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Ahhh! Annoying Rattle/knock/vibration

N

NJAV

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Feb 6, 2002
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I love this truck, and with only 2,500 miles on it it's great. The only problem that I've experienced has been this annoying noise that seems like it's coming from the front passengers side wheel well.

It's a cross between a rattling, shaking, vibrating noise that is driving me nuts!! Has anyone heard anything like this on your AVS?

Friends seem convinced that it's the wheel well plastic molding is loose somewhere and is rubbing or bouncing around. They had a similar problem with a Dodge Ram and it turned out to be just that.

Nothing is obviously broken or loose so the search continues. Any ideas?
 
I do not have any noises at all.

Seems you are on the right track. DOes the noise change with speed? Occur when turning? Louder when hitting bumps?

More details please.
 
1. Only make this noise upon acceleration. NOT when in idle

2. Does react to bumps in the road.

3. Is not caused by turning wheels to the left or right.

4. Does it more in cold weather (30 to 55) Seems to dissapear slightly in warmer weather conditions.

 
Strange.....

Sure it is front left and maybe not under the hood?

Cold weather kinda points to a bushing or something made of rubber or plastic getting hard and moving around.

The wheel turning not having an impact kinda makes the wheel well thing go away and should be easy enough to check.

hmmmmmmmmmmm....

any more details? Does it occur at steady highway speeds?

Does it happen while braking??
 
Well, it does sound like it's coming from somewhere under the hood, toward the right side of the engine compartment as your driving.

Only does it really bad from a dead stop then accelerate,
or just here and there. You would notice it more in city driving than on the highway.

I rarely here it on the highway doing a steady speed of 65 or so.

It also reacts to bumps in the road, which leaves me to believe like you said the some hard plastic is bouncing around somewhere because of the cold temperatures.

Hmmm I'm puzzled
 
I am stumped...Did you look around under the hood?

Man I hate noises.

 
I looked under the hood, and found nothing that was loose or broken.

As a matter of fact when I went in for an oil change I told the service folks that I heard this noise coming from what to me seemed like under the hood somewhere up front.

They came back after doing the oil change and said that when they looked around under the hood in the engine compartment they didn't find anything loose or broken, everything looked good.

They did say if I wanted to that I could make an appointment to bring it back and they would road test it to see if they here it.

What do I do if I do take it back and they find nothing wrong, they'll think I'm either crazy or making this up...

I don't know what I"ll do
 
Just a random suggestion:

On both sides of the engine compartment, near the front, there are a couple of rubber bump stops to support the corners of the hood when it is closed.
They adjust height by screwing up or down.

On mine, these were loose - they would turn very easily in the clipnuts - it wasn't an installation problem, just a lack of friction.

I hit both of them with a bit of Loctite, and then did some messing around to make sure that they were at the right height (i.e. so they supported the hood while keeping the hood/fender gap parallel).

Anyways, it's a long shot, but it might help.

ed
 
Do you have the hood/bug shield on your AV?
Check and watch the fubber flaps near the hood hinges, you can sometimes see these flapping under the hood which caused some strange, hard to describe noise/vibration.
 
No bug shield here, I'm going to have to go in when the weather get warmer and really start looking around...thanks
 
I heard a noise yesterday that turned out to be the radio antenna falling off. A few turns with a wrench and the noise was gone. You may want to check that.

 
Well I'm pretty sure I have found the cause of my little mystery noise...

Upon leaving work one morning I'm smoking a Marlboro puzzled, thinking Ok you son of a @#$^%#$....I'm gonna find you and when I do your through....

Sure enough I stick my head in the passenger side wheel well and What? Do we have here....the freakin' brake line riding on the frame of the AV.....sure enough it was riding close enough to leave some pretty good scratches.....So I get home and throw some loom on it and wait and see...

This could be the end of my problems or just one step closer to me losing my mind.. :(
 
I have a 2002 avalanche with 1100 miles and i had a noise that was between rattle and thumping. drove me crazy. i took it to the dealership and mechanic had me start. sure enough it made the noise and he asked me is that what you are talking about............dughhhhhh!
he asked me to pop the hood and stood on front bumper and grabbed fuel line behing manifold and bent it slightly forward. he said they had alot of that on the surburbans and it leaks over to the avalanche. fuel line bumping on fire wall mainly at idle, or going down rough road at slow speeds. Hope this may help. apparently i am not the first
 
Does anyone have a rattle from the inside sun shade of the sun roof. Over bumpy roads (most all roads in western PA), I get an annoying rattle when the sun shade is drawn closed. If I open it 3/4 or more, the rattle goes away. I know...I know leave the cover open and enjoy the roof...but it is still annoying.
 
I have the heated leather seats and have noticed a rubbing noise often when I move in the seat. It seems some of the plastic at the base of the seat is "groaning", not that much of a bother, but just wondering if anyone else has noticed it. I may be just too fat at 220 lbs.
 
I had a similar noise. Bad right front shock. If you open the passenger window and place you hands inside the door while standing outside and rock the AV and you hear the noise it's proabbly the shock. Mine was the second one at my dealers they've seen with the problem. Z71 suspension.

Marco
 
Thanks for the new info folks.....apparently the noise was reduced but not gone yet....I'm going to just take her back to the dealer and have them look her over...the part the makes me :mad:is I know the day I take her in she won't make a sound and they will look at me like I'm crazy....we'll see....

I love my Av....but this noise is frustrating.... :cautious:
 
Check the dipstick to the front differential - service manager says that they tend to bang against the firewall. ;D
 
Found the source of a slapping/vibration. It was windy this weekend and I kept hearing this "slapping" noise from the rear of the Av. Figured out it was from the rear wheel wells. Those trim pieces just behind the tire, the rubber ones that hide some of the big gap under the bed are flapping when the wind blows not a very good design.
 
I guess the only good thing about all of this is I've narrowed the noise down to the front end somewhere...

Which kind of puts me at ease, being the new midgate design you never know what could go wrong....

This definitely sounds like an external noise of some sort and a sounds like something is rubbing and rattling against the frame of the Av.....somewhere up front. ???
 
Check your gas line - this is a known problem with Chevy Trucks - feel around - see if it is hitting the firewall. :D
 
Well folks I'm happy to report that the noise from my Avy is now a thing of the past... :)

I took her in for an oil change and chassis lube this morning and told the service tech..that I had found the brake line on the passenger side riding on the frame, and that I believed this was the root of my problem...

So about 1/2 hour later...they came back and told me that they have repositioned the brake line so it wasn't riding on the frame...so far I haven't heard as much as a squeal from anywhere up front.....I'll keep my fingers crossed, but I think that was that... :D
 
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: FOR THE LOVE OF %$&#^#^*#^*#^*!!!!!!!!....Guess who's back?
 
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