knocking 5.3

ll356 · January 9, 2002

Dealer just handed me new bulletin for knocking 4.8,5.3,6.0 liter engines saying that GM is not at this time going to fix or replace knocking engines after Chev told me they were going to after the 1st of the new year. I have had this problem for over a year from 17,000 miles & it has 32,000 now & knocks in any temperature from 90 to 19 degrees after sitting for 6-12 hours. I cant afford to trade but I need a lawyer who has handeled cases like this before. For what I spent for this truck to have Chevy say its not hurting anything & have it sound like a diesel on startup is absurd. I am an ASE certified mechanic & know that it is harming the internals. The heartbeat has died & this will be my last Chevy truck. So if you are looking for fixes for knocking from GM I hope you have better luck then me.

chevy4x4trucks · January 9, 2002

Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about your truck troubles. Capndean would be the guy to talk to about getting them to buy back your truck. He did it w/ a knocking dodge.

jst4f · January 9, 2002

I hope you will be able to find a solution to your trucks problems.

Could you give a little more info on the TSB. What is its number? What years of production does it cover?

Thanks

2001 HD · January 9, 2002

Check out this TSB at geocities/Crackedegg. 99-06-01-003. It's under misc. and applies to the 5.0 or 5.7 engines, but it sounds exactly like what mine (ours) does on the 6.0. And their both Vortec engines possibly built at the same plant. I don't think the sound of a cold piston skirt will go away that abruptly. It sounds like rod bearing knock to me that goes away after oil priming(30 seconds). Like the engine was set up with to much oil clearance on the rod bearings. Kind of makes you wonder?

01z71 · January 9, 2002

Sorry to hear the problems you are having. Best of luck and welcome to the forum you will find a wealth of information.

Roger · January 10, 2002

I had a 98 Dodge Ram that dodge finally said the knocking and pinging was normal and wouldn't damage the engine. This was after 14 attempts by Dodge to fix it, including a valve job.

I ended up decided that I could either

1) Bend over and keep the Truck

2) Sell it to a sucker (I couldn't do that)

or

3) Try the lemon law.

I went Lemon Law. The lawyer cost me ZERO (Dodge paid his fee of $2000). I did not pay him ANYTHING. He wrote a 4 page demand letter and Dodge responded back with a offer to by back at the original purchase price (Pretty good for a vehicle with then 41,000 on it).

If you live in California, I can refer you to my lawyer (and I got him off the internet too!)-

http://www.autolemon.com/

ll356 · January 10, 2002

The new servive bulletin number for the knocking 5.3 is 01-06-01-028 & covers 1999-2002, 4.8,5.3,6.0.

CapnDean · January 10, 2002

Ohhhh The lemon lawwwwwwww:

Yes the Capn sued Chrysler. After 2 trips to arbitration and a couple of BS offers from Chrysler (Namely a 100K warranty and the funny one - - "we will let you select any truck at any dealership and allow our salesmen another chance to pork you").

It was a holy pain in the butt to do but it was WELL worth it.

In the ultimate settlement I got back MORE than I personally felt that I should have. Had Chrysler simply handled the problem to begin with.....well you know how it is...

I understand why a manufacturer doesn't make it easy to return a vehicle that is defective. Heck EVERYBODY would be trying to start over at the smallest 'defect' if it was easy.

In my case (as in yours I believe): The defect is intolerable.

My defect was a bad case of PING. You know....like a 1970 Buick full of cheap unleaded gas... There was NO WAY to stop it. Premium gas, octane booster, lead additive, retard the timing, change plugs, cooler thermostat, decarbonize the cylinder head, replaced a burned valve.....No luck. Truck still pinged and the service manager begged Chrysler to allow him to replace the entire engine. Chrysler stuck to their guns - -

"Defect does not affect safety, value or use....Ping is normal..Customer is being too picky...Have exhausted all resources to fix". Thank heavens the service manager was willing to say "This truck has a terrible case of Spark Knock...yes I hear it...yes it is terrible...I have done everything I know of to do to fix it and it is still there & I recommend a new engine".

even with that ::: It was hard to get em to do anything!

Dean