Has anybody experienced their GM 6.0L hybrid burning oil at the rate of about 1 quart every 1000 miles? It's got about 65,000 miles on it, and had engine work for a collapsed lifter done at the dealer around 50,000. A dealer tech told me that these engines burn oil, but that rate seems a little ridiculous. If it gets low, I get a puff of white (or blue?) smoke upon start up. I'm debating taking this to a different dealer in the Chicagoland area. I don't see any threads discussing these engines burning oil, which makes em think this problem is not common.

Also, if you are in the Chicago suburbs, and recommend your Chevy dealer for hybrid service, I'd like to know what dealer they are.

EDIT on 11-21-12: See my updated information in post #8

 

Though I didn't have the oil burning problem, I did have the oil pressure sender screen problem that is very common with the 5.3l AFM engine. (Plugged up at 85k miles and oil pressure hit the toilet!) Ours is nearly the same to the 5.3 engine save for displacement, there are just a whole lot fewer of ours out there so the issues don't seem to be as common or as well documented. I'd look around under the heading "5.3L AFM oil burning issues" and see what comes up, it's a very common and well documented problem in the smaller motor.
Keep searching for a good dealer, they are out there. I'm in MN so I'm of no help to ya in that respect unfortunately.

 

> 1 quart every 1000 miles

That doesn't sound good - defininately not something that is normal wear or acceptable.

 

MMH06, I'm really sorry to hear about your concerns and do recommend checking in with the Chevrolet dealer nearest you for service. Have you already checked http://www.chevrolet.com/tools/dealer-locator.html for details on the dealers in your area?

Best,

Katie
GM Customer Service

 

have you used synthetic oil since break-in or new? synthetic is recommended for the hybrid.

 

Katie, a well recommended dealer will also be proactive in performing an on-line search of existing technical service bulletins. Unlike the late 1970s when I was Mr. Goodwrench, we have a much faster way of sorting through them. The dealer must do a thorough search especially with hybrid related drivetrains. They just operate different.
Thanks.

 

Hillbilly_Hybrid, I can certainly understand your perspective on that! If any of you have specific criticisms or dealer feedback that you'd like documented, please drop me a direct message anytime! (Apologies if this is slightly threadjacking!)

Best,

Katie
GM Customer Service

 

UPDATE 11-21-12:
I took my 2009 Silverado Hybrid to the dealer for a few issues, but most importantly to address the oil consumption. A new bulletin was released in October for this issue. A valve cover was replaced, per bulletin 10-06-01-008F, which has a baffle to stop oil from being pulled into and burned by the engine. According to the dealership paperwork, the valve cover part number is 12642655. This was covered under the factory warranty. This is related to the Active Fuel Management system, according to the service advisor that helped me. I'll provide an update post after I put another 1000-2000 miles on it, to provide what results I get. I'd like to thank everyone who replied to this thread for the information they offered.

 

Just bought mine from a private owner, I just did an oil change and only collect about 4qts of old oil. I have no idea when was the previous owner changed the oil but the computer shown 29% before next oil change. So it seems like it does burn oil. I replace with Mobil 1 synthetic and let see how it does.

 

Keep us posted Green08!