Why do Women

Wait until it is dark out to tell you "oh, the check engine light in my car is on"?
This has got to be at least the forth time that something along these lines has come up at night. Another favorite after dark is oh yea my brakes are making a loud noise when I step on the peddle.
Her 2008 Yukon is infamous for using oil with 69K miles on it, has been going through oil since 40K miles. I had been meaning to check the oil since she has driven it to Georgia and back in August and it has about 7K miles since the last oil change. Tonight we went out to eat and I noticed the light but said it was no big deal as the truck was running good and had good oil pressure. I check the oil, the dipstick was not showing any. pulled into a Wal-Mart and bought the 5 quart jug as the price was the same if I bought 3 quarts (Mobil 1 synthetic). Added 3 quarts, it was up to level (6 quart system). When we got home I put on the OBDll and it had no faults, but 2 pending. Doesn't make sense. I erased the codes and will wait to see if they come back. Went out later and again ran the OBDll and it showed NO CODES. If something is wrong I'm guessing it will show up in the next day or two.

What kind of OBDII scanner do you have?

A cheap $20 one from Amazon. The last time this happened to her, it turned out it was a loose gas cap.I took it for a drive last night and fueled it up with no light YET.

There is a "engine oil low add oil" message that should appear on the DIC.  Now how low does the oil level need to drop to trigger the message?  Not sure on that.  Not sure it sets a code.  Least  the engine light doesn't illuminate.

Our '07 6.2 Denali would eat oil as well.  Bought it with 42k.  At 48k got the message.  I noticed the truck seemed to be happier (less engine wear) and use less oil with certain oils over others.

Here's my maintenance doc if its of any use.

Delivery 11/9/10 mileage 42,565
Date Mileage Maintenance Detail
11/9/10 42,565 - Acquired Vehicle
3/21/11 48,962 (CEL) Add Oil Valvoline 5w-30 1 qt
*4/24/11 49,531 Oil Change Valvoline DuraBlend 5w-30 6 qts, STP S10060 oil filter
7/03/11 51,659 (CEL) Add Oil Valvoline DuraBlend  5w-30 1 qt (pics) o17,o19,o22,o24,o26
7/15/11 52,005 Check Oil 1/5 th qt low, no oil added (pics) o46,o48
8/02/11 52,843 Check Oil 2/5th qt low, no oil added (pics) o63,o65
9/16/11 54,287 (CEL) Add Oil Valvoline 5w-30 4/5ths qt (pics)  o685,o687,o686,o689
*10/21/11 55,966 Oil Change Quaker State 5w-30 6qts, STP S10060 oil filter
11/26/11 57,567 Air Filter Change air filter Wix 42487
12/17/11 58,567 Check Oil 1/5th qt low, no oil added
1/15/12 60,068 Check Oil ½ qt low, added ½ qt
2/26/12 61,847 Oil Change Castrol High Mileage 5w-30 6qts, AC Delco PF48

I started photo documenting the issue just for my own sanity and accuracy should it ever be needed.  I would seem I would get the warning message just as the oil level was at or below the last whole on the dip stick.









Not sure what oil the dealer put in it, or if it was even changed, it was suppose to have been.  But the results from it sucked.  Plain ol' Quaker State 5w-30 worked good, didn't get the evaluate the Castrol High Mileage before we traded it.  It seemed to consume Valvoline DuraBlend like crazy.

For yours I would think the DIC add oil message would be similar to where ours would trigger right at or near 1 quart low. Not all code scanners are equal.

There is a TSB released that addresses oil consumption in the engines.  I believe it was a new design valve cover.  Supposedly something with EGR design or something.  Going from memory here.

I wish we still had ours.  Tossing some oil in it is no big deal.  After purchasing a Edge, and F150, the GMC was still a nicer better truck and overall package IMHO.  GM do a lot of things right, they don't get credit for.  You don't get to truly evaluate their product until you experience and evaluate other products at length.

With the AWD you could turn a corner, nail it, it would chirp the tires just slight, you could slightly interpret the front wheels engaging, it would move on out like a scaled ape.

Just keep an eye on it ever 1500 miles to keep the oil level in check and consider using some different oil to see if it can find one it's happy with. If I could have found an oil that would get around 7k miles with adding minimum oil and good wear attributes I would stick with that ans simply live with adding a little oil. If it bugged me that much I may dive off into getting the new valve cover kit.

Lately I've been using Penz platinum full synthetic.
It showed the same results at 7500 miles as did Amsoil SSO for 1/2 the price. That was in our 1.4L turbocharged Cruze.

Oil opinions are everywhere. That's well established. Stating that

I like the Pennzoil Platinum and Ultra products as well. The additive package is pretty stout, like Dan states about 1/2 price compared to the boutique oils.

I was able to pick up 6 qts Pennzoil Ultra and a Bosche filter $43.58 on a deal from Autozone my previous go around.

Can't find the "new" formulated Ultra since they introduced the "Pure Plus" line. Only Platinum is the only one available round these parts. Not certain if Pennzoil hasn't started manufacturing it yet or not. They've marketed it however.

Really liked the results in the EB from the sole round of Ultra that I could find. Running Platinum now in hopes to locate the new Ultra formation for my next change.

joemac wrote:

Oil opinions are everywhere.  That's well established.  Stating that  

I am definitely not trying to start another oil war here.
Personally I do think Amsoil SSO is a very good oil. However my results showed I don't use the engine hard enough to justify a higher end oil. Just throwing out there that from my UOA that Penz Platinum performs very well in a daily driver with an extended drain interval.

Next challenge is to find appropriate oil for the Cruze Diesel.

After to taking my mother in law to the airport this morning ( I would rather have been poked in the eye with a stick) I again ran the OBDll and the code came up P0449 P. It's an evaporator vent solenoid canister. Watched a lot of youtube and searched truck forums, and this seems to be quite a common problem caused by overfilling the fuel tank. Autozone wanted $108 for the parts, RockAuto online who I have bought a lot of parts from sold me the ACDelco replacement for $54 including shipping. I have to drop the spare tire and remove old parts and replace. People say one hour, but without a lift I can see 2 or 3. Looks easy enough, only concern is they have change the 2 wire connection and I may have to buy a short replacement adapter.

TheQuig wrote:

but without a lift I can see 2 or 3.

Well just swing by and we can throw it up on my lift!

Wouldn't it be nice if it were that easy. Rock Auto already shipped the part and I'll have it Tuesday. I'll probably lower the spare tire today as the part sits above it. My only concern is whether the two prong plug in will match up. I have seen some youtube that suggest you need to buy a small adapter as one end is round on the new part and an oval on the truck side. Either way, right now we have 4 vehicles with 2 drivers so I can take my time and do it right.

joemac wrote:

There is a "engine oil low add oil" message that should appear on the DIC.  Now how low does the oil level need to drop to trigger the message?  Not sure on that.  Not sure it sets a code.  Least  the engine light doesn't illuminate.

Our '07 6.2 Denali would eat oil as well.  Bought it with 42k.  At 48k got the message.  I noticed the truck seemed to be happier (less engine wear) and use less oil with certain oils over others.

Here's my maintenance doc if its of any use.

Delivery 11/9/10 mileage 42,565
Date Mileage Maintenance Detail
11/9/10 42,565 - Acquired Vehicle
3/21/11 48,962 (CEL) Add Oil Valvoline 5w-30 1 qt
*4/24/11 49,531 Oil Change Valvoline DuraBlend 5w-30 6 qts, STP S10060 oil filter
7/03/11 51,659 (CEL) Add Oil Valvoline DuraBlend  5w-30 1 qt (pics) o17,o19,o22,o24,o26
7/15/11 52,005 Check Oil 1/5 th qt low, no oil added (pics) o46,o48
8/02/11 52,843 Check Oil 2/5th qt low, no oil added (pics) o63,o65
9/16/11 54,287 (CEL) Add Oil Valvoline 5w-30 4/5ths qt (pics)  o685,o687,o686,o689
*10/21/11 55,966 Oil Change Quaker State 5w-30 6qts, STP S10060 oil filter
11/26/11 57,567 Air Filter Change air filter Wix 42487
12/17/11 58,567 Check Oil 1/5th qt low, no oil added
1/15/12 60,068 Check Oil ½ qt low, added ½ qt
2/26/12 61,847 Oil Change Castrol High Mileage 5w-30 6qts, AC Delco PF48

I started photo documenting the issue just for my own sanity and accuracy should it ever be needed.  I would seem I would get the warning message just as the oil level was at or below the last whole on the dip stick.









Not sure what oil the dealer put in it, or if it was even changed, it was suppose to have been.  But the results from it sucked.  Plain ol' Quaker State 5w-30 worked good, didn't get the evaluate the Castrol High Mileage before we traded it.  It seemed to consume Valvoline DuraBlend like crazy.

For yours I would think the DIC add oil message would be similar to where ours would trigger right at or near 1 quart low.  Not all code scanners are equal.  

There is a TSB released that addresses oil consumption in the engines.  I believe it was a new design valve cover.  Supposedly something with EGR design or something.  Going from memory here.

I wish we still had ours.  Tossing some oil in it is no big deal.  After purchasing a Edge, and F150, the GMC was still a nicer better truck and overall package IMHO.  GM do a lot of things right, they don't get credit for.  You don't get to truly evaluate their product until you experience and evaluate other products at length.

With the AWD you could turn a corner, nail it, it would chirp the tires just slight, you could slightly interpret the front wheels engaging, it would move on out like a scaled ape.

Just keep an eye on it ever 1500 miles to keep the oil level in check and consider using some different oil to see if it can find one it's happy with.  If I could have found an oil that would get around 7k miles with adding minimum oil and good wear attributes I would stick with that ans simply live with adding a little oil.  If it bugged me that much I may dive off into getting the new valve cover kit.

When we owned a 2002 Suburban 5.3L bought new, after about 35,000 it started to go through about 1 quart every 1500 miles. I switched back to a non synthetic oil and the consumption slowed down somewhat.
The Yukon is also a 5.3L which at cruising speeds cuts off 4 cylinders. I have read that this was a problem early on and fixed by the time I bought my 2010 with the 5.3L that also cuts out 4 cylinders. I"m going through 1 quart in 7,000 miles when I do the oil change. Mobil 1 synthetic since day 1 on that truck also.

Ordered the Evap vent solenoid canister replacement and lucky for me I kept reading the truck forums and youtube. It turns out they changed the electric connection so I also ordered a new connector and gas cap for extra comfort. Replaced it in about 1 1/2 hours. The holdup was getting the spare off the cable, poor design. Once I had the solenoid off, it was clearly cracked and leaking. Cleared the code and took it for a drive and it seems to have done the trick. Now for the disappearing oil concern.

Nice being able to diagnose, R&R and the issue is corrected. On the oil issue, it's using it no doubt unless you have puddles under the truck, which you don't. I would try to find an oil that complies with the truck, low wear and low consumption. In my testing on the 6.2 conventional Quaker State performed better than Valvoline Durablend considering consumption. Not quite as good in longevity however as the Quaker State would require shorter oil change intervals due to wear or the additive package being used up. In my case TBN at .9 the additive package was consumed. Blackstone states the breaking point is a TBN of 1.0. Above it the additive package is still providing benefit, below it, the package is no longer providing the intent.

One might extrapolate you could go with long drain intervals using a full synthetic, however the likely hood you'll need to add considerable oil over the use interval might be high. Balance the importance of long drain interval versus oil consumption rate. I would tend to lean toward having oil in the truck and changing it on a slightly more frequent basis.

Would have been nice to get numbers back on the Castrol High Mileage.

Thanks for the heads up on the Quaker State. I do need to make a change. I should have taken the truck in when it first started having the problems as I know they do have a fix for it. Now not under the 5 year/100,000 I would have to pay out of pocket.