A good bet is that it is the lifters making noise until the cold oil gets circulating up to them. But, there are various causes for ticking and tapping noises and the cold only exacerbates these annoying sounds. I would check your oil just to make sure there isn't a problem there and if it goes away when the warmer weather returns, then I wouldn't be too concerned.

 

Hi ajdoby,

I'm sorry to hear that you are experiencing noises while starting your vehicle. I am not properly trained to offer any technical advice, but I would like to look further into your concern. If you would like my assistance, please send us a private message referencing this thread. Thank you.

Kristen A.
GM Customer Care

 

Same thing happens to my '08 1500 with the 5.3L. its goes away for me once the engine is warmed up. it only makes the sounds when its cold out. in my opinion it almost similar to the ticking sound that crappy F**ds make when running :lol: i dont think its anything to worry about unless it continues much longer after then engine is heated up.

 

Sounds like lifters to me.

 

Mine sounds a little like a poor man's Duramax first run of the day :twisted: But then I'm considering a rebuild vs reman this year. Like the previous replies, I vote lifters.

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hahaha its funny that you mentioned that. i was driving a girl home from a friends house the other morning , she is what i like to call a truck slut but this one actually knew a thing or 2 about trucks, so when i started up my truck after sitting all night she turned to me and asked if it was a diesel. i had the greatest urge to say yes :roll: but instead told her it was just cold.

 

Thanks for all the concern. Well, I changed the oil and it seems to have helped, it is still there, quieted down a ton though, but once it's warm the sound is gone.

 

ajdoby, did you simply do an oil change as it was time to do so or did you also change brand/weight/type?

Curious about what may have been the help to quiet it down.

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I vote lifters as well. I believe the manual says you can run 0w-30 in these frigid temperatures so did you change the viscosity when you changed your oil or did you keep the standard weight? Was it due for an oil change or did you just change it to see if the problem goes away. If it is the lifters, it will do the samething no matter how many times you change the oil.

 

Try a synthetic oil. It really makes a difference since it doesnt thicken as much on the cold.

If it is extreme cold, near 0 degrees, you may want a block heater then.

 

i just bought a 2014 silverado with a 4.3, less than 500 kil. I get the same thing, knocking until it warms
up. Hopefully its not wearing something out until it does. I wonder if anybody else with a new truck has this problem.

 

If it is very cold, you are pbobably not getting oil to the lifters due to the high viscosity of the cold oil. Thats why it gets quiet after it is warmed up. The oil viscosity decreases when it gets warm and it gets to the engine properly.

A synthetic will flow well to a much lower temperature that a mineral oil, but there are limits to it as well. If it's cold enough, even a synthetic will increase in viscosity and pump slow, just not as much. Try it and you will see the difference. I can tell by how fast my engine cranks when I have a synthetic vs a mineral oil in the winter. I dont use minerals anymore because of that.

 

Thanks for all the concern. Well, I changed the oil and it seems to have helped, it is still there, quieted down a ton though, but once it's warm the sound is gone.

My 2005 5.3 Silverado did the same thing about a month ago. My truck has about 63,000 miles so I was pretty shocked. I drained the oil and added a quart of Lucas engine oil additive in place of one quart of oil. I haven't had any issues since.

 

i put 5-30 oil in it as it had before, the noise is not as bad but you can just barely still hear it, after listening closer, i can still hear it when it's warm, but like i said, not real loud. truck is running fine and none of this has had an effect on performance.

 

My 2010 with the 6.2 sounded like a duramax on starting at times, but for a minute max. Was worse after an oil change. Took it in and turns out it was 'excessive piston slap' due to the short piston skirts on this style engines. They replaced my engine under warranty. Some guys said that the piston slap is normal and as the piston heats up it takes the slack and the knock disappears. I took the new engine, as I bought the truck used and who knows what the engine went through before me. They would have had to bore my engine 40 thou to get my cylinders round again. They were looking at rebuilding if under 20 thou.

 

Here's what mine sounds like after about 30 seconds after start up on a cold day. Just started doing this this winter. Last winter it was fine no noise.

2012 Silverado 5.3L with 12,000 miles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZprORAE ... e=youtu.be

 

have you brought it in to a dealer and have them look at it to see what they say? Mine sounds like
that around minus 25 celcius, warmer than that its ok.

 

DANgerous,

Hello! I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing an issue with your vehicle. I understand that you are seeking advice in how to resolve this issue yourself. I might not be able to give you any technical advice but if you find that you do need to have the vehicle look at by a dealership, I would be happy to assist in locating a dealership in your area. Please private message me referencing this thread if I can be of any assistance.

Jennifer T.
GM Customer Care

 

Okay so i'm having the same lifter problem as you, the sound is also coming from my truck and i do an oil change every 3k miles. Lately as of yesterday its become hard to start my truck and i believe its because of my fuel pump? When i crank it the truck starts up then sputters then dies on me, if i give it throttle though when i crank it then it'll smooth out. should i just put a full can of seafoam in the gas tank or is there something more to it? please help me out guys. my truck is a 1999 Silverado 5.3L v8 btw

 

the mechanic ended up charging me $500 to fix my fuel pump. mechanic said the module was bad?

 

I have had a slight tick especially in cold weather. It does it in the summer too but the last oil change I went to a slightly thicker oil. From 5w30 to 10w30 and it all but went away. As it gets colder I'll see how it does. If it continues I'll run 6 ounces of Seafoam in crankcase for 300 to 400 miles. This cleans and breaks loose sludge then change oil and filter. I just wonder if maybe a bit of sludge gets stuck in a oil port then all the lifters and valves may not get proper lubrication. A buddy of mine did this to his old Ford ranger that sounded like a sewing machine, being a Ford didn't help lol, but the Seafoam cleared his up. He got lots of sludge out on his oil change. Once u run Seafoam 3 to 400 miles you gotta change the oil and filter. It does work!

 

I went to a slightly thicker oil. From 5w30 to 10w30

Just so you know... 5w30 and 10w30 are exactly the same weight oil once warmed up to operating temps. They are both 30w oil. The only difference is that 5w will flow a little better in extreme cold.

 

It's a Chevy GMC thing mine has been doing it to 2001gmc still runs fines just let it warm up I used Lucas stabilizer I have the 5.3