I have a 2005 suburban. I bought it used in late 2009 with 56,000 miles on it. It now has 120,000 miles on it. It has been running like a champ but since the last oil change I have noticed it has used about a quart of oil. A friend noticed it blew some blue smoke on start up the other day. I notice no performance issues or rough idling.

I was told by friends this could be valve seals, PVC valve, piston rings, etc. One guy who is a ford mechanic even reccomended getting a used engine to replace mine.

My question is, is thus normal wear? Should I just let it go? How cheaply can it be fixed?

Neither my wife nor I baby it. We have pulled large campers with it, driven to Florida a couple times, and just day to day driving is fairly hard.

Quite a few times in Florida this past August my wife was being silly and dropped it in Low 1 and drove it to 5000-6000 rpms and held it there for several miles. She loves doing that to her cars. I know a couple times she has accidentally put it in low 3 and driven at.highway speeds for hours.
So, is this engine just plain worn out?
Any advice is appreciated!

 

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Thank you for providing detailed information regarding your vehicle and regular driving habits. If you are concerned, I would encourage you take the vehicle in for an inspection. A certified technician will be able to offer a more accurate diagnosis with a physical inspection.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me.

Louis
GM Customer Service

 

How many miles did it take to use that quart?

 

Your wife is destroying any vehicle she drives if that's her normal practice. No wonder it was a qt low.

Maybe a new wife instead of a new engine. :

 

It has been about 5000 miles since.last oil change. So I guess that's not too terrible.

And my wife is amazing, and pretty dang hot! Lol She blown about four engines since we met though.

 

Here are just a couple pics. One is of her driving her 2011 Traverse in Low gear pegging the rev limiter, the other is her literally laughing at the suburbans engine right after the nineteen hour drive home from Florida. The last couple hours of which she drove it in Low 3 at 70 mph.

 

I quart in 5k is nothing to worry about. When it becomes 1qt in 500 miles then you have a problem.

 

@mdtahoe thanks for the advice. Guess I have to keep my wife from abusing it so much, although she keeps asking when she can drive it. Now that its getting wore out, she says it's time to really beat it. She's quite the lady!

 

Tell her no way

 

Looks like shes in the health care field. Hope she treats her patience better than her cars.