"Thunking" Noise Under Driver Side Dash

[wfbarto]

Has anybody had this problem when going over small bumps or pavement ridges on the driver's side? To me it sounds like a loose bolt underneath the dash up by the steering column. Dealer tried to fix it once and they lubed the steering shaft in accordance with a TSB that is out on the Silverados. The lube solution is GM's new fix revising a previous TSB which called for replacement of the intermediate steering shaft. Anybody else having any problems? The lube job on my steering shaft did not cure the problem.

 

[ygmn]

Never heard that noise....I do hear the sunroof shade making noises though when it is blocking the sunroof.....

 

[scubajeff]

Had a similiar problem. When going over certain bumps, some turns and hard excelleration from a stop I would hear a thump underneath, sounded like the drivers side. The dealer had it for a whole day and couldn't find the problem. The afternoon of the following day they called me and said that they found the problem.
According to the dealer they had to replace and lube the body mounts .
This was two weeks ago and so far all is well.

 

[shafman1]

I had a problem with a thunking noise and a vibration in the steering wheel on my 99 Silverado. Ended having the steering shaft replaced. It was different than the original one. I looked at the on my Avalanche when I bought it. It looks the same as the new one did on the Silverado.

 

[idocpilk]

There was an earlier thread about a noise like this and it turned out to be the brake line bumping against the firewill (I think). Have them check the brake line around that area.

 

[wfbarto]

My dealer has finally diagnosed this problem as bad driver side door hinges. Has anyone had any of the welds come loose on any of their doors? You can see where the upper hinge especially is loosening on my AV. It makes a noise like a "thunking" that sounds like it is coming from up under the corner of the dash.

The dealer's fix is to replace the hinges. The replacements are not welded on like the factory but bolted on?? Has anyone had any experience with this on their AV or on a previous truck (Silverado)??

Any opinions on the dealer's solution to bolt on hinges instead of weld on hinges??

 

[ygmn]

It seems that welded on replacement hinges would ruin a lot of paint...presumming they use a grinder to remove existing hinges.....I do not see where bolt on hinges would be bad if designed by GM for service work like this.

Question on the noiose with hinges?... do you hear it when you open or close the door? does the door seem hard to close? Does the door seem lose if when fully open you lift it up?

I remeber a link on here to a ACROBAT file that showed body shop repair stuff....I do not remember if it showed the hinges but may be worth a search...the thread had something to do with the tailgate or something like that.

HTH and good luck

 

[wfbarto]

Question on the noiose with hinges?... do you hear it when you open or close the door? ?does the door seem hard to close? ?Does the door seem lose if when fully open you lift it up?

I hear just a single "creak" or "pop" if I open the door up all the way to the end of the travel on the hinge. I also hear the same noise sometimes if I step up on the front end of the running board with all my weight and bounce the suspension down. However it is not a noise from the running board as the dealer took this off and the truck was still making the noise with it off.

Other than that the door is not hard to open or close. It also does not seem loose if you lift up on it when it is open. Kind of makes you wonder if that is the problem, huh Supposedly they checked everything else out and couldn't find anything. They had it for a day and a half trying to find it!!

 

[ygmn]

I could see if the hinges were not installed aligned...but then it would make the door hard to open.....Not maybe it is that thingy that holds the door open...whatever it is called......

Or something inside the door is loose? can you think of anything in or around the RF door that seems odd or strange or not right?


TROUBLE SHOOTING from a distance.....

 

[wfbarto]

Looked a little closer at the hinge issue tonight when I got home. The gap between the front fender and the driver's door is uneven from top to bottom...much narrower at the top of the door and widens out as you go towards the bottom. This makes me think that the hinge was not welded on properly at the factory when they built the truck!

Just to make sure they weren't built this way I checked the passenger side front door and it looks like it has an even gap from top to bottom. Since the driver's side door is definitely off, I am going to show them the gap and make sure when they put the new door hinges on that the gap lines-up better from top to bottom. Hope this doesn't mean that the striker for the door latch is off and will now need to be moved.

 

[ygmn]

The door hinges are spot welded from the back side...I think...

If they replace hinges they will have to readjust the striker...no way they could do otherwise unless the hinges could be moved after install...which would make them prone to movement in the future IMO....

Keep us informed!

 

[mrsbonzo32]

I too have had this noise problem, dealership replaced the dash cluster and seems to have worked for this noise now i have a noise in passenger side when going over 50mph.

 

[wfbarto]

Here's a report on the fix for the thunking noise. Got my truck back last Wednesday after the dealer replaced the hinges with the bolt-on type. They did a nice job, it looks great and the door opens and closes as smooth as it did when new from the lot. They also were able to line up the gap between the door and the front fender somewhat by adjusting the fender. Thye told me that in order to repair the door they had to take the fender and front bumper off anyway.

I drove the truck a fair amount over the weekend and it is definitely fixed. No thunking or clunking or other noises from the front-end or the under dash area. My Av is like it was when I drove it off the lot!! My love affair is on again!!