21st Apr 2010, 08:17
Just bought a 2001 Sierra 2500HD with the noisy 6.0L. I have the knock at start up and the lifter noise at a idle, goes away as rpms raise, kinda boggy under 3000rpms. Cruising at 70mph on the highway the rpms are around 2600-2900, so my fuel mileage is 8-12mpg, and uses a quart every 3000 miles now, which sucks, but what do you expect for a 9 year old truck with 190,000 miles on it? Run her till she spills her innards!
GMs known for cheap oil burning, leaking, garbage. Sorry Chevy lovers, BUT THE TRUTH IS THE TRUTH, buy a thirty thousand dollar pickup AND have to listen to engine chatter like a diesel with 30.1 compression. Hahahahahha what a joke!
13th May 2010, 18:09
I own a 2002 Chevy Silverado 2500HD with the 8.1 engine. Like a couple of other comments I've read about the engine diing at any time or place, it's kind of dangerous sometimes when you're driving down the interstate and it just dies. Trying not to get killed, if you can coast off on the shoulder, it will restart after a minute or two. I have asked everybody I know what the problem could be. No one, including Chevrolet has a clue what the problem is. Any comments or solutions would be quite welcome. Thanks.
8th Jun 2010, 17:29
I own a 2002 2500HD with the 8.1. Like a lot of others, around 15K miles it developed the knock/clatter. Several visits to several dealers and still nothing. At one point, a dealer was going to replace the motor, then backed down.
Went as far as emailing GM. No satisfaction there. Finally got a letter from GM stating they would extend the warranty to 5 year/50 thousand miles.
Truck now has 99K miles on it and still clattering away, so I guess it can't be too serious? It almost sounds like oil not getting into the overhead on start up. When cold it will last 2-3 minutes. When warm, it's gone in a minute, or so.
Because of GM's callous attitude, I very much doubt the next car/pickup will be a GM.
25th Aug 2010, 22:56
My 2000 5.3L 1500 started knocking at start up somewhere before 100,000. I would always change oil every 5000 miles with 5w30.
Noise would diminish for a long time then reappear at cold start up.
I noticed my 2007 2500 6.0L recommended GM spec oil which is synthetic (GM6094 I think). I put this in my 5.3L 1500 also and the knock was severely diminished and after 6000 miles goes silent much sooner. Mobile 1 or Valvoline for $25 dollars + filter. It is the same price to have a shop do it with ground oil.
The 1500 now has 179,000 miles, still runs smooth at 500 RPM idle. What a great design. With brake lines rotting out, who cares about a little noise. I think it says in the manual to wait 20-30 seconds after starting to put it in drive. A minor inconvenience.
The heat shields rotted out and fell onto the starter. Once I ripped off the remaining pieces over time, the thing has had no problems since (other than the window motors, learn to replace with lifetime warranty parts).
I am going to miss my 1500 but it is going to a good home.
I can't wait for my 2011 2500HD, thanks GM for the HD upgrades and continued payload capacity.
22nd Sep 2010, 15:02
Hey, everyone out there getting ripped off for the problem that exists in the 6.0 motor, I found an in house mechanic that told me the problem is a gasket on the output tube of the oil pump going bad. Shortly after I brought this to attention of the Chevrolet dealer, they fired the mechanic. I have a 2002 Chevy HD with the 6.0, and since 50,000 I'm starting to burn a quart between oil changes.
28th Dec 2010, 09:03
I have a 2001 2500HD 6.0, and it has always had that tick in it, and now it has 130.000 miles on it and still runs great!! And believe it or not, I have never replaced the plugs and wires yet. I love it!!
28th Dec 2010, 23:56
Well... I'm in the market for a 2500. I like the body style of the 2000 - 2002, and wanted that year in particular.
Seems as though I'd be taking my chances. After reading everyone's post, I'll make a few comments of my own.
1. I had a Jeep Wrangler that that would suddenly die at Hwy speeds or at a light or wherever... Didn't matter - VERY RANDOM. Had it in the Jeep dealer countless times, to which they couldn't fix. After being broken down on the side of the road for a minute or two before it would start again, another guy in Jeep pulls up and asks what's the deal. Told him - he says - ignition control module. Replaced it and put another 145,000 on it with no problem before I sold it.
2. Does anyone know of this problem on later model 6.0's after 2003? Supposedly this problem was fixed after GM started having to buy back trucks. But I kinda wanted to know for sure.
9th Jan 2011, 14:25
I recently purchased a 2001 2500 with the 6.0. It definitely has the knock on cold start. It has 107,000, and rattles like crazy at times, but I actually feel better about it after reading some of these comments, so I guess I'll drive it a while to see how it does.
11th Jan 2011, 14:05
Purchased my 2001 2500HD 4X4 new 10 years ago. 145K hard miles to every state west of the Mississippi with a 8000lb camp trailer. Only $800 in repair bills and $30,000 in fuel to report.
Leaving Death Valley pedal to the floor in 1st gear for 20 minutes didn't even grenade this engine at 110K miles. Heck, I haven't even replaced brake pads.
Drive like it's a rental and stop at every gas pump.
Left spindle bearing replaced two times.
Right motor mount. Left one is fine for some reason.
Pitman arm.
Shocks, plugs, wires, couple of bulbs.
Un-repaired issues:
Engine knock.
Heater damper control.
Fuel gauge inoperable when full at times.
ABS light came on, need to restart to clear. Just started this.
15th Jan 2011, 13:31
I have a 1995 GMC 5.7L with 300,000 kilometers with knock at start up since almost new, and I never had a problem with it. My brother has a 02 Ford F150, which keeps blowing out spark plugs. Costs him a fortune to fix. He bought the Ford because of the knock in my engine. Now he wants to get a GM truck.
21st Jul 2011, 18:36
I found the lifter rattle in my 03 6.0 liter was getting annoying until a buddy recommended getting a can of cleans from GM. I sprayed this into the intake and let it sit 1/2 hour; they recommend a minimum of 5 minutes. Started it up and blew it out, now she purrs like a kitten. I used their fuel treatment in the tank, and the mileage went from 13 to 14.5 mpg. This makes me happy.
19th Mar 2010, 23:55
I just bought a 2002 2500 HD 4x4 from a friend. I heard the knock and started to do research on it. It only knocks at cold start up, and just has a small clatter sounds like lifters, but the truck runs good.
This forum has been very helpful.