2016 Silverado 1500 Rumble Noise and Slight Vibration

David Wallace · April 3, 2020

Hello,

I recently purchased a used 2016 Silverado 1500 crew cab and i'm running into an odd issue.

At highway speeds mostly 64-68mph but also anything above that speed will trigger a low rumble and slight vibration. The rumble is always there but in a pattern... whoom......quiet.....whoom....quiet.....whoom with about a second in between the whoom and quiet.

- Tires have been balanced...

- Dealer said its my aggressive tires.. I strongly disagree

- Driveshaft shop said they can hear/feel it and have looked at about 40 trucks just like mine and have not been able to pinpoint the problem. He mentioned he could balance it but he didn't think it would change anything and didn't want to waste my money. They also strongly disagree that its not the tires.

- Another Mechanic said he could also hear/feel it and is about 80% sure its my torque converter... he also suggested once the torque converter is going out the transmission is right behind it. I'm hesitant on this only because its a costly repair...

Any suggestions? I would greatly appreciate it!

m3n00b · April 3, 2020

I have something very similar and thought it was the torque converter. Still under warranty and was going to get it checked out next oil change. You have the 8 or 6sp? I'm only at 30k miles on my 2016

Edited April 3, 2020 by m3n00b

beetle · April 3, 2020

My '14 has a similar issue....when the motor is still at low operating temp and at 55 to 65 mph, I can feel a buzz that comes and goes about 3 seconds apart but disappears after fully warmed up. Also did it before upgrading to new tires....weird.

David Wallace · April 3, 2020

13 hours ago, m3n00b said:

I have something very similar and thought it was the torque converter. Still under warranty and was going to get it checked out next oil change. You have the 8 or 6sp? I'm only at 30k miles on my 2016

I have the 8..

m3n00b · April 3, 2020

3 minutes ago, David Wallace said:

I have the 8..

Sounds like we have the same problem. Let me know what you figure out! If I end up at the dealer before you I'll update you here.

David Wallace · April 4, 2020

On 4/3/2020 at 7:23 AM, m3n00b said:

Sounds like we have the same problem. Let me know what you figure out! If I end up at the dealer before you I'll update you here.

Do you hear the problem more than feel it? I hear mine more so than feel it... really really bugging me.

m3n00b · April 4, 2020

7 minutes ago, David Wallace said:

Do you hear the problem more than feel it? I hear mine more so than feel it... really really bugging me.

Honestly I hear and feel it. Not sure which more. It happens every 3-4 seconds when it does.

David Wallace · April 4, 2020

5 minutes ago, m3n00b said:

Honestly I hear and feel it. Not sure which more. It happens every 3-4 seconds when it does.

when it happens, if you set cruise at the speed its happening at will it just keep doing it or go away? i can set my cruise at 66 and it will do it the entire time but still in the phase of whoom...quiet...whoom...quiet...

Mileguru · April 6, 2020

I have the exact same issue. I'm having it looked at tomorrow, but it's supposed to be raining so we'll see what happens.

I also have this sputtering sound issue described in this other thread:

https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/237090-sputtering-while-coasting/

David Wallace · April 6, 2020

14 hours ago, Mileguru said:

I have the exact same issue. I'm having it looked at tomorrow, but it's supposed to be raining so we'll see what happens.

I also have this sputtering sound issue described in this other thread:

https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/237090-sputtering-while-coasting/

I don't feel like mine has a sputter or shutter feeling. It's just a deep base kind of sound and slight vibration...

Took it to another shop on Saturday he disagreed on the one shop telling me it may be the torque converter... he suggest I got the tires balanced again and lower my PSI from 45 to 35. He suggested not to get the balance done at discount tires like I did before. He also said my drive shaft did have a little play in it. No one really has an exact answer for me it seems like a guessing game.

I'm thinking of swapping wheels/tires with a friend and seeing what that does to at least narrow that situation out.

JimCost2014 · April 6, 2020

On 4/2/2020 at 5:54 PM, David Wallace said:

Hello,

I recently purchased a used 2016 Silverado 1500 crew cab and i'm running into an odd issue.

At highway speeds mostly 64-68mph but also anything above that speed will trigger a low rumble and slight vibration. The rumble is always there but in a pattern... whoom......quiet.....whoom....quiet.....whoom with about a second in between the whoom and quiet.

- Tires have been balanced...

- Dealer said its my aggressive tires.. I strongly disagree

- Driveshaft shop said they can hear/feel it and have looked at about 40 trucks just like mine and have not been able to pinpoint the problem. He mentioned he could balance it but he didn't think it would change anything and didn't want to waste my money. They also strongly disagree that its not the tires.

- Another Mechanic said he could also hear/feel it and is about 80% sure its my torque converter... he also suggested once the torque converter is going out the transmission is right behind it. I'm hesitant on this only because its a costly repair...

Any suggestions? I would greatly appreciate it!

Where is the mileage at on the truck?

If it is the 60000 range, I would say torque convertor, test you can do is a find a slight incline, get up to 45 MPH and keep it there, if is the torque convertor, you will feel a vibration like you are running over "rumble strips".

David Wallace · April 6, 2020

12 minutes ago, JimCost2014 said:

Where is the mileage at on the truck?

If it is the 60000 range, I would say torque convertor, test you can do is a find a slight incline, get up to 45 MPH and keep it there, if is the torque convertor, you will feel a vibration like you are running over "rumble strips".

I'm at 75k miles.. it won't do it at 45... the lowest speed its done it at is like 55... I found 70 is a sweet spot and won't do it. but 60-68 is the worst!

JimCost2014 · April 6, 2020

8 minutes ago, David Wallace said:

I'm at 75k miles.. it won't do it at 45... the lowest speed its done it at is like 55... I found 70 is a sweet spot and won't do it. but 60-68 is the worst!

You may have the dreaded Chevy shake.

Go to the top right of the page, and type in "chevy shake", tons of posts about the issue.

David Wallace · April 7, 2020

On 4/5/2020 at 7:56 PM, Mileguru said:

I have the exact same issue. I'm having it looked at tomorrow, but it's supposed to be raining so we'll see what happens.

I also have this sputtering sound issue described in this other thread:

https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/237090-sputtering-while-coasting/

Any luck?

David Wallace · April 7, 2020

Took it to another transmission shop and he is 100% sure it has nothing to do with the transmission or tires. he said that its the driveshaft... going to take it to a driveshaft shop and have them work on that and go from there.

Edited April 7, 2020 by David Wallace