Engine Vibration through gas pedal

imaniguana · July 25, 2005

I have an 05 Silverado Reg cab, V6, 5M. I bought it new in March. Brought it to a dealer in May for an oil change and state inspection. Got it back with vibration coming through the gas pedal. There was no problem with it, until I brought it in for the inspection and oil change. Took it back to the dealer 4 times to fix. Note: Before this, the engine ran so smooth, I barely knew it was running. Now, it has a high frequency vibration to it that is translated to the gas pedal and floor pan. (My left foot just sitting on the floor pan will even get tingling and numb after a while.)

First they applied a TSB for exhaust system vibration, even though it did not seem to be exhaust related. That didn't work. The vibration is still there and they're at a loss on how to address it further. They say the vehicle is "operating as designed" and the vibration is a characteristic of the 4.3 V6. (Not mine originally anyway.). I do not know of any vehicle designed to make your foot go numb. They sent me to GM Customer Service which tells me they have no fix for it. They told me to try another dealer.

I recently took it to another dealer, who's Service Manager, on a test drive with me, also noticed the vibration. After leaving it to be diagnosed, they reported they do not detect any vibration and they checked underneath for anything out of the ordinary. I have another appointment (number 2 with this dealer and number 6 total) with them to look at it again.

The bottom line is that I can't drive the truck much more without further and permanent damage to nerves in my foot. The tingling and numbness lasts for days after driving it.

If it were a minor thing, I would just ignore it and put up with it. But I put on a lot of highway miles and the vibration makes my foot numb and it continuously tingles. I've had the truck for about 4 months now and put 12,000 miles on it.

Any ideas on what happened to the engine to cause this vibration and how can I help the dealer to fix it?

GM-Tech · July 25, 2005

I'm not trying to be a wiseguy, but if you have tingling and numbness in your foot that lasts for days from a vibration that they can't even detect, I think you need to see a doctor for a foot problem, not a technician for a truck problem.

imaniguana · July 25, 2005

I'm not trying to be a wiseguy, but if you have tingling and numbness in your foot that lasts for days from a vibration that they can't even detect, I think you need to see a doctor for a foot problem, not a technician for a truck problem.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

To be clear, it's a high frequency vibration that some people can readily detect and others can't. The difficulty is that for some, they would need to drive it a while, as they might not feel it right away, but they sure would notice the effect after a while.

The foot numbness only happens with THIS vehicle and it started only AFTER the first service appointment. The vehicle was perfect before that. No engine, gas pedal, or floor pan vibration. Passengers even feel the vibration on the floor pan. I felt it myself when I had the Service Manager drive it and I sat in the passenger seat.

imaniguana · July 26, 2005

I should also add that highway mileage went down from 20-22 to 17.8-19.5 after first encountering the problem and has stayed within that lower range ever since. I fuel up roughly twice a week and the latter numbers are consistent.