Chevy Silverado Owner Seeks Help with Mysterious Grinding Noise
Chevrolet Forum member gets immediate assistance tracking down an unusual problem with his ’05 Silverado.
Once you start racking up the miles on any vehicle, little mysterious noises are bound to start popping up. Sometimes, these are just indications that normal wear items will need replacement soon. Other times, they’re a sign that something major is going wrong. So when Chevrolet Forum member Snake17 started noticing a strange grinding noise coming from his 2005 Silverado, he turned to his fellow members for help in this thread.
“Today I noticed a loud grinding noise coming from up front somewhere when pressing the gas from a dead stop. It lasts until I get up to a decent speed. Driving it at the speed limit and such, it does fine. I’m curious if anyone else has had this issue or heard of it that can maybe steer me in the right direction. I’m pretty bummed as this is my ‘new truck’ and I want it to be a reliable vehicle.”
Right off the bat, fellow member Doug D has his suspicions.
“I would check the front bearings in the hub(s). Bearings typically growl/grind when they wear out. And they make more noise when turning. If you have a bad RF bearing, a right turn may make it louder. It may make no noise at all when turning left. I’ll add that sound can do funny things. If the front bearings are okay, it could be bearings in the rear (hub, pinion, or carrier). Do you feel the grinding through the steering wheel or from the seat? In my experience if it comes from the front, you feel it in the steering wheel. And if it comes from the rear, one tends to feel it in the seat.”
The OP does some more investigating, which could lead him in a different direction.
“No feeling in the seat or wheel. Doesn’t pop or thud like a bad wheel bearing would. I ended up driving it around today and it sounds almost like maybe a heat shield somewhere is vibrating at lower speeds. When you blip the throttle multiple times, there’s a buzzing/grinding sound from the passenger side up front somewhere. If you are just cruising it wont do it.”
And thus, Doug D suggests checking the heat shield, which would be a much simpler fix. We’re still waiting to hear back if the OP managed to track down the source of this strange issue in his Silverado. So we want to know – have you have a similar noise in your truck? If so, head over here and let us know what you did to fix it!
Photos: Chevrolet Forum