2006 Sierra With Many Many Noises!

Buddy67Lincoln · October 10, 2008

I have a 2006 GMC Sierra 1500 4x4 with the H.O. 5.3 liter. The truck has had 3 belts in less than 15,000 miles. Now its squeaking yet again. Chirping at idle and while I drive for the 4th time. The dealer has checked everything at least 2 times, applied dressing 2 times and finally replaced the belt for a second time. The one that is on it now has only 3,000 miles on it and no belt conditioner/dressing. I am a little tired of guessing anymore and its really annoying to have a nice newer truck that makes so much noise. Any ideas at all what it might be if 'everything checks out good; pullies and all' as they have told me each time its been in. Truck has 20,000 miles.

Also have a nice power steering-like noise when I turn the wheel to the left and right almost like a hissing noise you hear when the fluid is low (fluid level is good though) A little hard to hear with the windows down but with them up and no radio...its pretty noticeable. Not sure what this can be but it occured after the intermediate shaft was replaced and the shop mechanic said it will never go away. He heard it when I had him sit in the truck and I turned the wheel...it wasn't there before and it happened after the shaft was replaced. Also along with the shaft noises comes another creeking noise when I turn the wheel. Almost sounds like plastic was tightened too much and its just torquing and making a nice creeking plastic noise! Could something have been over tightened but not sure what???

This truck is driving me up a wall but I love it. Runs great, tows like a HD and looks real good but I can't figure out what's wrong and nither can the dealer. Aside from a loose passenger seat and a loose glove box door...thats all the noises I can hear. Not to mention I can hear them all at once!

pm26 · October 10, 2008

I will try to address your belt noise. I have an '06 truck with a 5.3 iron block so I assume that the driving belt configuration is identical to yours. there are two belts. One is the A/C compressor dedicated belt, the other is a large serpentine belt driving the water pump, alternator, and power steering pump.

Each belt has a spring loaded tensioner with a pulley. On the large serpentine belt there is an additional idler pulley. I was told by a service manager at this Chevy dealership that they have seen defective tensioners and idler bearings which made whining noise.

Typically, a belt will squeal when it is too loose and it is loaded up, as in case of A/C compressor coming on. However, these belts have spring loaded tensioners, so no belt tension is not adjustable. A weak tensioner spring could easily cause the noise on either belt.

I would check the belts for the following:

Proper routing of the large serpentine belt. As improbable as it may seem, installing the belt wrong would not be impossible. Remove the belt and check the spring loaded tensioner for adequate spring tension. Check that all the pulleys on accessories driven by a belt are lined up correctly - i.e. in the same plane. Any pulleys that are misaligned could easily cause the belt squeal or other noise. Spin all pulleys by hand and see if they turn freely without binding or rough spots.

Reinstall the belt and run the engine at idle and carefully check the belt(s) for any side to side oscillations when running through the pulleys. Look carefully at the harmonic balancer pulley and make sure that it does not have excessive axial runout.

My truck also has a faint whine which seems to originate from the power steering pump. I do not have any belt noise that you describe.

Buddy67Lincoln · October 10, 2008

Check that all the pulleys on accessories driven by a belt are lined up correctly - i.e. in the same plane. Any pulleys that are misaligned could easily cause the belt squeal or other noise. Spin all pulleys by hand and see if they turn freely without binding or rough spots.

Thanks a lot. As you can imagine they have checked time and time again for alignment and any weak tensioners. I am going with a different dealer for a second opinion but like the input on ideas before I go. All pulleys have been spun and checked and I remember way in the past that the alternator pulley has a squeal when I turned it with the belt off. Belt is routed correctly too. No wabbles or tight spots. This suckers a lemon! The other noises still concern me like the power steering noise from left to right and the creeking plastic noise. All just shot up one after the other. I am going to check the power steering fluid level again. Last time it was a little low but the dealer said it comes low sometimes from the factory so I added a little and it went away but came back. Check it and they said it was full and they mark it so we will see if they noticed a drop in the level. I won't touch it so they can determine if its low! I'm just at a loss here. I will have the tension checked for the 2 belts but I know it was checked in the past as I mentioned that might be the cause too. The only wany for a serpentine to do that is if its so out of shape the tensioner cannot keep it from squeaking. I think its a bearing on the alternantor or something but I cannot check that for sure on my own. I will just keep tryin! Thanks for the help

pm26 · October 10, 2008

Somebody here posted a TSB for replacing the power steering fluid with Valvoline synthetic fluid to help eliminate the power steering pump whine. Supposedly it works, I have not tried it yet. You may want to mention this to your dealer.

Did the dealer actually replace anything on your truck? Even if you spin the idler pulley bearing by hand, that does not guarantee that it will not whine at speed. I would insist that they replace the tensioner and idler if they cannot find the source of the noise, and keep looking.

As for the plastic noise, maybe there is a cover on the intermediate steering shaft that was reinstalled incorrectly and is rubbing on the shaft?

bbwb · October 10, 2008

After I had the intermediate shaft replaced, I started getting a kind of clicking/creaking noise. I traced the problem back to the plastic bearing/bushing that is on the lower part of the steering shaft (interior of the cab), just above the intermediate shaft. If you look for it it is a aqua/green color. It seems that the bearing is rubbing on the steel exterior and needs to be lubed. You can test the noise by grabbing the intermediate shaft and applying a sideways force while slightly moving the steering wheel. The dealer finally found the noise (after I went for a ride with the mechanic and pulled over and crawled under the dash and recreated the noise) and replaced the bearing. I think that the bearing is only around $15.

No idea on what to do about the power steering pump.

Just for giggles, when the belt starts making noise, take the belt off and turn it around so that it rotates the other way. I did this once on my '94 that always had squeeky belts and was able to silence it. Don't have a clue why this worked, could only guess that the belt develops a directional tooth.

bbwb