Exhaust leak sound while under load

20165.3Eco · September 7, 2018

It always drives me bonkers. It's the worst when towing on the highway or when in V4 on the highway. This happens to be how I do most of my truck driving.

I agree with 16LYCC, It has to be fuel system/transmission/or inside the cat. Not interested in wearing myself out trying to diagnose it.

phabejhmoob · September 8, 2018

You're correct, appears to only be present when the vehicle has warmed up.

I bet the new ones in the lot don't do that. So how can they keep saying it's normal! Wtf

I have tightened bolt all over the exhaust. Problem is mine only appears when hot. Other times it will go away. I swear it’s something either inside the cat, transmission, or fuel system. This basically means I have no clue and apparently neither does the techs I’ve visited.

2016LTCC · September 10, 2018

Headed to work this morning and the tick was gone. At the time I was thinking if this stay gone, I will just keep the truck. Then the first expansion joint I hit the noise came back immediately. This is the biggest pain in the a**. It has to be that ceramic in the catalytic converter making the noise. What else could it possibly be. My 2016 had the shake and driveline vibes but no tick and motor sounded perfect when you got on it. Now my 2017 has not driveline issues but has that sewing machine/exhaust leak/chugging noise that is here to stay. I can live with a lot (i.e. crappy seats, snap crackle pop interior, clunky transmission, harsh ride) but GM needs to realize that certain things will cause them to lose customers. GM is aware of the issue and says pound sand so i guess I will but it will be over at the ram dealer who by the way is stealing GM customers faster than they can come out with a new model.

mferry22 · September 28, 2018

Just dropped truck off for the 3rd time to fix this noise and a few other things. If they can't fix it this time, I'll try one more time at a different dealer then I'm getting rid of it. They told me the clunky 8spd is normal, the noisy front seat is getting fixed for the 2nd time, if they tell me this noise is normal I'm going to trade it in on something. My friends 17 Denali doesn't make this noise and both loaners ive had don't make the noise. A $57k truck should not sound like a 2001 F150 with 150k miles and an exhaust leak.

gkuklinski · September 28, 2018

Last week my 2016 5.3 heater blower started ticking so they replaced that, while it was in the shop the tech diagnosed a tick under the hood as well and replaced both the left and right fuel rails i believe, fortunately I was still under warranty. There was a service bulletin for it, when I get home I can pull the info off the service invoice.

mferry22 · October 2, 2018

Just got my truck back. Dealer said all the noises I'm hearing are normal. I'm going to a different dealer to see if they can figure out this noise. It drives me crazy. Does anyone with a tune from Blackbear hear this noise? Im wondering if a tune would help somehow.

geswek · October 2, 2018

I’m sad to report it’s still there and a tune doesn’t matter. I thought it was resolved with 93 octane but apparently it just moved to different RPM range.

I took a 300 miles trip today and I discovered with my gearing to 4.10s and a 93 octane from Diablew the noise now occurs on load at around 2100rpms which is my OD at 80mph.

It used to be around 1600 rpms before I lifted the truck and changed gears to 4.10.

Not sure what it is at this point.

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Streetdegree · October 2, 2018

It's being discussed with a possible solution over here...

mferry22 · October 3, 2018

I just read all 37 pages of that thread, I don't think that is this problem. The 1st half of the thread was dealing with this exhaust leak sound then it changed to a ticking sound. My truck ONLY makes the sound driving under light load. It does not make the noise idling or in neutral reving the engine. The 1st guys in that thread mostly appeared to just trade their truck in for a different brand. I have been test driving Fords for the last week but I'm having trouble pulling the trigger.

TRG · October 3, 2018

Yup - super annoying to hear that exhaust leak sound. Sometimes I don't hear it, but it's there about 95% of the time. I've told myself that I'm going to ignore it after reading these threads on it, but it still irks me to hear it all of the time. I know I won't get anywhere with the dealer and just don't have the time to deal with the dealer on it. Just hoping someone makes some type of discovery that'll provide a work-around to eliminate the issue.

Between the chugging/fishbite, slamming into gear when slowing down quickly, etc...this one may be the worst, as it's almost a constant.

avalonandl · October 3, 2018

Direct Injection Tick.....

huntr1117 · October 3, 2018

I just read all 37 pages of that thread, I don't think that is this problem. The 1st half of the thread was dealing with this exhaust leak sound then it changed to a ticking sound. My truck ONLY makes the sound driving under light load. It does not make the noise idling or in neutral reving the engine. The 1st guys in that thread mostly appeared to just trade their truck in for a different brand. I have been test driving Fords for the last week but I'm having trouble pulling the trigger.

Probably cause it's a ford lol

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mferry22 · October 4, 2018

I've owned a GM truck since 99 so the thought of buying a Ford almost feels like cheating. And it isn't the normal direct injection tick. Its different.

geswek · October 4, 2018

I've owned a GM truck since 99 so the thought of buying a Ford almost feels like cheating. And it isn't the normal direct injection tick. Its different.

I’ve been looking at Ram Rebel but can’t pull trigger for 2 reasons. 1. Wife said no and would murder me. 2. It’s a Ram.

I agree the sound is different. Mine occurs only at load on an incline—bizarre as hell.

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mferry22 · October 4, 2018

Guy at work has a Rebel, he had a Chevy. Another guy bought a 2019 Ram and got rid of his Chevy. 5 other guys at work have a GM truck all K2s, 3 out of the 5 have issues and are looking at a different truck. 4 guys have Rams and love them, no issues to report on them but all are fairly new. Only one guy has a F150 with the Ecoboost and he loves it.