Excessive Oil Consumption Problem

2020AT4 · November 10, 2023

On 10/23/2023 at 11:42 PM, diyer2 said:

A lot of people should be glad I'm not the CEO of any car manufacturer because if I was and the low oil light came on I would void your drive train warranty. You've proven you don't care to me.

There is no excuse for not checking the oil.

There's no excuse for an engine to be burning through oil and needing to add oil after 50,000 miles on the engine. When the low oil light came on and told me it was low I took it to the dealership to investigate the problem. The dealership is trying to tell me it's normal (to get me past the warranty). However, they're talking out of both sides of their mouth by telling me it's normal oil consumption rates even though I keep getting a low oil alert 2,000 miles before an oil change. Because if it's normal then, according to them, I should be able to keep driving another 2,000 miles on low oil until I'm due for that oil change. I'm not sure how long the engine can run on low oil, but I guarantee if I did that then they would sing a different tune that there was a problem and I should have brought it in to get looked at and then it would be my fault.

2020AT4 · November 10, 2023

I think we've gotten a little off topic. The original post wasn't about should you check the oil every time you fill up with gas. The original post was why is the truck burning through oil so fast? Why is the truck getting low on oil 2,000 miles before its due for an oil change? Why is this happening on an engine with only 50,000 miles? And is anyone else having this problem?

asilverblazer · November 10, 2023

Your 'best' line is that it is a new symptom of your engine. It didn't use this amount earlier.

It probably still is an 'acceptable' amount of usage to fall within acceptable operating parameters to avoid having to warranty it.

Grumpy explained it all pretty well. Your options aren't great, fight GM, sell it, fix it, add a quart between oil changes.

For what its worth, EVERY vehicle I've ever done an oil change on has had less oil come out in the drain pan than what gets dumped back in. Usually about a quart. Regardless of make, age, mileage, use, etc.

Not calling anyone out, arguing/fighting anyone, but if you tell me yours doesn't use a drop, my first response is BS until I see you measure out the drain pan.

Jessica Lacosse · February 6

I can't believe they are STILL having issues with this and something needs to be done! They've long since known about the excessive oil consumption, going back at LEAST to the 2014's. There are numerous tech service bulletins about this very thing. If something isn't done, then more and more people will find themselves in our shoes. After purchasing our 2015 Silverado, we brought it in numerous times for the excessive oil consumption. Initially we were told it was the trans cooler lines or oil cooler lines (can't recall which) and that if it had been the other It would have been covered under warranty but this was a non warranty item. Had it "fixed" .

Continued to have problem. Only after our warranty expired did they finally acknowledge the issue and then stated we needed a new engine. They were right. We did but I didn't go through the dealership to have if done. I saw the parts of the engine and let me tell you it was the worst I've ever seen!!! The crank bearings...were gone..or fused to the crank. Same with rid bearings three bent rods. Everything gummed up to high hell. ****** ton of carbon everywhere. ****** ton of metal everywhere. Timing chain eating away at the oil pump, causing metal to go into the engine because the timing chain guide was broken, burning and leaking oil and oil not getting to the top 1/2 of the engine for a while now. The block was the only thing semi ok. There was evidence someone had also been in there previously.

Grumpy Bear · February 7

On 11/10/2023 at 11:18 AM, 2020AT4 said:

I think we've gotten a little off topic. The original post wasn't about should you check the oil every time you fill up with gas. The original post was why is the truck burning through oil so fast? Why is the truck getting low on oil 2,000 miles before its due for an oil change? Why is this happening on an engine with only 50,000 miles? And is anyone else having this problem?

I'm starting to think it is a ring coating issue. Moly and chrome have been around forever. But CrN facing and bore spraying are more recent. Seems the ring coatings are delaminating.

Why use them? Friction reduction. When we had moly rings the bore to ring friction was about 40% of the total parasitic drag. These coatings greatly reduce that. Problem is the same as the 1970's EGR pump. We know what to do but we don't know how to do it so let's experiment on the public and get them to pay for the research. IMHO of course.

Anyway, once the coating fails the steel ring (used to be iron) wears the bore rapidly and the result is loss of conformity which give the oil a straight path to the combustion chamber. Blown ring seal.

@customboss would be way more familiar with these coatings than I. I retired 15 years ago. He more recently and has better contacts.

Dizzy has been using oil since 80K on the clock. Now has almost 235K and still using. I keep adding. It keeps going.

Edited February 7 by Grumpy Bear