I purchased my 2001 Avalanche used in June of 2014, it had 35,000 miles on it at the time. the engine light was on intermittently at the time but the dealer seemed to cure it. i started to see the engine light come on again withe the engine running rough and even showing the "traction control light" coming on along with the check engine light on continuously. i took my vehicle to my mechanic, he ran tests on it and found a fouled plug in cylinder # 1. he decided to change all the plugs and ignition wires. He also told me the oil was down two quarts, even though i had only something like 3,500 miles since the last oil change. The vehicle ran OK for a few more months then the same roughness and check engine lights came on. i took it to a different mechanic and he told me they #1 cylinder plug was carboned up. i changed only that plug and changed the oil which was again low by two quarts. the same thing happened again in about six months, i took it back to the last mechanic who read bulletins from GM stating the excessive oil usage was not a warranty problem and that "vehicles with high milage of 30K-40K must expect oil usage". That my friend is a joke, i owned a 2033 Chevy Suburban with 230,000 miles and it literally burned no oil. High mileage 30k-40k is a farce...

Now my only option is to check my oil every 1,000 miles, expect to add a quart at that interval, change my oil every 3,000 miles and on every other oil change replace the spark plug in the #1 cylinder. My disgust is this cylinder is not scored, the mechanic has pictures...i can't afford to take a lose of the magnitude it would be to trade the vehicle today. so i limp along...

to exacerbate my frustration is i have two coworkers with exactly the same problem on their Chevy 1500 pickups. One has his vehicle in to the dealer and is, like me, being told it's not under warranty and he has two cylinders bad, #1 & #2.

Something is wrong with this engine and GM needs to step up and take care of it

one cylinder not firing

Had car in multiple times for it missing on one of the spark plugs, recently read in forums that this is related to the oil consumption issue that we were having when the car was still under warranty. everytime we asked chevy about this issue they said that it was normal for it to burn oil the car was only 4 yrs old when we had to replace the engine. I have a 1999 chevy pickup that still has the original motor in it and doesn't burn more than 1 qt of oil between changes

Purchased a new, 2011 Chevy Avalanche LTZ. Beautiful vehicle and expected the same longevity I had with my 1998 Burb. Since my past two oil changes, I'm not sure that is going to happen. Around 16-17K miles, I took in for a standard oil change. Dealer mentioned I was a quart and half low! New car burning this kind of oil is unheard of in my book. My 1998 Burb never experienced this ever! Dealer ended up changing a fouled spark plug and I got put on the infamous 'oil consumption watch' program. Came back on 3/28/2014 for another oil change and I already knew I was going to be 1.5 qts low again. Dealer confirmed that and also gave me the explanation that 1.5 qts per 2000 miles is within spec! I told them that was unacceptable. Give me a break GM!!! Unfortunately, I think I've begun the long journey of trying to get GM to take accountability of their design flaw as I get the run around for months ahead. Dealer says next step (once I pass the oil consumption gauntlet) is the AFM (auto fuel management) filter replacement in the oil pan. We'll see if I make it to that point or not. Just talked with my friend who owns a 2012 Silverado. He mentioned the dealer just told him his oil was low after coming in for an oil change as well. Coincidence? After doing some research here, MY theory is that GM tried to come up with a better economy truck utilizing this AFM system which shuts down cylinders when possible. Unfortunately, it sounds like the engineering behind this feature is what may be the source of the oil consumption issue. i.e. DESIGN FLAW. After reading other posts, it appears that GM is not taking any accountability of this issue and the blanket answer is 1.5 qts/2000 miles is within spec. Seeing no one is actually dying out there because of this issue, doubt any formal recalls will be issued. Its just us consumers who will have to buy extra oil, check oil more often etc. to live through this. GREAT NEW CAR EXPERIENCE GM!! Stopping at a different dealer today just to see if the experience is the same. Seems GM is in some pretty tough spots recently due to oversights like this. The latest ignition switch issue is the most reported due to deaths occurring on the road. Hope they can get their act together.

Update from May 16, 2015: May 16, 2015. Been a very long time since i posted. Been living with the oil issue for sometime now. Dealer replaced the lifters which i thought may have fixed things. Been going ok for the last couple years (up until yesterday). Vehicle has 33,000 miles on now. Started up yesterday, all the dash lights/warning start flashing, engine light comes on, truck is running like crap. Headed to the dealer and wasnt really sure i'd make it. Dropped it, expressed my concern around oil again but told them to focus on the bigger issue. They called back in a couple hours and told me the cylinder walls were scored and that they were ordering a new engine! And that this was the problem with my oil consumption to begin with! Oh well. looks like i have a new engine coming (under warranty), i cant complain about that. However, i can only hope that things have been improved so i'm not back doing this again. i.e. the warranty does NOT start over!