Engine Tick - 2015 GMC Sierra 5.3

jasinger · September 24, 2018

On 9/21/2018 at 2:09 PM, Crafty34 said:

Just got this from a buddy at my local dealer. Looks like Chevy is aware and they are working on a fix.

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wow this is great news, thank you for sharing!

kport08 · October 1, 2018

All,

I put a bunch of lithium in the steering boot yesterday and lo and behold the noise is gone (drove twice today with no noise at all without having to do the lock-to-lock trick).

However - I have to mention I did a few other things as well. I took the plastic deflector shield off (right below the engine) and tightened up some screws where the shield connects to a pair of brackets (the metal brackets made a rattle/resonating noise when banging up against it). I also checked the torque on just about every screw/nut &bolt on the entire steering assembly...everything was tight and to spec. One thing that seemed loose was the steering shaft - it felt like there was some play when moving it around. If the noise comes back I'm taking it into the dealer to have the boot replaced and the shaft looked at.

So my conclusion is either 1.) the lithium helped or 2.) tightening the "plastic shield" and "attachment bars" did the trick.

If the noise comes back I'll keep everyone updated. If anyone else has an update please share!

dalek77 · October 1, 2018

All,

I put a bunch of lithium in the steering boot yesterday and lo and behold the noise is gone (drove twice today with no noise at all without having to do the lock-to-lock trick).

However - I have to mention I did a few other things as well. I took the plastic deflector shield off (right below the engine) and tightened up some screws where the shield connects to a pair of brackets (the metal brackets made a rattle/resonating noise when banging up against it). I also checked the torque on just about every screw/nut &bolt on the entire steering assembly...everything was tight and to spec. One thing that seemed loose was the steering shaft - it felt like there was some play when moving it around. If the noise comes back I'm taking it into the dealer to have the boot replaced and the shaft looked at.

So my conclusion is either 1.) the lithium helped or 2.) tightening the "plastic shield" and "attachment bars" did the trick.

If the noise comes back I'll keep everyone updated. If anyone else has an update please share!

Can you snap a few pics of the locations?

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Jonty711 · October 2, 2018

30 minutes ago, kport08 said:

All,

I put a bunch of lithium in the steering boot yesterday and lo and behold the noise is gone (drove twice today with no noise at all without having to do the lock-to-lock trick).

However - I have to mention I did a few other things as well. I took the plastic deflector shield off (right below the engine) and tightened up some screws where the shield connects to a pair of brackets (the metal brackets made a rattle/resonating noise when banging up against it). I also checked the torque on just about every screw/nut &bolt on the entire steering assembly...everything was tight and to spec. One thing that seemed loose was the steering shaft - it felt like there was some play when moving it around. If the noise comes back I'm taking it into the dealer to have the boot replaced and the shaft looked at.

So my conclusion is either 1.) the lithium helped or 2.) tightening the "plastic shield" and "attachment bars" did the trick.

If the noise comes back I'll keep everyone updated. If anyone else has an update please share!

I can back up these findings about putting lithium grease into and around the boot.

I haven't checked the plastic deflector

kport08 · October 2, 2018

4 hours ago, dalek77 said:

Can you snap a few pics of the locations?

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First two pics are of the steering boot/shaft intersection point. Put a generous amount of white lithium spray grease inside and around the boot. Jonty711 gets the credit for this! Thank you!

Jonty711 · October 2, 2018

11 minutes ago, kport08 said:

First two pics are of the steering boot/shaft intersection point. Put a generous amount of white lithium spray grease inside and around the boot. Jonty711 gets the credit for this! Thank you!

I also went inside and put lithium grease around the steering shaft from the inside.

Jonty711 · October 2, 2018

I might have came up with this, but Kport08 proved that my truck wasnt a one off.

I hope this helps everybody.

dalek77 · October 2, 2018

First two pics are of the steering boot/shaft intersection point. Put a generous amount of white lithium spray grease inside and around the boot. Jonty711 gets the credit for this! Thank you!

Thank you both. I will report back my findings as well. Ticking was loud as hell on last road trip I took. Tick tick tick all the way down the highway on cruise.

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Jonty711 · October 2, 2018

6 hours ago, dalek77 said:

Thank you both. I will report back my findings as well. Ticking was loud as hell on last road trip I took. Tick tick tick all the way down the highway on cruise.

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Be sure and get the grease nozzle right up between the seal and the shaft on the engine side.

Dont just spray it around the end of the seal. It needs to get up between the two

20165.3Eco · October 2, 2018

Good job guys, I was going to throw some zip ties around the nose of that tonight to see if it made a difference but looks like I will be grease packing. So the noise is normal but the fact that it gets into the cab is not.

Makes sense now that I messed around with it a bit, there is a little up and down side to side play in the end and the thing isn't very stiff. The bouncy nature of the ticking while hitting bumps seems inline with the way that boot moves up and down.

Also makes sense that heat makes it worse and cold makes it better. Stiffer rubber moving less in the winter.

Jonty711 · October 2, 2018

3 hours ago, 20165.3Eco said:

Good job guys, I was going to throw some zip ties around the nose of that tonight to see if it made a difference but looks like I will be grease packing. So the noise is normal but the fact that it gets into the cab is not.

Makes sense now that I messed around with it a bit, there is a little up and down side to side play in the end and the thing isn't very stiff. The bouncy nature of the ticking while hitting bumps seems inline with the way that boot moves up and down.

Also makes sense that heat makes it worse and cold makes it better. Stiffer rubber moving less in the winter.

I wouldn't go overboard on the tension on the zip ties. The last thing you would want it to prematurely wear out the seal.

Just a suggestion.

20165.3Eco · October 2, 2018

Right, it was just going to be for testing purposes. I am going to grease it up tonight and see how it sounds. Since the temps here in Indiana have dropped it's been much harder to make it tick lately. Or it is because I was messing around with the boot when I had my inner fender out.

Sierra Dan · October 2, 2018

How does greasing this help with the ticking?

What is it about the shaft that ticks?

2016LTCC · October 3, 2018

It seems like everything on these trucks needs greased or torqued. I found myself piling the hinges on the center console/seat the other day because of a constant squeaking noise.