2002 Chevy Suburban

[bhs91]

I have a 2002 Chevy Suburban, V8 with 101,000 miles on it. I bought it used, a little over 18 months ago with 85,000 miles on it. For the first year, I could go fully in between oil changes without needing to add oil. Starting this summer, I noticed I needed to add a quart in between oil changes and again this fall the same thing. Is this normal or is there something that I should do to get it fixed.

Thanks,

BHS

[Macgyver55]

How many miles are you going on an oil change?

[bhs91]

3000-3500 miles in between usually.

[Macgyver55]

A quart in 3000 to 3500 is certainly well within acceptable limits.

Any drips, puffs of smoke or other sign of oil loss you can see?

[bhs91]

no, nothing like that that i have noticed.

[Early Riser]

We have a 2004 suburban with 124,000. It started consuming oil about 10,000 miles ago. On our recent drive down to Ft. Sill OK and back I added two quarts.

We notice that it burns more after extended trips were we are pushing closer to 2000 rpms for hundreds of miles at a time. The next morning after such a trip it expels a pretty good sized plume of oil smoke for a short time when it is first started up. There is no perceptible oil smoke once it is warmed up a little. I think this is a pretty common finding with the chevy 5.3 motors. The truck still runs great, but I now have to carry extra quarts of oil on long trips, and check it about every other time I fill up with gas.

On the other hand the 4.7 V8 in my 2002 Toyota Tundra with about 120,000 miles gets a full synthetic oil (mobil 1) change every 7,500 miles and it does not require any additional oil between changes.

[WalleyeChaser]

Very common in the early generation 5.3's. I have an 02 Avalanche with 113, 000. That burns a quart per 3000 or sometimes more if doing some towing. Keep it topped off and don't sweat it! It blows by the valve guides I think on start ups before all the aluminum parts in the engine warm up and expand to seal better. I notice puffs of smoke on cold starts quite often. Not so much after it has warmed up.

[Fredd]

My '03 burned its first quart on a trip to the Grand canyon this summer (5/30 synthetic that goes 7500 per change). It does not seem to be burning now since the trip. We have 128000 on our Yukon.

[deadeye]

A quart for 3000k is pretty normal. Its been a while since I was really into the chevy stuff but I thought at one point they (chevy) said normal consumption was up to 2 quarts for 3000 miles.

[Walleyehooker]

I also have a 02 Sub with 110K and run mobile 1 synthetic in it. Uses about a quart in 5-6K miles.