Help!

I recently purchased a 2007 silverado crew cab w/70000 miles.

After a couple days of driving it I noticed a high pitch humming/slight grinding noise coming from what seems to be the drivers side front end.

The sound only occurs between 45-65 mph, (gets louder the faster i go between those speeds) and only when coasting. It goes away under acceleration, braking, and shifting to neutral. It's also somewhat intermittent, comes and goes.

I ready to drop it off at the dealer for the 4th time saturday .... and they havent seemed to have a clue on how to fix it, or what it might be the first 3 times ..... I would just bring it to a different shop, but the dealer has agreed to fix it as part of the purchase.

Any ideas as to what's causing this are much appreciated.

 

13 views and know ones got any ideas for me

I should have bought a ford i guess ......

 

Do you know if the techs at the dealership used chassis ears on it? You might want to ask, and if they didn't ask why not. It's a great tool for finding the oddball gremlin noises.

 

Do you hear the noise coming through the window or is it telegraphing through the body/chassis?

Does it change pitch or go away when you turn the steering wheel at speed?

Does it change pitch or volume with you slowly apply the brakes?

A quick check you can do is verify the air pressure in your front tires, and swap them. See if the noise changes sides.
While you have the front tires off, spin the break rotors but keep one hand on the caliper (it won't be 45-65 mph),if there is a rub a rub, it should be detectible by touch, even if you can't here it.

"Chassis ears" is an excellent idea.

btw, I have a Chevy, a GMC, 2 Dodges, and a Ford. They all have little issues, now and then, that the best technicians and all their equipment can seem to solve.

 

Thanks for the ideas Razoo ....

The noise is not coming through the window, it sounds to me like it is definetly coming from the front drivers side tire area....

It does not change when turning the wheel .... (youre thinking wheel bearing right?)

It completely goes away when applying the brakes, which makes me think its something in the brakes, *except the kicker is the noise also goes away when you shift into nuetral???? Does shifting the truck into neutral change the load on the wheel enough to stop a vibration in the brakes???

They originally told me it was the tires, and they rotated the tires and it didnt do anything...

They then said there was a fuel line vibrating on the tunnel, which the repositioned, didnt do anything ....

The third time they said they couldnt get it to make the noise ..... (even though they had the truck two times prior and had heard the noise )

I understand all trucks have their share of quirks, My last two chevys have had over 225,000k when I traded them in, so i'm used to a few issues now and then .....

I'm just really frustrated at this point to spend that kind of money on a truck and have to blare the radio to stop the squeak from eating away at me!!!

What else you got? I brought up the chassis ears when i dropped it off on saturday, they said "good idea"

 

Yes, I was thinking bearing.

It only happens when the truck is in motion, goes away when you apply the brakes...
It could be one of the brake pads dragging ever so slightly.

If it is a brake pad, I'm not sure what that would have to do with the vehicle being in neutral.

Shifting into neutral unloads everything, and stepping on the brakes allows slippage in the auto trans (sort of like disengaging a clutch, also unloading everything. Could be an issue with the torque converter (???).

Just thinking "out loud".

It's tough trying to diagnose a symptom without being there. lol