New Silverado shakes, vibrations, rust, rough idle, not happy

Delawarefishing · January 7, 2019

I just purchased an 18' Crewcab Lt 2wd 5.3. The dealer installed a 2.5" leveling kit so its rough over bumps. Easy fix for that but man this truck shifts smooth sometimes, other times bangs in gear, then on hard acceleration there's a delay shifting from 1st to 2nd. There's a vibration that feels like in the steering wheel, probably tires need balancing. There's a vibration during hard acceleration, u-joints? It has a rough idle on occasion esp when cold. In the engine compartment the exhaust manifold is rusted, guessing because everything else is aluminum. Some of the bolts and pulleys have rust. This truck had 231 miles on it. I'm not a bit happy with this purchase. I had a ford before this with no problems and a 2500 Silverado with the 6.0 before that with no problems.

JimCost2014 · January 7, 2019

3 minutes ago, Delawarefishing said:

I just purchased an 18' Crewcab Lt 2wd 5.3. The dealer installed a 2.5" leveling kit so its rough over bumps. Easy fix for that but man this truck shifts smooth sometimes, other times bangs in gear, then on hard acceleration there's a delay shifting from 1st to 2nd. There's a vibration that feels like in the steering wheel, probably tires need balancing. There's a vibration during hard acceleration, u-joints? It has a rough idle on occasion esp when cold. In the engine compartment the exhaust manifold is rusted, guessing because everything else is aluminum. Some of the bolts and pulleys have rust. This truck had 231 miles on it. I'm not a bit happy with this purchase. I had a ford before this with no problems and a 2500 Silverado with the 6.0 before that with no problems.

Was the truck a dealer trade from another lot? Do you know the history of it?

Delawarefishing · January 7, 2019

I dont know anything about it. I bought it the last day of the year because I got a steal on it.

mcdavis · January 7, 2019

Take it back to the dealer, they should respond to all of your issues since you just bought it.

aseibel · January 7, 2019

Its a 2018, probably built 6 months to 1 year ago. So it has spent some time sitting out in a parking lot somewhere. With that many miles, it probably got test driven a few times.

But yeah, you're under warranty, so let your dealer fix it. I know its frustrating, but give them a chance to make you happy.

1SLOW1500 · January 7, 2019

So the engine changes over at 180* so let the engine warm up. That is low miles some of the recal. May not have been done. Rust on cast header manifolds is normal and stainless headers are cheap. The truck does ride better with the rake stance. Has to do with length and weight. I'm lowered 3/5ish with a air bag in rear I and air in the rear to just start lifting the back and it rides a lot better, but this lowers the front and rides a little harder.

What trans do you have? I can tell you the issue with it. As for shake balance is on the bulletins for free service so get that. But *** road force*** them to spec. There is a bulletin for rear shims as well but on a 18. Not sure if they applied it to that year let. People in the past have replaced drive shaft and even axles.

In my professional opinion the trans and engines have so much crap the shifts have to be like that, and don't get me started on the slip and stall. Anyways watch and see if your issue is afm/dod,deco,hill assist, or just shift pressure.

Delawarefishing · January 7, 2019

It's got a 6spd. The truck only had 21 miles on it when I bought it. You can feel it's a heavy, solid truck with a quiet ride and plenty of power. It's just got sloppy play in the converter/transmission, intermittent crap up and down shifts, and I can feel a vibration when accelerating and one in the wheel. Also occasionally hear weird bang noises just driving along. That leveling kit the dealer put on makes you feel every little bump . Maybe the leveling kit changed the angle of the driveshaft just enough its causing a vibration? How about that transmission improving as it breaks in?

Sierra Dan · January 7, 2019

Typical Transmission or " Normal Operation "

Some days they shift like butter. Other days.... well let's just say

I personally do not think it is just the transmission acting up.

The clunkiness has to do with AFM and kicking in and out of V4 mode at times.

NWI Denali · January 7, 2019

1 hour ago, Delawarefishing said:

It's got a 6spd. The truck only had 21 miles on it when I bought it. You can feel it's a heavy, solid truck with a quiet ride and plenty of power. It's just got sloppy play in the converter/transmission, intermittent crap up and down shifts, and I can feel a vibration when accelerating and one in the wheel. Also occasionally hear weird bang noises just driving along. That leveling kit the dealer put on makes you feel every little bump . Maybe the leveling kit changed the angle of the driveshaft just enough its causing a vibration? How about that transmission improving as it breaks in?

A leveling kit (assuming it's simply a strut spacer) will have zero effect on ride quality in either direction. It doesn't change the effective spring rate. It is literally just a spacer stacked on top of a coilover at the upper shock tower mount. And unless you added or removed rear blocks under your leafsprings, your driveshaft angle is unaffected.

HeySkippyDog · January 8, 2019

It's got a 6spd. The truck only had 21 miles on it when I bought it. You can feel it's a heavy, solid truck with a quiet ride and plenty of power. It's just got sloppy play in the converter/transmission, intermittent crap up and down shifts, and I can feel a vibration when accelerating and one in the wheel. Also occasionally hear weird bang noises just driving along. That leveling kit the dealer put on makes you feel every little bump . Maybe the leveling kit changed the angle of the driveshaft just enough its causing a vibration? How about that transmission improving as it breaks in?

The "weird bang noise" is likely a gear change. I'd say more of a clunk.

Can't say I noticed the transmission being sloppy. I did have a bad TCC that chattered a bit when it was cold, but it got fixed under warranty. Right as rain.

The stock manifolds oxidize really fast. Think about all the heat they get. If it bothers you, get stainless or ceramic coated.

The vibration can be fixed with road force balancing. My dad's GMC Sierra needed that and ever since has been fine. I had a 2014 Z60 with 20" wheels and had the same issue. My 2017 has 18s and it has not been a problem. I think it may be worse on the 20".

It'll be alright. Don't give up yet.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J727A using Tapatalk

1SLOW1500 · January 8, 2019

7 hours ago, Delawarefishing said:

It's got a 6spd. The truck only had 21 miles on it when I bought it. You can feel it's a heavy, solid truck with a quiet ride and plenty of power. It's just got sloppy play in the converter/transmission, intermittent crap up and down shifts, and I can feel a vibration when accelerating and one in the wheel. Also occasionally hear weird bang noises just driving along. That leveling kit the dealer put on makes you feel every little bump . Maybe the leveling kit changed the angle of the driveshaft just enough its causing a vibration? How about that transmission improving as it breaks in?

Some what. and also the relearn of the trans profile.

6 hours ago, Sierra Dan said:

Typical Transmission or " Normal Operation "

Some days they shift like butter. Other days.... well let's just say

I personally do not think it is just the transmission acting up.

The clunkiness has to do with AFM and kicking in and out of V4 mode at times.

Yes and DECO it is a fuel shut down when you decelerate after a hard pull or go down hill or a dozen other things. Also the stall converter going in and out of slip %. the slip is very important to the v4 but useless under hard load and v8. SO it is always changing some dam thing.

5 hours ago, NWI Denali said:

A leveling kit (assuming it's simply a strut spacer) will have zero effect on ride quality in either direction. It doesn't change the effective spring rate. It is literally just a spacer stacked on top of a coilover at the upper shock tower mount. And unless you added or removed rear blocks under your leafsprings, your driveshaft angle is unaffected.

You are almost correct it doesn't change the spring rate or chocks but does change the weight transfer, load per tire and ride quality some. also the alignment but that can usually be brought back in.

HeySkippyDog · January 8, 2019

Have you tried putting the truck in L5 and driving it?

Seems like a lot of the operational annoyance is related to the truck trying to be in the highest gear possible and going to V4. L5 keeps it V8 only.

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Sierra Dan · January 8, 2019

Any and Every GM truck I have owned in the past has had some sort of funky transmission. All of those were 4L60E.

My '14 is no exception. Some days Jekyl, some days Hyde.

Donstar · January 8, 2019

There is also the human factor. We tend to be hyper-sensitive with our new vehicles. Time takes care of many of our concerns and others can be dealt with by warranty. Don't accept faulty equipment but make sure that it is not driver behavior. When new, I remember my truck having some odd shifting behavior. (I tend to be very critical of automatic transmissions anyway! ) After a short period of time, I and/or my transmission "learned" to get along and truck now runs smoothly!

njk4o5 · January 8, 2019

I don't think us chevy guys are hyper sensitive, its just that when I drive my dads 1999 tundra and it shifts perfect and doesn't shake on the highway I get kindof pissed that his $5000 truck is more pleasureable to drive than my $50k highcountry