Excessive oil consumption on the 2009 Chevrolet Silverado
Only 4 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When excessive oil consumption gets reported
There are 4 reports of excessive oil consumption on the 2009 Chevrolet Silverado, 4 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 57,000 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $900–$6,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 3 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2009, at a median of 55,000 miles, and latest on the 2007 at 100,000 miles.
By volume the 2007 carries the most reports, with 4; the 2009 has 4. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Excessive oil consumption at or above 1 quart of oil per 1,000 miles. All plugs fouled out at 39,000 miles and one plug cracked. I change oil every 3,500 miles and regularly top off oil. There is no leaking oil but it is somehow vaporizing rapidly. There was no reason for the vehicle to fail like this at this stage in its life. Chevy has come to state in a bulletin concerning a tweak to the valve covers to keep the oil from vaporizing. Chevy has even more recently come out with a recall as of 1/17/2012 to announce there is a legitimate issue with the oil consumption on this model chevy. This is unacceptable and gm should pay for any current damage to the truck, worn parts and all. *tr
I got this truck used at 94k miles on it. It was still in standard warranty. I got the oil changed started getting that clicking/knocking noise. I took it back to the shop that did the oil changed. They looked into and told me it was a common problem with chevy engines is the valve lifters break and needs replaced along with the cams. If I drive too much a possibility to add shavings into the motor and tear it up. Quotes from 3 different friend recommend auto shops from all of them to get a new engine or get rid of the truck. I am still making payments on it. So can't do that. I did take it to the dealership and they refused to help me at all. I was out of the warranty period and good luck. That sucks! I did make a scene to them in front of customers. Since then I have done some research finding out this is very much a problem in all chevy engines dating back to 06. The afm, excessive oil consumption. At one point chevy did do a recall for a year in 07-08. For this problem. But not for any other years I can find. If they knew/know of this problem why not solve it? I have to fix this truck its my daily driver and work vehicle…
While driving my 2009 silverado at 33,000 miles I noticed the check engine light went on and it was running rough. After taking to the dealership it was determined the #7 cylinder was not working. According to the mechanic the afm for the 5.3 liter engines has an oil consumption issue. Half of the engine was rebuilt due to the amount of carbon built up inside the engine. Again at 78,000 miles the check engine light went on again. This time the dealership had the vehicle for 2 weeks to and determined the engine had excessive carbon build up and a engine soak was performed along with splash guards added to the valve covers to keep the engine oil from escaping as the afm was opeartional. At 98,000 miles the oil pressure sensor and the valve cover gasket had to be replaced. Now, at 140,000 miles the water pump, crank shaft and bearings had to be replaced. The dealership said I needed a new engine because they would not rebuild the engine due to the mileage. I have changed the oil every 3,000 miles and started using full synthetic motor oil since my engine issues at 33,000 miles. Gm is aware of this issue with the afm and continues to…
Also reported on the 2009 Chevrolet Silverado
Other body or interior problem
Other electrical problem
Wiring harness or short circuit
No-start or intermittent start failure
Radiator or coolant leak
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 4 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 4 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does excessive oil consumption happen on the 2009 Chevrolet Silverado?
Across 4 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 55,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is excessive oil consumption on the 2009 Chevrolet Silverado?
4 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed