4WD issues

crankman · October 1, 2015

Has anyone experienced a whine when operating in 4WD-high. I notice it at all speeds and is only heard when operating in 4WD. 2015 Sierra Denali 2500HD

DanL I wanted to see how my 4wd h noise was handled here at my dealer. My service manager did not feel it was normal sound . They opened drain plug on the transfer case found enough shaving to warrant opening case found in his words a bearing that was to tight , it was replace along with 2 others. Reassembled still made same noise. The front diff was opened and bearing lash checked it was right on spec. So service manager drove 2 different 2500 on there lot same howling not whining noise. He sent letter to someone at GM so will see where it goes. I drove my 2500 since memorial day used 4hi roughly 12 times at camp it was hardly noticeable when engaged think I put about 30 miles on it in 4 hi. Then out of the blue last trip to camp it began a howling noise so loud it caused me to go in for the checkup. It may be normal and if it is so be it Im not unhappy with the truck or have a axe to grind. I felt my dealer went as far as he could and I was relieved he felt that something is still amiss. As some of the other guys have mentioned it could very well be normal but its not even a high pitched whine more of a howling but it may just be normal and I wasn't quite expecting it after driving for 3.5 months with no noise at all. My 4hi was so quiet I had to look at my DIC screen to verify it was engaged so you know it is what it is and its a great truck to drive and I just get used to it cause that's life. I have a paper trail and warranty so it something goes will just get er fixed.

Rams01 · February 3, 2016

Sorry to bump an old thread, but read this thread while at work yesterday morning and it lead to a chain of events I felt obligated to share.. Essentially my take on how I fixed this issue on my Blue 2015 Z71 after 9 months of ownership and 13,200 miles..

I decided to click over to 4HI yesterday morning (every 3 months I like to turn it on and make sure everything is working etc) the roads were slick and cold so figure time to do the routine check since we rarely get snow in Texas and I'd yet to get to use 4Hi. So I take off from the light normally while in 4HI and my truck starts bucking and surging.. I click it back into 2Hi and all was fine, click over to Auto 4, no issues. Come to a stop and try 4hi again, the bucking is bad, like to the point I had to click it back over because the truck was about to die. The sound was a mix between metal grinding and the sound of front tires dragging against the fender well. Oh boy here we go again, a repeat of the issues I had with my 2014 Silverado that was in the shop for 5 weeks while another dealership tried to figure out a separate issue..

So i get on the forums and don't see any real answers and a lot of debating, so instead of trying to figure it out like a normal human being and research a few more threads, I left work early and drove it to the dealership after calling to get an appt. got in same day, lucky me, and they have a loaner truck also. Explained my issue and they had a tech come out and test it as I didn't want to leave and then suddenly the issue be gone.. So sure nuff, problems still there. Then this tech tries to insinuate that this issue was probably from "Abusing the truck while in 4Hi and drag racing it which would cause this kind of severe wear on a stock truck with this mileage." I go off on the guy, and after that settles and he ****s off they tell me they'd need the truck a few days to diagnose the issue and figure out the cause etc etc and then proceed to tell me that they were out of loaner vehicles, despite me double checking before even showing up *queue silent rage building again*. As I sat there fuming a manager I had dealt with previously b/c of my old truck walks by and I pop off about the shit service and unreliable truck that had already leaked water a few months ago, and reminded him of how he assured me the 2015's were ironed out and I wouldn't have the same electrical issues my 2014 had(which they did indeed fix(USB ports shorted out before).

Well shit. After 40 minutes of back and fourth he agreed to rhino line my bed for next to nothing (because valued customer etc etc) I'm in a significantly better mood now as I've been wanting to do it for ages. This somehow then turns into me trading in my broken truck, and taking home a 2016 Deep Ocean Blue Metallic 2016 Z71 DC. They paid off my truck and my payments are $5.50 less a month now so financially I felt it was the best move....

And that's how I fixed my truck. Whenever there's a problem, get pissed, bitch about it to numerous people, then trade it in on a new one, rinse and repeat.

..2 Trucks traded in while going in for in depth warranty work.. This is the last time I swear.

SouthpawHD · February 3, 2016

^^^^Nice!!

But pics or it didn't happen.

Cowpie · February 3, 2016

I use 4H frequently on my 2015 2500, several times a week especially in winter and spring thaw times. I do notice the slight transfer case noise when engaged, but nothing to concern me. Nothing more than any other pickup I have had over the years.

HELIRN74 · February 12, 2016

Has anyone experienced a whine when operating in 4WD-high. I notice it at all speeds and is only heard when operating in 4WD. 2015 Sierra Denali 2500HD

Yes and the dealer said it was the ring and pinion. They checked the fluid and said all was good. Could replace under warranty but most likely noise would not improve and it came down to whether I wanted my new truck with 6k miles torn into or not and I have opted not to at this point. It is annoying and I never had this issue in my 2011 2500hd.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DanL · February 12, 2016

So...I traded my 2015 2500HD Denali for a 2016 2500HD Denali Duramax and guess what??? No whine in 4WD-H..

jhplak325 · February 13, 2016

I had a 2009 Silverado 2500HD and it had a whine in 4wd from day 1 of owning it and was still there 125,000 miles later.

Currently have a 2015.5 Sierra Denali 2500 HD with the Duramax and there is no whine in 4wd.

DMAXNAZ · February 13, 2016

My 2015 2500 has it too. Just heard it for the first time last weekend. Super annoying. My 2013 1500 I just turned in made no noise at all. I'm going to set up an appt and drop it off just so it's on record. For as much as these trucks cost they shouldn't make this noise imo.

Rams01 · February 17, 2016

I mean... In hindsight... This issue isn't nearly as bad as the vibration issue at 45mph+ many of the 2014 V8 Silverados had..

Give me the noise any day of the week compared to that fiasco.

madmat · February 18, 2016

I've got 40000 kms on my '15 3500 and i use my 4hi quite often in the winter. Just last week driving home from work i noticed some whining noise i've never heard before. It seems that the noise is only present when a certain amount of throttle is applied. By this i mean its almost like the noise is switched on when i get to a certain point in the pedal travel. It doesn't gradually get louder or quieter, it just comes on or off. It's not loud or annoying, just bothers me because it didn't do it before.

One other thing i noticed is when i switch to 4hi or low i can hear a high pitched electrical sound coming from the dash as the vehicles swaps drive modes. It also does it when going back to 2wd.

Anyone else experience this sound??