New-to-me 5.3 oil burner...

[ACM]

Hey TYF! Mostly been lurking for the past few years; long time, no see...but I'm back and excited to report that I'm moving up to the GMT900 platform later today - via being gifted/loaned the black 07 LTZ in my sig during a cross-country visit from my folks. My family has christened him with the name "Rico Suave" or just Rico for short. I'll have to post pics soon, but take my word for it: for 225,000 miles he's a beautiful and well-cared-for truck, garnering compliments from the DMV folks who did his inspection today. Transmission fluid and both differential fluids were all just changed to synthetic prior to his drive here, the Michelin LTX's he wears have been rotated religiously by Discount, the infamous oil pump screen has been cleaned once (a few years back) and then replaced (last year).

However, we've got one somewhat significant remaining issue. My father reports that he not only leaks oil (which I could plainly see on the underside /crossmembers of the truck when I took a quick Spider-Man pose under it at my folks' hotel), but that he consumes oil to the tune of a quart and a half between changes. Yikes!

My question is this: I have an Amazon shopping cart full of upgrades for Rico, including the updated valve cover and the Moroso GM-truck-specific catch can. He's also had dino oil for his entire life, which I plan to switch to M1 synthetic tomorrow with an M1 filter, the longer optional size like I've been running on my 04 Yukon. All other things being equal and without me being able to get my hands on the truck for further inspection, what are the odds that those three changes - synthetic oil, a catch can, and the new valve cover - will help the oil consumption? Could this be an AFM issue that needs to be addressed via a tune/the Range plug-in? Am I maybe looking at a bad gasket somewhere that's seeping/leaking oil?

Thanks in advance for your collective two cents - as a long-time GM driver and relative newb to this platform, it's much appreciated.

 

[Danny3737]

If you have smoke smoke coming out of the tailpipe, I'd add valve seals to your shopping cart. You may want to do a compression check as well.

 

[ACM]

If you have smoke smoke coming out of the tailpipe, I'd add valve seals to your shopping cart. You may want to do a compression check as well.

No smoke that I can see...anything else to look for?

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[HiHoeSilver]

First things first. Lose the AFM. Then see where you're at.

 

[ACM]

First things first. Lose the AFM. Then see where you're at.

For sure. Are you thinking the full delete kit or just getting it shut off with a tune/plug in? 27 year old college senior here, living in a tiny mountain town on a budget...I can see this Amazon cart swelling to $1,500 if we add lifters to what I already have planned.

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[HiHoeSilver]

For sure. Are you thinking the full delete kit or just getting it shut off with a tune/plug in? 27 year old college senior here, living in a tiny mountain town on a budget...I can see this Amazon cart swelling to $1,500 if we add lifters to what I already have planned.

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I would just stick a range device in there first.

 

[swathdiver]

Well, you don't know for sure that the oil loss between changes is solely to the leak or for other reasons right? If that were my truck, the first thing I would do is identify and repair that oil leak.

 

[ACM]

Well, you don't know for sure that the oil loss between changes is solely to the leak or for other reasons right? If that were my truck, the first thing I would do is identify and repair that oil leak.

Definitely logical thinking, there. It's just, to me, the catch can and new valve cover are a combination of preventative maintenance and an attempt to solve the problem without throwing a bunch of empty labor costs at it. If I'm paying for labor, I want it to be because they're putting on parts that I'm not able to, not because they're circle-jerking and farting around on my truck trying to figure out the issue. That's why I have TYF [emoji6]

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[HiHoeSilver]

Well, you don't know for sure that the oil loss between changes is solely to the leak or for other reasons right? If that were my truck, the first thing I would do is identify and repair that oil leak.

This is a good point. I forgot we had a known leak here.

 

[iamdub]

Of course the leak is a problem and needs to be diagnosed and repaired. The catch can and updated valve cover should all be done regardless. For now, a tune or Range device to disable the AFM is a start.

After that, your oil consumption should be noticeably improved. If not, you've at least ruled out the easy stuff that's not a waste because they're necessary anyway and you can then move on to testing for more serious (but hopefully not detrimental) issues.