Another Class Action Lawsuit Claims Certain General Motors 5.3L V8 Engines Burn Oil
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Back in December, a class-action lawsuit was filed against General Motors in the U.S. District Court in Ohio that claimed its 5.3-liter LC9 V8 engine burns high amounts of oil and has other design flaws.
Now, a separate class-action suit has been filed in the U.S. District Court in Portland for an identical reason. Just like the Ohio case, this case claims the 5.3L V8 engines found in a number of 2010-2014 model-year GM trucks and SUVs has piston rings that do not maintain tension well enough to keep oil in the crankcase. Both suits also allege the PCV system can vacuum engine oil out from the valvetrain and expel it into the intake, where the oil is then taken in and burned in the combustion chambers.
The Portland suit, first reported on by Car Complaints, says the engine is prone to experiencing further damage due to low oil including “ring wear, lifter collapse, bent pushrods, camshaft wear, valve wear, rod bearing wear, rod breakage, wristpin wear, wristpin breakage, crankshaft wear and main bearing wear.”
Additionally, both proceedings claim affected trucks and SUVs have defective oil monitoring systems, as the system only monitors temperature and engine speed to estimate oil quality and not oil levels in general. The owner could presumably just open the hood to check the oil levels using the dipstick, it is worth noting.
2014 GMC Yukon XL
As we pointed out when the Ohio lawsuit was filed, GM actually redesigned its 5.3-liter V8 engine after the 2014 model year. Newer versions of the engine use redesigned piston rings and valve covers and have a shield that deflects oil away from the piston skirts. GM also added an oil level sensor so oil level can be monitored from the cockpit. Vehicles involved in the Portland class action lawsuits were all built between 2010 and 2014. They include:
- 2010-2013 GMC Sierra
- 2010-2014 GMC Yukon
- 2010-2014 GMC Yukon XL
- 2010-2014 Chevrolet Avalanche
- 2010-2013 Chevrolet Silverado
- 2010-2014 Chevrolet Suburban
- 2010-2014 Chevrolet Tahoe
Both suits also allege that GM knew about the oil consumption problems with the 5.3L V8 engines, evidenced by service bulletins and owner complaints, but chose to not act on the matter.
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Source: Car Complaints
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The lawsuit should include 2008 also. I had a 2008Avlanche from new and it burned oil from new and dealer gave me the run around for years and claimed it was normal.
These vehicles are at least six years old. What sort of mileage do they have on them? It is not a safety issue. Do these lawsuits mean that a manufacturer has to offer a longer warranty, whether it wants to or not?
I had an 07 Avalanche for 10 years that I loved but it would burn a quart of oil between 3000 mile oil changes. Dealer told me that was normal, I call BS! Wanted to waste my time with an oil consumption study but I never did it.
Yep have one of those motors…07 gmc…truck is sitting now cuz is toast but still very drivable. Would burn about 7 litres between oil changes…crazy…I now drive a ford
Have an ‘07 GMC that burned oil like crazy. Fought with dealer and finally GM paid for only half of the required repair—rings, pistons and whatever. Wish I had known to have them change the control module and turn off the AFM!
2007 Chevy Avalanche has same issue with excessive oil consumption. At the time only had about 50,000 miles.
I have a 2008 suburban that barely makes it from oil change to oil change without chugging a minimum of 4 quarts. And to topp it off ive already had to cjange the lifters because 2 of them collapsed and the my oil pressure drops at about 2500 miles of the oil change life.
If you love it get a new motor or ship it on down the line
I have a 2010 gmc Sierra 1500 5.3L and I gotta rebuild the engine for a 2nd time because of a lifter callapsed and camshaft is getting chewed up again
Should have bought a Ford. Built Ford Tough. Mine is bulletproof.
This is why the only new truck I will ever buy will be electric. I dont want all this bean counter bad engineering. I just replaced my 2010 Silverado 5.3 with the DOD delete to hold me over after cylinder 7 died. Checked my oil almost everyday. Pathetic engineering thanks to some mediocre suit making the final decision.
Why do you think GM electric will be any better?
Agree… Just replaced lifters in mine after #7 lifter was stuck. Tried several other options to fix it before I had the motor torn down. Shame on GM for this as they are aware. $2000 later my suburban runs like a champ. No more AFM.
I just did a rebuild on my 2013 Suburban LTZ 2 weeks ago. I can assure you that this is an issue. Number 7 lifter was stuck. Delete kit won’t completely eliminate this issue if damage is already done. We had to replace cam and lifters. Not an easy job for the lay person. I have almost $2000 into this and did all work myself. Runs like a champ now.
just bought a 2012 yukon XL 9 months ago and now have this issue with the cams/lifters and was quoted 8k for a new engine at 127k miles with recent cam work done by the dealer at 98k miles. Absolutely terrible as I was expecting some long term durability when buying this vehicle.
Chevrolet has a flaw they need to address. There are way too many issues with these engines. Same issues with Thousands of different customers