We have an oil leak

[Knight Shadows]

I have had two odd occurrences with oil in my 2008 Yukon Hybrid. One was a year or so back when the wife had the oil change done at the Garage close to her work in the winter. She pulled over and phoned me in a panic because of the warning bells and “Turn Engine Off” message on the dash despite the fact that the oil was full according to the dipstick. I had it towed to the shop I worked at, changed the oil myself using 5W30 Mobil One Full Synthetic and it has ran fine ever since. Up until this past weekend when the “Check Engine” Light came on. It was down a little over a Quart. It’s due for a full change next week anyways. 137,000 Miles approx.

 

[General Stalin]

I change my oil every 3-5k miles and use royal purple 5w-30 and K&N oil filter. It's not a cheap oil change but it's about the best you can buy so I figure always rule out the fluid and filter as being the weak link.

 

[Nashoba]

I even check my truck's oil when I get home from an oil change and when I fill up with gas. Old habits die hard. I learned the hard way from way back when i was a kid and my oil pressure bottomed out on the way home from getting an oil change at one of Dad's customers when Dad had the parts stores. They had drained the oil and changed the filter but all the new oil that was put in was in the oil filter. Thankfully they were the big quart size filters back then so there was no damage to my engine . I called Dad and he brought me four more quarts to add so everything was OK. He let me change my own oil from that time forward. Back then we used Texaco or Penzoil 30 weight in almost everything. Had a buddy or two who used Around The World motor oil. Not many of you remember it, I'll bet. It was new oil, sometimes, and sometimes blended new and gently used oil but it came in a sealed can just like any of the better oil. It was a quarter to fifty cents a quart, or less sometimes, but always way less than half the cost ofthe good stuff. Almost always we used Fram filters.

 

[General Stalin]

Update: I've been monitoring it and my next step is definitely a compression test to see if my piston rings are the problem. Still no drops on the ground but I'm going threw close to a quart of oil per tank of gas. The motor does have 190k on the odo so there is surely a fair amount of wear.

 

[tiktok4321]

I also have an 08 Tahoe Hybrid with the 6.0. I've had the lifters all replaced and the valves all reseated after having my #8 cam lobe worn down from the AFM failing it. Anyway, fastforward 8 months and I start getting P0521 code showing up. I noticed that my oil pressure wouldn't get above 20 psi. Then I took it to get the oil changed and it went away. This time, it's only been around 2,000 miles since and my oil pressure dropped to around 10 and the code returned. I added a quart and it went away again and pressure returned to 40. There's some evidence of oil leaking out of the front. Mechanic advised to add a bottle of Lucas. I'll try that.

Is this really common in these engines?

 

[Nashoba]

I don't think the low oil pressure and use of oil are nearly as common in the 2008 6.0 L as in the 2007 5.3 L. My daughter has a 2007 Suburban with the 5.3 L and they have had tons of problems with oil pressure, oil usage and oil leaking. Their local dealership was very helpful and even worked on the vehicle for free after the warranty ran out. All to no avail. Anyway, if you are going to keep the vehicle, the first place to start is to address the simplest options first, in my opinion. We had oil leaking and I had all the oil pan and other bottom engine gaskets replaced. No new leaks and no oil loss or consumption has occurred since then. I religiously check the oil and have not seen any dipstick readings indicating any kind of oil shortage since I replaced the gaskets. It was a good $350 investment. The Tahoe now has 149,000 + miles on it and all appears to be well with the engine. But I did have to get the new oil pressure sending unit and the new VLOM manifold at 86,000 miles. That was about $800 or so. Have had no check engine lights since then. I have resisted using any additives other than Berryman's B12 Chemtool in the Tahoe. I also have not switched fully to any synthetic oil and normall use Pennzoil 10W30 changed every 3000 miles. I do use the GM synthetic if I have the Tahoe serviced at my local dealership but still have it changed every 3000 miles nowadays. If I am going to change to oil and filter every 3K, why use expensive synthetic? I have reverted the habits of my youth and change more often and use good basic motor oil. I know I am in the minority on this site in this respect, but I am OK with that.

 

[kbuskill]

I have reverted the habits of my youth and change more often and use good basic motor oil. I know I am in the minority on this site in this respect, but I am OK with that.

Nothing wrong with that... It's your boat brother... whatever floats it... lol

I use Mobil 1 full synthetic 15,000 mile oil and have a dual remote mount oil filter setup with 2 oil filters that are each about twice the size of the stock filter a long with an oil cooler... I run between 10k-15k mile service intervals.

Tomato, tomotto as they say.

 

[992dr]

Nothing wrong with that... It's your boat brother... whatever floats it... lol

I use Mobil 1 full synthetic 15,000 mile oil and have a dual remote mount oil filter setup with 2 oil filters that are each about twice the size of the stock filter a long with an oil cooler... I run between 10k-15k mile service intervals.

Tomato, tomotto as they say.

What model remote filter set up do you have and where did you mount it?
I wouldn't mind adding one of them in the near future.

Another Mobil 1 guy here. Cant beat the prices at Walmart its around $35 for the 5 quart jug plus an extra quart and filter. Not bad at all.

 

[Nashoba]

I am truly impressed, kbuskill. I have run remote mount oil filters before, but never a dual setup. Been involved with internal combustion engines since 1957 (go cart with a Briggs & Stratton one cylinder engine at age 10) and have tried almost everything, and can honestly say I have never blown a single engine, even when running nitrous on them. It all comes back to watching you gages and performing consistent and proper maintenance. Only thing I have never tried that I wanted to is the catch can thing that I want to put on my 2015 Silverado. Just difficult to get motivated to "wrench" all that much now as I will hit 71 this month. Arthritis in hands, shoulders, neck, back and knees make things difficult, in spite of having two total hip replacements. Too many bike wrecks and a couple of totalled cars will provide that for you. I often look back at all those "accidents" and am amazed I am still alive and kicking. I should have been killed at least four separate times. God has been watching over me all my life.

 

[kbuskill]

What model remote filter set up do you have and where did you mount it?
I wouldn't mind adding one of them in the near future.

Another Mobil 1 guy here. Cant beat the prices at Walmart its around $35 for the 5 quart jug plus an extra quart and filter. Not bad at all.

It's a Derale setup...

https://derale.com/products/filtrat...cation-kits/1-pass-24-heat-sink-cooler-detail

I mounted it to the inside of the passenger frame rail, in front of the crossmember and behind the bumper.

It goes through the filters then to the external cooler then back to engine.