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Alternator Noise In Cab While Idle


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  • 10 months later...
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Hello,

 

I have a 2010 Chevrolet Silverado that I purchased in June 2010. About 3 weeks ago I started to notice a low whining noise in the cab while when coming to a stop at lights and in traffic. The noise is louder now and sounds like a whistle or whine. It only happens while in Drive and in Idle and at low speed when coming to a stop.

 

I opened the hood and had a friend keep it in drive and it sounds like it could be coming from the alternator.

 

I took it to the dealer and the master mechanic said that it could possibly be coming from the alternator but he could not do anything about it. He made some excuse that I could test drive some of the newer vehicles and some of them would have the same sound. He said that the software from GM may be the problem, but he couldn't do anything.

 

My wife has a Tahoe, my brother inlaw has an avalanche, I have another friend with a Tahoe and he has a 2008 silverado. None of them make the noise.

 

The noise is very annoying. Does anyone have an idea if it is the alternator? The forums I have read, alternator noise usually increase as RPM's increase, but that is not the case with mine. And the truck is only 5 months old, so I don't think that the alternator is dyning...but I am open to anything.

 

Thanks! Mike

I know this is a really old thread and this is my first post on this forum but I'm wondering if the OP ever got this figured out because I'm having the same sound in my '08 GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Z71. Any help would be great.

 

Thanks

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My 08 started doing the same thing this last summer. My guess is the alternator. It's been getting louder. I have 78K on it now and need to get it to the dealer if I want to get it fixed under warranty.

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My 08 started doing the same thing this last summer. My guess is the alternator. It's been getting louder. I have 78K on it now and need to get it to the dealer if I want to get it fixed under warranty.

spurshot, that's what I'm leaning towards, possibly there's a bad diode in the alternator? These things cost over $200 bucks!

 

 

PS my Sierra has just over 48K on the ODO and no B2B for me :lol:

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My 08 started doing the same thing this last summer. My guess is the alternator. It's been getting louder. I have 78K on it now and need to get it to the dealer if I want to get it fixed under warranty.

spurshot, let me know what you find out, I just put a new alternator on and still have the buzz noise associated with alternator/RPM's.

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I have a noise similar to this, but when you turn the wheel to the left (at a stop) the noise stops completely. I'm leaning towards PS pump. :thumbs:

I'm getting a new PS pump installed today so I'll see what that does for my noise.

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I have a noise similar to this, but when you turn the wheel to the left (at a stop) the noise stops completely. I'm leaning towards PS pump. :thumbs:

I'm getting a new PS pump installed today so I'll see what that does for my noise.

 

 

 

That would be great. I would hate to pay for a new one if that isn't going to fix the problem......thanks for being my guinea pig haha. JK

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I have a noise similar to this, but when you turn the wheel to the left (at a stop) the noise stops completely. I'm leaning towards PS pump. :lol:

I'm getting a new PS pump installed today so I'll see what that does for my noise.

 

 

 

That would be great. I would hate to pay for a new one if that isn't going to fix the problem......thanks for being my guinea pig haha. JK

 

The new PS pump is in and sounds 100% better but it did'nt do anything for the alternator buzz/whine with the rpm's. It's really starting to drive me crazy, I dont know where else to look, i've cleaned all connections and still the same results. Does anyone know if the OP got his original issue fixed?

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The new PS pump is in and sounds 100% better but it did'nt do anything for the alternator buzz/whine with the rpm's. It's really starting to drive me crazy, I dont know where else to look, i've cleaned all connections and still the same results. Does anyone know if the OP got his original issue fixed?

 

Is this an electrical noise or a mechanical noise? The rectifiers sometimes fail and get "noisy". They are now integrated and typically the whole alternator must be replaced. If you aren't sure and this is an electrical noise coming through the radio, disconnect the alternator from the battery and control wires and run the truck for a minute checking for the noise. You might need to reset a DTC after this, but should help you confirm that it's the alternator.

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The new PS pump is in and sounds 100% better but it did'nt do anything for the alternator buzz/whine with the rpm's. It's really starting to drive me crazy, I dont know where else to look, i've cleaned all connections and still the same results. Does anyone know if the OP got his original issue fixed?

 

Is this an electrical noise or a mechanical noise? The rectifiers sometimes fail and get "noisy". They are now integrated and typically the whole alternator must be replaced. If you aren't sure and this is an electrical noise coming through the radio, disconnect the alternator from the battery and control wires and run the truck for a minute checking for the noise. You might need to reset a DTC after this, but should help you confirm that it's the alternator.

 

It is an electrical noise that was there with my old alt and is more prominent with the 'new' alt I got from the dealer, they ordered the new one using my VIN, the new alt has a DR37 on the case and the old had a DR44 on the case, both 145 amps. Can the DTC be reset with an OBDII?

Is it possible that something is bad in my factory radio that is picking up the noise or maybe a capacitor of some sort that the truck uses to filter noise. I had the new alt tested and it is performing perfectly, my battery is in perfect shape as well. Could it be that the new alt is just noisey?, if I stand just right with the hood open I can hear the frequency noise I'm hearing in the cab. If the alt is working correctly, there should not be any noise, anywhere correct?, and if it is causing some sort of frequency nosie that can be heard with the hood open then something is'nt right?

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I had the same noise at idle and while driving, I tought it was a belt pulley..took it to the dealer, they replaced the belt and problem solved

 

 

That ^^^

 

 

Sometimes it's the simple solution.

 

Same problem on my neighbors truck. New Belt of better quality and the problem went away. It was worse if he turned the wheels all the way one way or another. My guess is it put more stress on the belt/pulleys causing the sound to get louder.

 

Sounds like an electical problem on the original post though......

 

Is the noise there with the radio off?

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I had the same noise at idle and while driving, I tought it was a belt pulley..took it to the dealer, they replaced the belt and problem solved

 

 

That ^^^

 

 

Sometimes it's the simple solution.

 

Same problem on my neighbors truck. New Belt of better quality and the problem went away. It was worse if he turned the wheels all the way one way or another. My guess is it put more stress on the belt/pulleys causing the sound to get louder.

 

Sounds like an electical problem on the original post though......

 

Is the noise there with the radio off?

 

Yes the noise is there with the radio off and it is an electrical noise. I did find in the under hood fuse block a 30 amp j-case fuse blown, it is 'stud 1' trailer brakes, maybe that has something to do with it..........I hope.

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I had the same noise at idle and while driving, I tought it was a belt pulley..took it to the dealer, they replaced the belt and problem solved

 

 

That ^^^

 

 

Sometimes it's the simple solution.

 

Same problem on my neighbors truck. New Belt of better quality and the problem went away. It was worse if he turned the wheels all the way one way or another. My guess is it put more stress on the belt/pulleys causing the sound to get louder.

 

Sounds like an electical problem on the original post though......

 

Is the noise there with the radio off?

 

Yes the noise is there with the radio off and it is an electrical noise. I did find in the under hood fuse block a 30 amp j-case fuse blown, it is 'stud 1' trailer brakes, maybe that has something to do with it..........I hope.

 

 

 

One could hope. Keep us posted. I'm curious as to what it is by now. Battery and Altenator would be my first guess....after that who knows.

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The fuse did not do the trick, so I went to the dealer this morning and had the master tech listen to the new alt, he heard the whine noise and he heard it in the cab too. They still had my old alt which I put back on and the noise was not nearly half as bad so we think that we just got a bad 'new' alternator, Ill have a new one tomorrow and well see.

 

I did go and check all the radio wiring and it was good.

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