Engine Tick - 2015 GMC Sierra 5.3

looksstock · February 7, 2018

11 hours ago, Josh154 said:

My 2018 6.2 with 2500 miles on it has had a very audible tick since day one. This is a video of mine. Mine will only tick when its been running for awhile and up to operating temp. Its louder on drivers side but can still hear a good tick from passenger side. I have had a range afm disabler on since 1,000 miles and at about 300 miles i started driving it in L7 so it wouldnt go into afm mode till the range came here. I also have had a catch can on since 1,000 miles.

Does this tick sound like your guys? I never hear any ticking under load or driving, just a very loud tick at warm idle.

Do you hear this tick while your inside the truck (with windows up / doors closed)? The sound in your video sounds like the standard direct injection tick (normal) and can seem louder when inside the truck and windows down / driving through drive thru's, etc. This particular tick is not audible inside the cab (for me).

Ron505 · February 27, 2018

The truck that I am looking to buy has this tick, and it seems to get louder after warm up. Sure seems like an exhaust leak of some kind. But it gets pretty loud. The truck has 49k miles, so I wouldn't think it would be anything too bad, but who knows. Almost sounds as bad as a diesel once warmed up and idling. I cannot hear it when I'm in the cab though. Most prominent behind both front wheels.

Any idea what this is before I sign on the dotted line tomorrow?

Has anyone had a catastrophic failure from this noise, or is it just the embarrassment of sounding almost like a diesel?

Edited February 27, 2018 by Ron505

WC_LTZ · February 27, 2018

Mine makes noise but it’s standard direct injection ticking. The little voice in your head is saying something may be wrong. Listen to it

Rufasim · February 27, 2018

I going to take a guess and say that no one in this thread has ever owned a Harley. You want to talk about making strange noises? Drove me nuts. To lessen the amount of noise that they would make is to 1. use a higher octane fuel. Harley owners call it pinging. It is actually detenation. Not sure what causes it, think it has something to do with unburnt fuel. the higher octane helps a lot. 2. Use conventional oil. If I put synthetic oil in my old Street Glide the ticking was something unbearable. Just as soon as I changed over to conventional, the ticking subsided. Never went away but the engine is a bit closer to you on a bike compared to a truck.

If the higher octane fuel is the fix, really nothing you can do about it that I know of. Just keep buying the more expensive gas.

Ron505 · February 27, 2018

I don't think it's the lifters or valves. I've owned Harleys, but I don't expect my GMC to have similar sounds.

I stopped at 3 different GM dealerships this morning (non of them is the one I am buying form).

1st one said that's the GM sound, due to the direct injection, and it's normal.

2nd said that the high pressure fuel pump makes that sound, and it is normal.

3rd said that it is the sound of the newer 5.3's, and that I could try a heavier, conventional weight oil, because they are using that oil to save gas only. But it's the normal sound.

Edited February 27, 2018 by Ron505

Rufasim · February 27, 2018

If not lifters and valves could it be pinging, only happens under load? If so, higher octane should help

Ron505 · February 27, 2018

Mine is at idle, not under load.

Edited February 27, 2018 by Ron505

looksstock · February 27, 2018

4 hours ago, Ron505 said:

I don't think it's the lifters or valves. I've owned Harleys, but I don't expect my GMC to have similar sounds.

I stopped at 3 different GM dealerships this morning (non of them is the one I am buying form).

1st one said that's the GM sound, due to the direct injection, and it's normal.

2nd said that the high pressure fuel pump makes that sound, and it is normal.

3rd said that it is the sound of the newer 5.3's, and that I could try a heavier, conventional weight oil, because they are using that oil to save gas only. But it's the normal sound.

Yeah, first time the dealer replaced the Fuel Feed line...ticking / fluttering noise was still there (under load).

Second time, dealer replaced Fuel Feed Pump...ticking / fluttering noise was still there (under load).

Third time, different dealer replaced entire exhaust system ... ticketing / fluttering noise was still there (volume and pitched now a bit different...louder when its colder or humid outside).

So..the problem still exists. 2 of the 3 times I dropped it off at the dealer, the loaner they gave me was a 2018 GMC Sierra (SLT / Texas edition) and there was NO ticking / fluttering noise at all...completely quiet cabin.

Not super happy with the quality of this Sierra...

wforrest08 · February 27, 2018

4 hours ago, Ron505 said:

I don't think it's the lifters or valves. I've owned Harleys, but I don't expect my GMC to have similar sounds.

I stopped at 3 different GM dealerships this morning (non of them is the one I am buying form).

1st one said that's the GM sound, due to the direct injection, and it's normal.

2nd said that the high pressure fuel pump makes that sound, and it is normal.

3rd said that it is the sound of the newer 5.3's, and that I could try a heavier, conventional weight oil, because they are using that oil to save gas only. But it's the normal sound.

15 hours ago, Ron505 said:

The truck that I am looking to buy has this tick, and it seems to get louder after warm up. Sure seems like an exhaust leak of some kind. But it gets pretty loud. The truck has 49k miles, so I wouldn't think it would be anything too bad, but who knows. Almost sounds as bad as a diesel once warmed up and idling. I cannot hear it when I'm in the cab though. Most prominent behind both front wheels.

Any idea what this is before I sign on the dotted line tomorrow?

Has anyone had a catastrophic failure from this noise, or is it just the embarrassment of sounding almost like a diesel?

No offense but if it bothers you this much now and you can’t seem to convince yourself it’s just the DI noise that they all make are you going to drive around every mile worrying about it forever if you buy this truck? I posted in your tread there is 1000s of pages on the net talking about this and it’s not just these trucks. There is plenty of 14+ Silverados with 200k on them out there still running strong, I don’t know how or why you think the fuel system is going to cause catastrophic failure? If it’s going to bother/embarrass you this much I would suggest finding a similar 13 preferably with the 6.2L (as they didn’t have DI or AFM yet) since you have a 07 already you already know what to expect otherwise I think you might drive yourself into the insane asylum (or convincing yourself to buy a Ford) reading into all the potential problems with these trucks.

If you think you still want to consider this truck try to remember it’s a small percentage of these trucks that have most of the issues your going to read about on here (- the DI noise of course) and if your not convinced it’s the DI noise go buy or borrow a automotive stethoscope or pay your local trusted mechanic NOT THE DEALER and pin point where said noise is coming from before you pull the trigger and sign the dotted line.

jasinger · February 27, 2018

Aren't we talking about the cabin "ticking" here? the one from light load when driving, mostly on the highway once the truck is warmed up? I can hear the DI sounds at idle, like most, but I'm not sure how we are supposed to pinpoint this sound when it only happens while driving. Like others it is coming from the front driver side floorpan and sounds exactly like an exhaust leak.

I've read so many different threads on this so I am sorry if I'm getting this messed up with another discussion I've had before but I was pretty sure here we were talking about something other than the apparent DI ticking you can hear at idle and under the hood

looksstock · February 27, 2018

10 minutes ago, jasinger said:

Aren't we talking about the cabin "ticking" here? the one from light load when driving, mostly on the highway once the truck is warmed up? I can hear the DI sounds at idle, like most, but I'm not sure how we are supposed to pinpoint this sound when it only happens while driving. Like others it is coming from the front driver side floorpan and sounds exactly like an exhaust leak.

I've read so many different threads on this so I am sorry if I'm getting this messed up with another discussion I've had before but I was pretty sure here we were talking about something other than the apparent DI ticking you can hear at idle and under the hood

Yeah, I'm referring to the ticking / fluttering noise that you can hear inside the cabin just behind the drivers side firewall..increases with more speed / load. The DI ticking is normal (and only audible - barely from outside the truck).

Ron505 · February 28, 2018

20 hours ago, wforrest08 said:

No offense but if it bothers you this much now and you can’t seem to convince yourself it’s just the DI noise that they all make are you going to drive around every mile worrying about it forever if you buy this truck? I posted in your tread there is 1000s of pages on the net talking about this and it’s not just these trucks. There is plenty of 14+ Silverados with 200k on them out there still running strong, I don’t know how or why you think the fuel system is going to cause catastrophic failure? If it’s going to bother/embarrass you this much I would suggest finding a similar 13 preferably with the 6.2L (as they didn’t have DI or AFM yet) since you have a 07 already you already know what to expect otherwise I think you might drive yourself into the insane asylum (or convincing yourself to buy a Ford) reading into all the potential problems with these trucks.

If you think you still want to consider this truck try to remember it’s a small percentage of these trucks that have most of the issues your going to read about on here (- the DI noise of course) and if your not convinced it’s the DI noise go buy or borrow a automotive stethoscope or pay your local trusted mechanic NOT THE DEALER and pin point where said noise is coming from before you pull the trigger and sign the dotted line.

No offense takin. I was trying to figure out what the "real" reason is for the tick, before I signed (that was urgency, not freaking out). I've read about push rods, lifters, fuel pump, DI, etc... on this forum that cause the tick. With nobody really stating exactly what "fixed" theirs. I was just trying to find out what it would take to quiet it down some.

After listening to two other comparable trucks on the lot, and my experiences at 3 dealers over the last two days, I decided to buy. Yay me!

Edited February 28, 2018 by Ron505

Miallterain18 · March 4, 2018

Any updates on fixes for this tick. I have a 2018 GMC slt all terrain 5.3 I get the ticking once the engine is up to operating temp. Very noticeable in v4 and occasionally in v8, took it to the dealer they replaced the vacuum pump because it was leaking but claimed they couldn't replicated the noise. Hopefully someone has a fix by now.

PackerChev · March 5, 2018

4 hours ago, Miallterain18 said:

Any updates on fixes for this tick. I have a 2018 GMC slt all terrain 5.3 I get the ticking once the engine is up to operating temp. Very noticeable in v4 and occasionally in v8, took it to the dealer they replaced the vacuum pump because it was leaking but claimed they couldn't replicated the noise. Hopefully someone has a fix by now.

So the vacuum pump replacement did not fix the noise?