engine over to remove the cleaner, it shoots black carbon liquid EVERYWHERE under the hood and perhaps even on your front fenders, and once that stuff dries, it is tough to clean off. That is why the TSB specifically says to cover the spark plug holes with shop towels before turning the engine over. I always have the most careful tech at my dealer perform my service work, and even then, he does not always follow the GM directions.

The most important thing is to turn off AFM via a Range V8 module or a revised PCM tune (such as Hypertech, Diablo, or Blackbear) as soon as possible. Turning off the AFM function, to where it stays firing on all 8 cylinders all of the time, did not seem to affect fuel mileage enough to notice, for most of us. Doing the TSB at 35,000 miles and then installing a Range V8 module on my 5.3L truck cut out 80% of the oil usage problem on my truck. I still have to check the oil and usually add a little once a week, or each fuel stop, whichever comes first. Before having the TSB performed and installing the Range V8 module, my truck was burning a quart and a half of good quality 5W-30 every 100 miles or so.

Be sure to use a Dexos-1 approved oil (good quality semi-synthetic or full synthetic), and fresher oil seems to burn off less, so I change mine at ~4500 miles now instead it letting it run to the mileage indicated by the oil life monitor, which is 7000 miles+.

Looking back, I wish I had insisted that my dealer take the engine apart under warranty and change the AFM lifters and install new piston rings. But I was afraid they'd mess something up on my new truck--on tv they show a surgically clean engine shop with ASE certified techs, out here in the real world, it's a dirt floor operation and you hope they don't have too many parts left over when they're done.

I have not pursued a replacement engine because of the cost, not fully trusting the people who would have to perform the change, and the fact that back in about 2011 there were people on here who had gotten an engine replacement on their 2007-08-09 models with a brand new AFM engine, and when the new AFM engine got some miles on it, their problems started all over again!

I would really really like to have a non-GM-dealer associated machine shop that I could trust to rebuild my engine with something like the Texas Speed "AFM delete kit" to get rid of the AFM crap and make it be a good old regular Chevy smallblock. I may have to pursue that sooner rather than later, as I don't have $55K+ for a new truck, and my engine is starting to sound like the AFM lifters have pitted the cam.

Good luck, and please keep us posted.

Phil Black · January 30, 2019

$4500 motor was me performing the swap (paying beer for additional labor/hands) not dealership / shop.

I did skim "Does your GMT900 (07-13 GM 1500) use oil?" I'll spend more time with it this evening.

Replaced the valve cover last summer. Oil pressure sending unit and screen replaced. Used Mobil1 since new with 5K to 6K change intervals. I am burning a quart every couple hundred miles. At that rate, I should never have to change oil - simply pop on a new filter! Maybe Chevy could market their engineering marvel this way... "Never change your oil again!"

FWIW, the the back bumper just above the exhaust must be regularly cleaned of soot.

Later this spring, I suppose I'll run the top engine clean procedure myself.

I have a Range V8 on order. We'll see if I can put a little $ in to avoid major expense.

Thanks, all!

diyer2 · January 30, 2019

If the truck is as clean as you say and you're willing and able, do it your self.

Shouldn't affect a GM reman engine warranty.

sefiroxx · January 30, 2019

01 burn with 300k was losing oil that fast.

Ended up doing a shade tree reman with 3/100 over a 3 day weekend. 5.3 was 2700 (non AFM) 3 years ago.

I was going to do a full reseal but decided on the replacement, glad I did.

Northman · January 30, 2019

I had similar issues with my 2010 5.3. Burning a quart every 500 miles. Smoking at startup, low oil pressure, etc. In fact one time the oil pressure got so low it did an emergency shutdown on me. That's how bad it was. I was using Mobil 1 also.

What I did was I ran a quart of motor Medic in it for about 70 miles. Changed the oil then when it got a quart low I did it again. The third time I ran a pint of Sea Foam in it for about 50 miles then changed the oil. I switched to Castrol 10/30 high mileage and now 10-40. Now I can go over 1200 miles to the quart and it has virtually quit smoking. This worked for me.

carnau · January 30, 2019

6 hours ago, Phil Black said:

2010 Silverado 5.3 AFM motor has 153K miles. I have burned 4 quarts of oil in the last 200 miles. Aside from this, the truck is immaculate.

Dealer charges $100 an hour. TSB #10-06-01-008M says that it's ~5.7 hours to address if pistons do not require replacement - about $600 parts and labor. It's another 17.5 hours if pistons do require R/R. Dealership is not guaranteeing TSB #10-06-01-008M will fix the problem. For both, with parts and labor, I would be all in at about $2900.

Options are replace the truck (back to payment$!)

Replace motor ($4,500)

Or deal with the uncertainty of dealership workmanship / more problems with current motor. $2900++

I am stuck in the middle - weighing option 2.

More than likely it's just oil pullover in the PCV. I have seen this burn oil like crazy. I would at least try this first.

Phil Black · January 31, 2019

@carnau - did this this past summer.

Thanks!

Phil Black · February 6, 2019

Bad oil pressure sending unit and the baffle in the aftermarket valve cover was not sealed allowing more oil than normal to be drawn into the intake. Oil pooling in the intake manifold. Will check oil level on 1,000 mi to see if this takes care of oil loss.

Thanks!

SouthPawCO · February 6, 2019

My '05 1500 burned 1-2 quarts between oil changes. I ran 5w-30 synthetic it since the day I owned it. Around 100K is where it started to do it the worst. I switched to 10w-30 dino oil and it virtually stopped. The oil light would come about almost exactly when the oil change was due was a 1/2 or so quart low. Your oil consumption seems pretty excessive and if it is running out the tail pipe that fast. I recently got out of all my car payments and drive some older rigs and I wouldn't change it for anything right now. At $500 a month +/-, $4500 is only nine months of car payments, after that, it's paying for itself. I'd scrounge craigslist and junkyards for a low mileage used engine if it were me. Reseal it before you drop it in and run it!