Just curious if anyone of you fellow pullers has had any experience with oil usage problems on the 8.1 liter big block. Own a 2002 GMC 2500 HD with the 8.1 liter motor. Over the past two oil changes, the truck has been using over 1 ½ quarts of oil every 2,800 to 3,000 miles. My father purchased the truck new in August of 2002 before passing away in February of 2003. At the time, the truck only had 7,000 miles and now has just over 20,000 miles. Initially, we were using the same oil that we were in our other farm equipment, Shell Rotella 15W x 40. Since my father’s death, I switched to the recommended 5W x 30. I talked with the owner at a local auto mechanics shop and he mention that this was an issue with the 8.1 liter. Oddly enough, a fellow employee at the service center also owned one and was having the same problem. Before long, I found two other fellow individuals in the small town of 900 people where I live that had the same problem. When I confronted the service manager at the local Chevrolet dealer about the problem, he explained that he hadn’t heard of any issues. After I mentioned the three other individuals, the story somewhat changed. According to GM, 1 quart of oil per 2,000 miles is considered acceptable usage according to there standards. That was after being reminded that the truck was out of warranty. Although the truck is six months past the warranty, I reminded him that the truck had only 20,000 miles, not 120,000. Needless to say, he recommended that I bring the truck back in later so they could complete an oil usage analysis on the engine to see if something could be done. I understand that the service manager was doing his job, but why not just say; we are having oil usage problems with this engine, but we don’t care and we will not be recalling trucks retrofitted with this motor to solve the problem. Although I feel the oil consumption issue is a big problem, the truck still runs good and has good power. This is coming from a family that owned nothing but Ford trucks, and thought it was a sin to mention the word GM. Made the switch after a previous mistake of owning a Dodge with a Cummins and the lack of gas powered motor selections in Ford. I ran into this same problem using a Case International 2366 combine with 400 engine hours while our model was getting worked on. Combine used over 1 ½ gallons of oil in 120 acres, which according to Case is considered acceptable. Any help with this matter would be appreciated. Thanks!
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