Humming/Whining Sound on 6.2L

[Anthony Bessel]

I just picked up a '22 LTZ with the 6.2L and 10L80. When I'm driving at lower speeds, with lower RPM, and light throttle, I get a distinct humming/whining sound that's audible in the cabin with the windows up and the (talk) radio on. 

 

It seems to be most prevalent around 1750RPM regardless of gear or wheel speed. Sounds are tough to describe but to my ears it sounds like gear whine. Not as loud as something like a bad ring and pinion but definitely noticeable. Bringing the RPM up in Park doesn't produce any sound - I have to be in gear. At highway speeds, as far as I can tell, the noise doesn't happen. 

 

I've been skimming here and over on the F-150 forum and it seems like this sound might be a common occurrence for the 10L80/10R80. 

 

Anyone else experiencing this?  

[Anthony Bessel]

Bump

[GMCustomerService]

On 11/11/2022 at 7:13 PM, Anthony Bessel said:

I just picked up a '22 LTZ with the 6.2L and 10L80. When I'm driving at lower speeds, with lower RPM, and light throttle, I get a distinct humming/whining sound that's audible in the cabin with the windows up and the (talk) radio on. 

 

It seems to be most prevalent around 1750RPM regardless of gear or wheel speed. Sounds are tough to describe but to my ears it sounds like gear whine. Not as loud as something like a bad ring and pinion but definitely noticeable. Bringing the RPM up in Park doesn't produce any sound - I have to be in gear. At highway speeds, as far as I can tell, the noise doesn't happen. 

 

I've been skimming here and over on the F-150 forum and it seems like this sound might be a common occurrence for the 10L80/10R80. 

 

Anyone else experiencing this?  

This is certainly not what we like to hear, Anthony Bessel.  Please know, customer satisfaction is extremely important to us. Our team would be more than happy to take a closer look into the concerns with your 2022 Silverado LTZ. To do so, please send an email to [email protected] with ATTN: Anthony Bessel/GM Trucks in the subject line.

Please include your contact information, VIN, a brief description of your concern, and the name of your preferred dealership. We look forward to hearing from you. To learn more about GM’s privacy policy, please visit https://www.gm.com/privacy-statement.html.
 
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[Anthony Bessel]

Thanks for reaching out GMCustomerService. I have an appointment at my selling dealership to take a look at what's going on.

 

I've been searching for information regarding the 10L80/10R80 and the noise that I'm hearing. I know there is some level of a whining noise that comes along with this transmission but I'm not sure how much is acceptable. 

 

I see quite a few people say they hear the noise when standing outside the truck or happen to be stopped near a wall/building. I hear my noise from inside the cabin with the radio on and the windows up. It's loudest at 1750-2000RPM. Much above or below that and I can't hear anything. 

 

If you've also noticed a whining sound from your truck, how loud is it? 

[briansol]

I have heard it too.  Super part throttle, like 5% with no 'load' on it.  To me, it sounds like the read end, not the trans, but i can't be sure.

[mwlewis558]

I hear this on my 2020 5.3 with 10 speed transmission. 

[GMCustomerService]

On 1/11/2023 at 9:34 AM, mwlewis558 said:

I hear this on my 2020 5.3 with 10 speed transmission. 

This is certainly not what we like to hear, mwlewis558.  Please know, customer satisfaction is extremely important to us. Our team would be more than happy to take a closer look into the concerns with your 2020 GMC Sierra SLT. To do so, please send an email to [email protected] with ATTN: mwlewis558/GM Trucks in the subject line.

Please include your contact information, VIN, a brief description of your concern, and the name of your preferred dealership. We look forward to hearing from you. To learn more about GM’s Privacy Policy, please visit https://www.gm.com/privacy-statement.html. The information you provide may be monitored and recorded and is subject to the GM Privacy Statement.
 
Privacy Statement | General Motors
Your privacy is important to General Motors. This Privacy Statement addresses the personal information GM collects and how GM handles that personal information.
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[Delta Tango]

My 2021 Sierra with 5.3 and 10 speed has a similar noise. Mostly when slowing down for a red light or pulling up to my driveway. I'd say the noise is only after downshifting to 2nd or 3rd gear. i monitor trans oil temp constantly and no issues there.

Unless there is an official GM recall to correct this, I'm going to "let 'er buck!"

[Anthony Bessel]

I did get a chance to drive another 6.2L/10-speed truck and I heard the sound there as well, at the same RPM, although it was quieter. It might be that the transmission wasn't up to temp though. 

What I do know is it's really, really annoying. I brought my truck back to the selling dealership insisting they have another look but I promptly got the call stating nobody could hear it. Interestingly the only people I've crossed that claim they can't hear it have some kind of hearing damage. Everyone else hears it just fine. One person thought I had really aggressive tires that were howling. 

As far as I know, my truck shares its drivetrain with the uber-high-dollar vehicles (Denali Ultimate, Escalade) and I just cannot believe they would try to sell a nearly-six-digit or plain six-digit luxury vehicle that sounds like mine does. 

Oh well I'm just one of about a half million people that bought a '22 Silverado so the fact I'm unhappy with my truck is not even a speck in the grand scheme of things. My dealership is clearly not trying very hard to secure my business either.

 

Having had a 100% trouble-free RAM and then this, it's not hard for me to believe which one is losing market share to the other. Unless someone can engage this problem and actually make a REAL attempt to diagnose it, my next vehicle is going to come sooner than expected and it's not going to have a bowtie in the grille. 

[Delta Tango]

My transmission noise persists. Nothing has changed except I've put another 6500 kms on the unit since my original posting regarding this issue.

Today we had a big snow fall and full time 4 wheel drive is engaged. I shall monitor thru out the day or two and see if the noise worsens?!

[Anthony Bessel]

I have an interesting update to this. I got tired enough of listening to the truck that I ordered a Borla cat-back exhaust. Now that I have that installed, I barely hear the noise at all. I really, REALLY have to concentrate to pick up any element of what I've been complaining about. In other words, if I didn't have a sound to listen for because of this ongoing issue, I wouldn't notice. 

 

Either the loudness and pitch of the exhaust is overwhelming the sound OR there was some element of the factory exhaust that was contributing to making the sound louder. Hard to say but I do know the factory exhaust is extremely quiet considering the powerplant sitting in front of it.  

 

I'm happy now. I like sound of the Borla and I cannot possibly overstate how relieved I am that I don't have to drive a truck that sounds like it has a fried rear end. 

 

Thanks GMCustomerService for offering to help. Ideally, my selling dealership would have actually taken this seriously and pursued a solution. I don't judge the fact a problem happened since these are incredibly complex machines, full of computers and moving parts. Something is going to break at some point. What I do judge is what others do to make it right and in that respect I am very, very frustrated.  

 

As I mentioned, I had a literally problem-free Ram before coming to Chevrolet. Since making that decision I've had one vehicle bought-back due to the brake controller issue (in which case I got what amounted to a shoulder shrug from my GM) and then an extremely irritating sound that my dealership doesn't want to help me with. Once this Silverado comes up for replacement you can rest assured I will be giving priority to other offerings. 

[Delta Tango]

Thank you for the exhaust upgrade hint. I am going to concentrate more on possibly a muffler issue than a tranny or driveline issue?

I must admit before even reading this update I've noticed my OEM muffler/exhaust is a tad noisy for stock exhaust on a 2021. I'm not complaining as it does sound cool, but there is a slight loose baffle sound at times too when the truck is at full operating temp, in gear and stopped at a red traffic light.

Your Borla upgrade may be the way to go for a number of reasons!?

In the mean time, I'll pay more attention to the exhaust and it might be worth my while to quiz my selling dealer if there's a chance an OEM muffler R and R can be completed using the "Emissions" section of my factory warranty?

[Anthony Bessel]

47 minutes ago, Delta Tango said:

Thank you for the exhaust upgrade hint. I am going to concentrate more on possibly a muffler issue than a tranny or driveline issue?

I must admit before even reading this update I've noticed my OEM muffler/exhaust is a tad noisy for stock exhaust on a 2021. I'm not complaining as it does sound cool, but there is a slight loose baffle sound at times too when the truck is at full operating temp, in gear and stopped at a red traffic light.

Your Borla upgrade may be the way to go for a number of reasons!?

In the mean time, I'll pay more attention to the exhaust and it might be worth my while to quiz my selling dealer if there's a chance an OEM muffler R and R can be completed using the "Emissions" section of my factory warranty?

 

Based on all my research, I think the true cause of the problem is the straight cut gear on the transmission pump. In other transmissions, the pump would be chain-driven which is inherently quieter. There's even a Ford (also using derivative of our transmission) service bulletin stating that a slight whine noise is to be considered normal. 

 

In my case, the sound was much louder than that service bulletin led me to believe is acceptable. It's possible I heard it well because my ears are more sensitive to that frequency (older folks can't hear it for example). It's also possible that at that specific RPM, the sound of the transmission was interacting with the sound of the exhaust in such a way that there was a resonance or some other science that I'm not qualified to speak to. 

 

As a silver lining, I'm a person that loves the sound of a good exhaust note. I've had several vehicles now that I've added aftermarket cat-back units to and I think I can fairly and honestly say the 6.2L is the sweetest sounding of the bunch. The only downside I've experiences is the initial cold start loudness. It REALLY cracks and will likely startle the unprepared. It mellows down quickly though. 

[Delta Tango]

Thank you for the straight cut pump gear intel.

Yesterday I went on my own "mini road test" found an area where I could safely slow down (at operating temp) and try to replicate the noise at an RPM/road speed sweet spot. I could not do it. Only when coming to a complete stop will the brief noise persist.

 

Some reading this may wonder why I don't "just take it to the dealer and let them worry about it"? Well, the early summer of 2021, I still had my 2014 GMC sierra. It had a chronic "tighten loose gas cap" warning on the driver's information display and I bet I was on my 5th new gas cap in a year and a half? I took the unit to my local GM dealer and reported the issue. My 2014 was parked behind the service area and never moved. The service writer called me in the next day and she said they found the issue. I arrived and she had my keys and yet another new gas cap. "Here's your answer" she said with gas cap in hand. I tried explaining my how many times I've changed the gas cap but her only reply was "here's your answer, take it or leave it". The conversation became heated and she paged the largest mechanic in the shop to not only hear my story, but to stand uncomfortably beside me.

I promptly left without a new gas cap. The end of that summer I found my present 2021 GMC Sierra to which is great.

 

I will not darken the doorway of any GM dealership with what I call a "lite duty" warning light or in this case, a "lite duty sound". Chances are even if they do a road test (I doubt it in this day and age) the technician won't hear it as it's very faint. And I can't afford the inconvenience only to face shrugging shoulders.

 

I continue to enjoy my 2021 Sierra ride, slight noise and all.

 

And your comments on the sweet sound of a barking 6.2 are in totally agreeance with me as my Camaro 1SS barks exactly the same! It's grrreat!

[Anthony Bessel]

Last update to this thread - 

 

I was finally able to solve the issues I was having with the Silverado. The solution was simple albeit expensive - I got rid of it. I went back a RAM. As a nice bonus I was actually treated with honesty and respect by the selling dealership. No BS upcharges on the invoice at the time of signing, no lies, just simple.