--- title: "Normal oil consumption raises concern for Duramax diesel engine" url: "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/normal-oil-consumption-raises-concern-for-duramax-diesel-engine/" publisher: "Pickup Truck + SUV Talk" content_signal: "search=yes, ai-input=yes, ai-train=no" author: "Tim Esterdahl" published: "2023-01-23T19:20:41+00:00" modified: "2025-07-23T15:12:29+00:00" image: "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/IMG_2612.jpg" --- # Normal oil consumption raises concern for Duramax diesel engine By Tim Esterdahl Published: 2023-01-23T19:20:41+00:00 Updated: 2025-07-23T15:12:29+00:00 ![Featured image]() An accepted rate of oil usage is sparking concerns from owners for the General Motors 3.0-liter Duramax diesel engines, leading to much debate on what to do about it and if there are any [truck maintenance tips]() that can prevent this issue. The GM 3.0-liter Duramax diesel engine is a turbocharged inline 6, and it’s now in its second generation, known behind the scenes as the [LZ0 Duramax diesel](). It is used in the [2023 Chevy Silverado 1500]() and the 2023 GMC Sierra 1500. The prior generation [LM2 Duramax diesel]() is available in the GMC Yukon, Chevy Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade. ## **What is normal oil consumption?** An issue raised by owners on various forums has been about oil consumption. Many owners are fuming over the idea that an engine is designed to use oil, the amount of oil used and that this is part of the normal operation of the engine. In the minds of these owners, engines shouldn’t use any oil. If they do, that’s a knock against it for reliability, and it is an engineering failure. However, GM says there is such a thing as normal oil consumption, and it will appear in two different ways. First, the factory puts in extra oil as part of the production process for the LZ0 Duramax engine. “The 2023 LZ0-powered vehicles are shipped with an extra quart of oil in the crankcase,” said Sean Szymkowski, senior manager for Chevrolet Trucks Communications. “This extra oil is *only required* for the first factory fill. At the first oil change, the standard oil amount is used moving forward. Chevrolet dealers have been advised of this.” Dealers have also been made aware of normal oil consumption through a [technical service bulletin #21-NA-272]() issued in November, 2021 advising them of this concern if raised by an owner for the LM2 Duramax diesel. Symkowski confirmed this also applies to the LZ0 Duramax diesel as well. The service bulletin says: “The accepted rate of oil consumption for engines used in the vehicles referenced is 0.946 liter (1 quart) in 3,200 KM (2,000 miles).” This rate only applies to personal use vehicles, under warranty, that are driven in a non-aggressive manner and maintained in accordance with the appropriate maintenance schedule or driven at legal speeds in an unloaded (for trucks) condition. This rate **does not apply** to vehicles that are driven in an aggressive manner, at high RPM, high speeds or in a loaded condition (for trucks). Oil consumption for vehicles driven under these conditions will be more and accepted rate is 0.946 liter (1 quart) in 1,600 km (1,000 miles).” ## **Is oil consumption for GM 3.0L Duramax diesel engines bad?** Engines using oil is a bad thing, right? Not really. Many pieces of equipment use oil, and it is actually more common than one would think. The fact is owners should always be mindful of their oil levels in their trucks, and this especially applies when towing or hauling consistently. A truck is simply a much larger tool, and it requires maintenance as well as keeping an eye on fuel, oil and other fluids to operate correctly. ## **Aftermarket to the rescue!** An option for those who are concerned about oil consumption would be to look to the aftermarket. For example, quite literally in the same time frame of researching this story, [PPE]() reached out with an offer to use their oil pan, which allows for an additional 2 quarts of oil in the truck. PPE says this helps “stabilize” the oil consumption concern by allowing you to simply have more oil in the crankcase. I figure a little extra oil can’t hurt, so I plan to install it on the 2023 Chevy Silverado 1500 with the Duramax diesel I bought for a long-term review vehicle. [Embedded video]() ## **The bottom line** If you are an owner who keeps a tedious watch on their truck and doesn’t want any oil to be lost, well, then, you are going to have a hard time with this issue. However, if you see oil consumption as normal, like GM engineers do, then this is much ado about nothing. ## Structured page information ~~~json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Article", "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/normal-oil-consumption-raises-concern-for-duramax-diesel-engine/#article", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/normal-oil-consumption-raises-concern-for-duramax-diesel-engine/" }, "author": { "name": "Tim Esterdahl", "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/#/schema/person/82b06f99329f69a069a5ab6caed18593" }, "headline": "Normal oil consumption raises concern for Duramax diesel engine", "datePublished": "2023-01-23T19:20:41+00:00", "dateModified": "2025-07-23T15:12:29+00:00", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/normal-oil-consumption-raises-concern-for-duramax-diesel-engine/" }, "wordCount": 680, "commentCount": 10, "publisher": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/#organization" }, "image": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/normal-oil-consumption-raises-concern-for-duramax-diesel-engine/#primaryimage" }, "thumbnailUrl": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/IMG_2612.jpg", "keywords": [ "3.0l duramax diesel", "3.0l lz0 duramax diesel", "duramax diesel", "full-size trucks", "LZ0 Duramax Diesel", "oil consumption" ], "articleSection": [ "News" ], "inLanguage": "en-US", "potentialAction": [ { "@type": "CommentAction", "name": "Comment", "target": [ "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/normal-oil-consumption-raises-concern-for-duramax-diesel-engine/#respond" ] } ] }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/normal-oil-consumption-raises-concern-for-duramax-diesel-engine/", "url": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/normal-oil-consumption-raises-concern-for-duramax-diesel-engine/", "name": "Normal oil consumption raises concern for Duramax diesel engine", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/#website" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/normal-oil-consumption-raises-concern-for-duramax-diesel-engine/#primaryimage" }, "image": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/normal-oil-consumption-raises-concern-for-duramax-diesel-engine/#primaryimage" }, "thumbnailUrl": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/IMG_2612.jpg", "datePublished": "2023-01-23T19:20:41+00:00", "dateModified": "2025-07-23T15:12:29+00:00", "description": "Should diesel engines use oil, and is there an accepted consumption rate? We dig into the issue on the GM Duramax diesel.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/normal-oil-consumption-raises-concern-for-duramax-diesel-engine/#breadcrumb" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "potentialAction": [ { "@type": "ReadAction", "target": [ "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/normal-oil-consumption-raises-concern-for-duramax-diesel-engine/" ] } ] }, { "@type": "ImageObject", "inLanguage": "en-US", "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/normal-oil-consumption-raises-concern-for-duramax-diesel-engine/#primaryimage", "url": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/IMG_2612.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/IMG_2612.jpg", "width": 1000, "height": 750, "caption": "duramax diesel" }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/normal-oil-consumption-raises-concern-for-duramax-diesel-engine/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Normal oil consumption raises concern for Duramax diesel engine" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/#website", "url": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/", "name": "Pickup Truck +SUV Talk", "description": "Latest News, Reviews and Stories", "publisher": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/#organization" }, "potentialAction": [ { "@type": "SearchAction", "target": { "@type": "EntryPoint", "urlTemplate": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/?s={search_term_string}" }, "query-input": { "@type": "PropertyValueSpecification", "valueRequired": true, "valueName": "search_term_string" } } ], "inLanguage": "en-US" }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/#organization", "name": "Pickup Truck + SUV Talk", "url": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "inLanguage": "en-US", "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/#/schema/logo/image/", "url": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/PUTC-Only-Shield.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/PUTC-Only-Shield.jpg", "width": 613, "height": 379, "caption": "Pickup Truck + SUV Talk" }, "image": { "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/#/schema/logo/image/" }, "sameAs": [ "https://www.facebook.com/pickuptrucktalk/", "https://x.com/PickupTruckTalk", "https://instagram.com/PickupTruckTalk", "https://www.pinterest.com/PickupTruckTalk/", "https://www.youtube.com/pickuptrucktalk" ] }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/#/schema/person/82b06f99329f69a069a5ab6caed18593", "name": "Tim Esterdahl", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "inLanguage": "en-US", "@id": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4bca0b5ed53c9a187035039954064359d8a8de864b074f1193ef1eddcec6e3bf?s=96&d=mm&r=g", "url": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4bca0b5ed53c9a187035039954064359d8a8de864b074f1193ef1eddcec6e3bf?s=96&d=mm&r=g", "contentUrl": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4bca0b5ed53c9a187035039954064359d8a8de864b074f1193ef1eddcec6e3bf?s=96&d=mm&r=g", "caption": "Tim Esterdahl" }, "description": "Tim Esterdahl is an award-winning automotive journalist who has covered the industry since 2011, specializing in pickup trucks, SUVs, towing and vehicle reliability. His work has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, NewsNation, MotorTrend and The Boston Globe, and he has tested hundreds of new vehicles across North America.", "sameAs": [ "https://www.linkedin.com/in/testerdahl?trk=hp-identity-photo" ], "url": "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/author/testerdahl/" } ] } ] ~~~