2000 Silverado "Clicking Noise"

wmiller86

My 2000 Silverado makes a "clicking" sound when I
accelerate. It sort of sounds like air is escaping
the engine somewhere. The dealer mechanic rode with
me to hear and he said that they had a truck in
with the same problem and after much searching,
could only conclude that it was just the way that
the exhaust was designed, and it was harmless.
Please. It sure as heck doesn't sound harmless. And
why did it just start doing it? A friend with the
identical truck has no problem. If anyone reading
this has some suggestions, please post. It may be
my imagination, but it also feels like I have lost
some power also.

WMiller86

vince4

What engine do you have? I have a 6.0 and don't have that noise.

quadrunner500

The Camaro/Firebird owners have been breaking them on a regular basis, due to over-revving the engine. It is not possible to do this with the automatic transmission. But on the 6 speed manual, even the rev limiter won't protect from excessive rpm if the driver shifts from 4 to 3 at redline.

When it happens, it has been described as clicking, and does result in a power loss. The good news, is that they are only $8 each. Think of them as a fusible link. A cheap alternative to bent valves.

wmiller86

It is the 5.3 engine with auto transmission. I read a post by someone who had some spark plugs that were damaged right after purchase that was causing some sort of strange noise, and it cured his problem. I may try that. But you hate to have to put a wrench on a PU with only 2000 miles on it! Thanks for any suggestions.
WMiller

quadrunner500

I wouldn't worry about them putting a wrench on it, unless it needs to be wrenched on.

What they will do to check it out, is plug into the Tech II scanner, and check your compression without pulling a plug, but by monitoring starter motor current.

Take it to the dealer only.

willh2

I have a 2000 model Silverado, 4.8, w/auto. I have an intermittent clicking noise also. I had initially isolated the noise to the air conditioning compressor cycling on and off, however, I still hear the noise with the vent on.
To me the sound is almost like a small pebble flying out of the tire and hitting the underbody, but it happens too often for that. All the roads I drive on are paved.

bud_light_dude

is exhaust turbulence. Is it only on the drivers side that you hear it? If so, two things: One, the drivers side has gaskets for the exhaust manifold, the passenger side uses donuts. Two, the exhaust is restrictive and the exhaust is not scavenging out the exhaust out the cylinders on the left side fast enough before the exhaust valve closes for the intake stroke.

Tons have put on JBA headers....noise resolved.

I put on a Magnaflow exhaust on mine, 95% of the noise on mine is gone due to the freer flow of exhaust out of the cylinders. I plan on a JBA header soon.

obyone

had no problems after installing JBA headers on 5.3 '00 Silverado

quadrunner500

Go back and read the first post. Wmiller86 states it feels like he lost power also. He states it just started.

That doesn't sound like exhaust scavenging to me.
But if the loss of power is just in his imagination, you are probably right, just normal sounds. Losing power though, not normal.

wmiller86

I think you guys may have nailed it. But excuse my ignorance, just what are headers? I know they are some kind of tailpipe, but thats about the extent of my knowledge! The sound DOES sound like an exhaust noise. Where's the best place to purchase the headers? A muffler shop? Thanks for the help guys. It really gives me an ulcer to pay 26 grand for a truck then have it sound like a 64 VW beetle!
WMiller86

bud_light_dude

The headers are not at the tail pipe, but rather, replace the exhaust manifold at the block. They gain their performance through smoothing out the exhaust flow by varying technologies such as how the pipe is bent, the coating on the interior of the piping, better port to header matching (even more effective when you actually port your engine and have specially fitted header gaskets made on the template of your ports).

JBAs are a proprietary modified design of a shorty style header and give the performance of a long tube header, but with the tight fit and less heat soak than the traditional shorty style. The best for these trucks in my opinion.

They will add anywhere from 15-30 hp to your engine output as well as help your engine breath better and increase the engine life.

I will probably buy mine from mail order. Not sure which one yet. Also, if you go to www.JBAHeaders.com, they have vendor lists to tell you of shops in your area that sell them.

swobig

torque when using headers. Having never had them on I personally don't know. Think you'll gain and mileage and can the average guy put them on???

bud_light_dude

If you throw on just any ole header, yes, that can happen. However, header manuf that know what they are doing, like JBA ( very highly rated ), then they "tune" the headers to match the engine that they are being designed for. JBAs for the 5.3l increase torque by 26 lbs and that is at the rear wheels, not at the flywheel.

Yes, the average guy can put on JBA headers in about 3 hours. I am not a mechanic by trade and I have helped another guy put them on his 2000 5.3 Silverado. Very straighforward.

I can't really say how much mileage will increase, but the power is noticeable even at the seat of the pants.

obyone

For the best performance you will need to increase intake and exhaust. Best add on performance I achieved was through the following:

Intake:
Airaid
Granatelli MAF

Exhaust:
JBA Headers
Gibson Swept Side catback

Did airaid first-only noticeable difference was intake noise on acceleration. JBA headers next-no noticeable difference. Gibson catback-Increased exhaust note; loss of lowend torque; truck sluggish. Granatelli MAF-awesome seat of the pants increase in acceleration; whatever low end torque that I thought I lost was no longer an issue. Felt like a new truck. I believe it was the total package and no individual component by itself. Just my $.02. BTW '00 Silverado 5.3 xcab 2wd chirps tires between first and second on WOT and no load.

vince4

Hey to you folks with the ticking or clicking noise when accelerating I noticed a home-made fix on

http://www.pacific-audio.com/performance-discussion.html

Put "exhaust shield washer" in the search field.

jnazer

I've had my 5.3 in 4 times for the same problem, exhaust leak sound on the drivers side, they eventually found an exhaust leak and replaced exhaust donuts. This mostly fixed the problem but the sound came back..this time there was loose exhaust bolts. I'm still getting the sound a little bit and I think I do notice a slight loss of power. My truck has 8k miles, started noticing this at about 2k. let me know if you get it resolved.

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