Fightnfire
Moderator
Hard not to say the GM 3.0 Diesel
But turbo engines don't fail!
- Thread starter Fightnfire
- Start date
I want to say that too, however, I just got an email from a viewer very concerned about oil usage.
Fightnfire
Moderator
I think every engine has it's thing that could be an issue. Unfortunately, we'll never really know about how widespread an issue in a specific engine really is unless there's a recall. A solid example is the 5.3 and 6.2 from GM. I think I've ready nearly every deep dive article and theory on the lifters and there's isn't a bullseye. We know it's not caused by DFM because failures have happened on trucks that have had DFM disabled from day one. We also don't know how widespread the issue is.... I can tell you I personally know 6 people with Chevy/GM 5.3's, which has experienced significantly more lifter issues than the 6.2 and none of them have had an issue. We also have another 5 or 6 in our fleet and again no issues. I haven't had a single issue with my 21 6.2 at 46k miles but that doesn't mean I don't worry about it.
It's possible there was a bad batch of lifters over some time frame. It's also possible some people were running low on oil and didn't realize it. I add a quart of oil in every half oil change. These engines seem to chew on some oil and can run low before a change is due. A lifter manufacturer stated they think it's an oiling issue.
All we know is this, it's not nearly as widespread as the internet would have you think.
I agree completely with this. I find it interesting the number of comments I read who proclaim it is a known issue, a big engine flaw or whatever wording they use and they believe GM is simply ignoring it. Folks. GM doesn't ignore sh*t. In fact, I bet there is an agency person from GM who's job it is to read this forum.
If it was as widespread as people believe, GM would issue a recall. No question. They have recalled a lot of things and aren't afraid to do so in the future.
Plus, NHTSA has its own investigators that would push GM to recall the trucks too. So, neither GM nor NHTSA are proclaiming it to be a widespread problem.
TheDo114
Active member
Could you elaborate on this please?
TheDo114
Active member
I think it's a real issue but it needs to be put in perspective. GM sold near 10 million trucks in the past 10 years, if one percent of them are experiencing lifter failures, it's 100 000 truck. The number looks big, but it's a matter of perspective.
Compare to Toyota that sold like 250 000 Tundra's in the past 3 years and they have to recall 150 000 engines and are avoiding the last year of trucks.
Rotten.dalton
Member
I have total trust and confidence in the turbo in my Taco…by the way, did I tell you about the 10yr/125k warranty I bought?
Fightnfire
Moderator
I know you're asking Tim so I can't elaborate on the email he's referencing but as a general rule of thumb as clearences have gotten tighter and recommended oils thinner cases of oil consumption have been up among all the manufacturers. I add a quart between every oil change. Looking around on Ford and Ram forums there are lots of people adding oil in their trucks wether it be the 5.7 hemi, 3.5 ecoboost or the 5.0 coyote. I see similar with the 5.3 and 6.2 GM. A lot of it has to due with use... my truck has towed my 6800lb travel trailer for about 10% of it's miles. During the summer when I'm towing a lot I definitely consume a little more oil.
There are also lots of people not adding oil because either they aren't checking their dipstick or they have a lighter use case.
GM also calls for the thinnest oil at 0W20, I think Ram (Hemi) and Ford are 5W20 and 5W30. I don't mind adding oil in between changes to keep it at the full mark. It's my, and some other more educated peoples thoughts, that running low hurts lifters, hemi tick etc.
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Rotten.dalton
Member
22+ Tundra and 22+ Tacoma also spec 0w-20. There was some speculation that too thin oil going 10k oci’s were contributing to the blown bearings. hard to prove though.
He wanted to know if the Silverado I had was still consuming oil before I sold it. My answer, not real answer, was to say I stopped checking the oil due to the larger oil pan on the truck. I also wasn’t towing.
In my view, I had more than enough oil to get to another oil change without running low. Lazy on my part? Sure. I just didn’t want to deal with it anymore and talk about it. I felt like I was beating a dead horse and needed to move on.
NMTRUCKER
Well-known member
My ‘23 LZ0 with about 16,000 miles uses about 6 ounces of oil every 5,000 miles. It’s really a non issue for me. During the break in period it used about a quart and has been decreasing ever since.
NMTRUCKER
Well-known member
Agreed, any vehicle problem should be brought up on a forum. However, I ALWAYS see the turbo-phobia response of “all turbos are junk”, or “I’ll never buy a turbo”. If you don’t like a turbo equipped vehicle don’t buy one but don’t shit on everyone else’s parade. If people lived at 7,500 feet like I do they would see the benefits of a turbo immediately.
Fightnfire
Moderator
Honest question, why do feel like people are shitting on a parade? Because they don't like the idea of small displacement turbos in a truck?
Rotten.dalton
Member
I admit being skeptical at first because of the 80’s-90’s generation of turbos. But now half my vehicles have turbos and I just have to hope they are more reliable now.
NMTRUCKER
Well-known member
No, sorry you missed the point. I was referring to the comments made by others that “all turbos are junk”. As I said if a person does not like turbos then don’t but one simple as that there are other options. But don’t go spouting that any vehicle with a turbo is junk. It’s the same with EVs, they are not all junk as many lead one to believe.
James-kd2cm
Member
I agree it’s a newsworthy story. It does give you pause for purchasing a vehicle that has a newly developed or updated engine.
Of course, any engine problem can also get blown out of proportion with a few well placed YouTube vids.
I’m wondering if some of these recalls could be due to manufacturers attempting to shorten development cycles on new engines(and on engine updates). I know extensive testing is done but everyone is chasing higher economy, HP, and torque numbers. You can’t test all different usage cases.
20 years ago I’m wondering if we would have heard about some of these problems. I remember shopping for a replacement engine for a v6 Corsica back in the day that had blown. Every engine supplier I talked to knew exactly what cylinder had blown on the engine and why. I hadn’t heard any news about it.
Rotten.dalton
Member
I read auto news a lot. One thing I know for sure is every vehicle has at least one issue that develops over time, even the claimed bullet proof ones. It’s a fact of life that vehicle engineering goal is “good enough”, not “perfect”.
TheDo114
Active member
Thanks for your reply!
I think you nailed it right there. There is so much information just dumped on the internet, it's hard not to know about that farmer in Texas whose Nissan Titan blew up because he used Valvoline instead of Pennzoil. Being a grease monkey, I knew about many of the old cars issues because I was in that group. And those issues were plentiful and common. Now with forums and YT, one single incident can inform the world.