2000 Silverado Exhaust Vibrations

grumpy

My extended-cab 2000 Silverado (5.3 liter V8)
vibrates under light load with engine RPM between
500 and 1000. The exhaust system appears to be the
source of the vibrations (and noise). Chevy
recognizes the problem and their solution is to add
weights to the exhaust pipes at various locations
to detune the exhaust system.

My dealership service manager had a mechanic work
on my truck for almost 4 hours trying different
weights at various locations. He ended up
installing approximate 10 lbs. of weights to the
exhaust pipes.

Unfortunately I am unable to discern any
improvement with the weights installed and will
probably have them removed.

I believe that the 1999 Silverados had the same
problem and Chevy chose not to the correct the
problem in the 2000 models. Although I have no
complaints with the dealership service department,
I am very disappointed with GM. (My previous GM
vehicle was a diesel Oldsmobile!)

P.S. I am not having the high-speed
wheel/tire/drive-train vibration problem reported
by many Silverado owners.

mgdvhman

my 2500 is kinda throaty at Idle sometimes...but not enough to get concerned.

A lower tone will cause the vibration like feel.

We bought a truck...not a Mercedes.

The 2500 Exhaust is much larger...and i see no problem with it.

Good luck

- Tim

vince4

My 2k 2500 doesn't do that at all. It's a regular cab so maybe the exhaust is different.

chevy4me

to my crossover pipe to correct the rattle I was getting .It happened only when engine was cold just off idle sounded like pipe was rattling off of the bottom of the cab. Tis seems to have stopped it. 99 ext.cab 5.3

grumpy

As was the case for chevy4me's vehicle, the (3)weights were strapped to the crossover pipe. I found that the problem was worse than before when the engine was cold. I removed the weights and will try to live with the original symptoms.

By the way, 1000 engine RPM corresponds to approx. 40 MPH cruising for my truck.

ckitchens

After a GM diesel - why buy another? Guess there are lots of Americans that still do this, but I am afraid you are in for another experience that may be similar. Maybe you can e-mail GM and make them understand that their loyal customers just aren't going to take this any more!

lump

I have read that changing the shift point where the TCC locks in to about 45 mph helps with this low rpm noise. Remember your forcing all the gas into system at 1000 rpm's and it isn't shifting down to swallow it. It just sets there and choks and tries to burn it. GM needs to install a quick shift down (Down one gear)when you first step on it. Even if for a very short time. I think the old trucks did this and they programed it out.

kingfishgus

chevy has a buyback program these trucks fall under. Don't know if it better than Lemon but I've checked the lemon law site and it may be the same, or similar.
To my recolection, nobody that has sold one back has posted exactly what it cost, or how tradeins were handled. Closest I could get someone to go was to say chevy charged 25 to 28 cents a mile.
Of course most mileage is taking it to dealer to get fixed and dealer driving to test.

There is probably a non-disclosure agreement with the buyback, and folks to want to come back here and risk it to tell us what happened to them. I did hear that it takes 4-6 weeks to complete, so get your case opened early.

Notice I did not capitalize chevy, they don't deserve it.

ovalley

GM bought back a 99 Silverado reg cab 4.8L from me after about 5 months of owning it. Bought it in April, turned it in in September last year. I got the value of my original trade-in according to the sales agreement and the payments I had made to that point. I was not charged for any mileage. Had about 6500 on it when it was turned back in. The only thing I did not get back was the "fair market value" of my trade-in. I conceded about $900 since they sold me the 99 Silverado about $900 below factory invoice. This was an advertised special of the week truck. Overall I guess I couldn't complain too much. From other I have talked to it seems that GM does not have one plan of action on these cases. I think they vary depending on what works out best for them financially.

The dealership could not fix the vibration and started the buy back process themselves. They had another similar buy back case that was also underway. The whole process did take a couple of months (seemed like an eternity). It seems that GM and the dealer where waiting for the other one to take action. Once I contacted GM directly, it took about a week of negotiating with GM to get a final offer letter and another 7 to 10 days to get my check and turn it in. About 4 to 6 weeks seems feasible if the chain of command is followed.

The dealership told me that they were to repair the truck and run it to auction. I don't know what really happened.

quadrunner500

Your experience provokes this question:

How many of these "buy-backs" are by GM, versus how many are buy-backs by the dealer?

Is a dealer buy-back possibly just another trade to them, where they charge what they think the customer will pay?

ovalley

I don't think that a dealer would buy back anything. I'm sure they would be willing to let you trade in your problem vehicle on a new one so long as they made money on the deal. In my case I was repeatedly told by the dealership that the problems lied between GM and myself since GM could not recommend to the dealership how to fix the truck. The dealership was very nice, only tried to fix the truck three times, but they stayed out of the negotiations all together. After the third time trying to fix it they contacted GM to start the buy back process on their own.

I'm still convinced that there is no exact process or formula that GM uses in these buy back deals. They tend to manipulate the numbers and factors in their best interest whenever possible.

quadrunner500

Well that's what I find fascinating. I can't help but wonder about some of these buybacks. Is it possible someone thinks GM is a buyback participant, when really the dealer is swapping trucks?

(Some of the posts I've read, the owner says he switched to another GM truck.)

I agree a dealer stays out of a true buyback. The question is provoked because some pay mileage, others no. That is exactly what you were saying about there being no exact process.

ovalley

GM did offer to trade or swap trucks. You simply pay the difference in MSRP, no matter what kind of deal you started off with. You could also swap for the same priced new truck or even go for another Chevy product (car). You either pay the difference up front and keep the same financing package you have or refinance. Of course you still have to pay sales tax on the difference when upgrading.

My case of not paying for mileage may have been because I reported it with less than 800 miles. Other posts indicated different though.

bob259

I have a 99 Silverado with a 5.3 and found the noise I was getting from the exhaust was the heat deflector above the pipes and muffler that was vibrating. A quick bend here and a piece if foam there isolated the noise and it has gone away completely on mine.

bud_light_dude

I changed the spark plugs on mine and it completely went away. No noise and the truck runs much smoother.

I found 2, almost 3 of the plugs, the platinum disks had fallen off! That could not have been good for the internals of my combustion chamber!

New plugs and I got a brand new truck again!

z176

Hey Todd,
Long time no hear. I am still happy with the new 00' 4dr. Sure beats the heck out of those '99 Silverbratto's we had.
Bc <</A>><

grumpy

bud light dude,

Ref. Changing-spark-plugs fix

Was your original problem exhaust-system vibrations at low engine RPM? Which engine do you have?

Grumpy

wmiller86

I have a 2000 Silerado that makes a sort of clicking sound when I accelerate. It sounds like air escaping the engine somewhere. May be my imagination, but feels like a slight loss of power also. The noise is really annoying. Dealer mechanic rode with me to listen and said that they had one in before and that after trying figure out what it was, they finally came to the conclusion that it was the design of the exhaust, and that it was harmless. Huh? It sure doesn't sound harmless. Sounds like hell to me. Has anyone else had this? And how did you solve it? The dealer excuse doesn't float with me since it didn't always make this sound. Also a friend with the EXACT same truck doen't have a problem. HELP!
WMILLER86

obyone

but if it was a ticking sound probably exhaust leak from the exhaust manifold. Usually with heat and expansion it will go away that is until the motor cools down.

z71offroad

My '00 just started to do that too @ 2000 miles. From what I understand its from the connection of the manifold to the exhaust pipe. Some have also said its the heat sheild. Mine does it more when hot than cold.

meredith

The PICKUPS Conference has gotten WAY too big....

it is unwieldy to manage, and difficult to use for "newbies". There is entirely TOO much topic duplication, so I will be doing some SERIOUS topic consolidation in the next few weeks, getting us down to not more than 2-3 topics per vehicle type, and ultimately down to 200 topics or less.

THIS weeks consolidation candidates are: F-150's, Silverado's, Dakota's, and Dakota Crew/Quad cabs.

In that vein, please consolidate this Silverado topic to Chevy Silverado - Continued IX and continue these discussions there.

Thanks!

Front Porch Philosopher
SUV, Pickups, & Aftermarket and Accessories Host