CoolBlueSS Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Took my truck in last Saturday for a gear howl. I thought it was the front, but it was the rear. Also had the grinding, groaning noise on low speed turns. Took the cover off the rear, and it was full of metal shavings. Bearings were scored pretty bad, and the rear pinion bearing had spun on the pinion shaft. I have just over 30K miles on my 03. They replaced the ring and pinion, all associated berings and seals, and alot of the noise is gone. The tech test drove it, and still heard some whine and grind, this time from the front. So, I drove it home last night, and it is much quieter and smoother. Today they took apart the front diff, and there was quite a bit of metal there too. One of the side bearings is scored so bad you can catch your fingernail in the grooves. I wont get it back till tomorrow, because we had to order the ring and pinion. I'll keep y'all posted if anyone is interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Please do; I took my SS to the dealer with the same complaint, except no grinding, just low-speed turn howling, and the service manager had the balls to tell me that it was normal for the truck. I was pissed, pointing to an Escalade on the sales floor and asking "so if we test drive that rig right there it will make the same exact drivetrain noises?" It did not improve my case with him... Anyway yes, I'm very interested in your story. Mr. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolBlueSS Posted April 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 I work at a Chevy dealer, but as an employee it doesn't give you special priviledges. In fact it's just the opposite, so I know it's a legitimate problem with mine. It's probably going to be a matter of finding someone who cares enough to fix the problem. Like I said, I thought it was the front, but since the rear has been repaired the noise is greatly reduced. Now he's doing the front, and we'll see what that does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A2Blue Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Thanks Arrival, definitely interested in hearing back. I'm getting a hum / whine now @ 40 mph, which sounds like maybe from the rear. No big deal right now with that, but I'm interested in what they do for the front and how it turns out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolBlueSS Posted April 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Thanks Arrival, definitely interested in hearing back. I'm getting a hum / whine now @ 40 mph, which sounds like maybe from the rear. No big deal right now with that, but I'm interested in what they do for the front and how it turns out. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's how mine started out was a little hum that got worse and worse, until it was a full blown howl. Before that it would grind on low speed turns. Come to find out it had more to do with the rear than the front, but the same thing exist in both. Basically the bearings are pitted from excess metal left over from the casting process, and that's where the grinding and howling noises were coming from. The gear wear pattern on the ring and pinions were perfect, but they're replacing both ring and pinions, and all associated bearings and seals, and thoroughly cleaning both housings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSminneapolis Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 i would be intersted to see when all the trucks that are having this issue were built? possibly it was a bad lot of housing castings... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolBlueSS Posted April 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 i would be intersted to see when all the trucks that are having this issue were built? possibly it was a bad lot of housing castings... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's a good possibility. There was a s**tload of metal in both housings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolBlueSS Posted April 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 It's an advantage working at a dealer, because I can go in the shop whilr they're working on my truck. So, I get to see what went wrong. Plus, I kind of know what I'm looking at. I really hope this will help some of you out there that have had this problem for some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detjoe Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 how do we make it so GM says that they know the noise is not normal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSminneapolis Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 i think GM knows about it...but doesn't really want anything to do with it. also with the castings...depending on the processs used to cast the parts. it could be extra metal....or sand/silica that is left in the castings. either way not good for moving parts. this is a possibility if the parts were rushed into production and they didn't get enough time to properly debur (etc.) the parts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolBlueSS Posted April 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 True, it could be sand/silica, as the rear is cast iron, and the front is aluminum. The only thing I can think of to prove anything, is to drain the fluid and show the service manager the amount of metal/sand/silica/crap that is in there. Especially with low miles. That's what really triggered the tech off that there was a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 True, it could be sand/silica, as the rear is cast iron, and the front is aluminum. The only thing I can think of to prove anything, is to drain the fluid and show the service manager the amount of metal/sand/silica/crap that is in there. Especially with low miles. That's what really triggered the tech off that there was a problem. Thanks for the good idea, I will do that when I replace the fluid in my diffs. Mr. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R96IMP Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 True, it could be sand/silica, as the rear is cast iron, and the front is aluminum. The only thing I can think of to prove anything, is to drain the fluid and show the service manager the amount of metal/sand/silica/crap that is in there. Especially with low miles. That's what really triggered the tech off that there was a problem. Thanks for the good idea, I will do that when I replace the fluid in my diffs. Mr. P. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi,I'm new to this board,I work as a driveline/service tech at a Chevy/Cadillac Dealer in Louisville Ky. I have seen several bearing issues with the C/K trucks 02 and up.The pinion bearings are suspect in the frt diffs-esp in Escalades and the rears are bearing failure/noise issue prone in the trucks.Have replaced several frt diffs and quite a few rear bearings.Some as early as 11k miles I am looking at a 05 Black SS and deciding whether to trade the 00 or sellit privately. Wife wants a new truck and I think is jealous that I have the only SS in the garage(she's a gearhead too). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Hi,I'm new to this board,I work as a driveline/service tech at a Chevy/Cadillac Dealer in Louisville Ky.I have seen several bearing issues with the C/K trucks 02 and up.The pinion bearings are suspect in the frt diffs-esp in Escalades and the rears are bearing failure/noise issue prone in the trucks.Have replaced several frt diffs and quite a few rear bearings.Some as early as 11k miles I am looking at a 05 Black SS and deciding whether to trade the 00 or sellit privately. Wife wants a new truck and I think is jealous that I have the only SS in the garage(she's a gearhead too). I hope things go your way on the '05 SS. I just love mine and black is definitely the right color! OK, so let me ask the pro: I've got the drivetrain out of my SS at the moment (tranny rebuild), can I get under the truck and measure pinion runout or endplay or Mine does make noise on decel in a turn (but not an all-out howl), right-hand especially. The noise became noticeable about 4000 miles ago, you can really hear it now, truck has 17K on it now... I took it to the dealer at about 16K and requested it be serviced, and the genious there decided he needed to replace a valve in the power steering system?! Whatever... the noise is definitely coming from the rear and if there is anything I can do to put their finger on the problem I would be most appreciative. These axles are supposed to run silently, right?? Also, if I drain/replace the fluid is it possible the condition will stop getting worse and the noise go away (if indeed that is the problem)? Mr. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desrtrat Posted April 22, 2005 Report Share Posted April 22, 2005 True, it could be sand/silica, as the rear is cast iron, and the front is aluminum. The only thing I can think of to prove anything, is to drain the fluid and show the service manager the amount of metal/sand/silica/crap that is in there. Especially with low miles. That's what really triggered the tech off that there was a problem. Thanks for the good idea, I will do that when I replace the fluid in my diffs. Mr. P. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi,I'm new to this board,I work as a driveline/service tech at a Chevy/Cadillac Dealer in Louisville Ky. I have seen several bearing issues with the C/K trucks 02 and up.The pinion bearings are suspect in the frt diffs-esp in Escalades and the rears are bearing failure/noise issue prone in the trucks.Have replaced several frt diffs and quite a few rear bearings.Some as early as 11k miles <{POST_SNAPBACK}> i had bouth frount and rear replaced on mine with ONLY 190 miles on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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