2011 Sierra 5.3 6spd - shudder/heavy vibration under light accel after coasting

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markroberts0011

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2011 Sierra All Terrain that is having a continued issue with a driveline shudder vibration sensation only after I let off the gas to coast and upon light acceleration I feel and hear a vibration for about 1-2 seconds. The best example would be "In Town" driving around 20-30 mph (but not limited to these speeds) and you let off the gas to coast due to trafffic and upon light reaccleration the entire truck has a vibration and brief chatter noise. You can feel this through the vehicle, steering wheel and gas pedal as well you can hear it in different degrees of severity depending on the driving situation. The rpm's must drop to around 900-1000 and upon the reacceleration and they will increase to about 1400 and stay "locked" at this rpm until the noise/vibration abruptly stops and the rpms surge to about 1900 to 2000 and quickly return back down to about 1500 and then shifts fine after that. The whole sensation is about 1-2 seconds and will not happen again until the same conditions are met. When drivnig in town, it will drive you crazy when it happens repeatedly as traffic or conditions slow you down. I have a 3 mile commute to work that is mostly 35-40 mph and it happens 20-30 times during this commute. I am a service manager for another one of our franchises and can understand both sides of the issue here. What I need to know is if anyone else experiences this issue and if so, has there been any fix? To date, our GMC dealer has replaced the torque converter assy , but now they think it has something to do with the 8cyl to 4cyl Eco mode? There are never any DTC codes or apparent faults.

If this is normal for these trucks, I can accept that even though I would not agree that a $44k truck should do this. I am not sure what else to recommend for repair at this point and I think the tech is giving up on trying to find the root cause? If you have any insight or experience that would be helpful, please feel free to share. Thanks!
 
wow your a service manager and your asking the forums to fix your tk.
I think you of all people should be able to get to the bottom of this. Also you of all people should know that if it's normal then drive another one on the lot and see if it does it.
 
my 2011 has that same sensation it happens when it is in v4 mode
it was more noticable since i put a Flowmaster super 50 on it , i did a side exit in front of the rear tire
it was very bad at first so i adjusted the exhaust hangers and the band clamp
now i only hear it and not feel it in my back, when it is v4 mode
so here is an idea try loosing the band clamp (13mm) that is after the last cat and retighten
also set the dash information center to display 'instant economy' which also show wether it is in v4 or v8 mode
 
fyi

TSB 06-06-05-001C

"Some customers may comment in a change in the exhaust note or tone when an Active Fuel Management System equipped engine is in 3 or 4 cylinder mode. Some drivers may also notice a very slight vibration in either the accelerator pedal, floor pan, and/or the steering wheel. This is a normal condition for Active Fuel Management System equipped vehicles and no repairs should be attempted."



Customer Information on Active Fuel Management

When the Active Fuel Management System is enabled, physical changes take place within the engine that allow it to run as a 3 or 4 cylinder motor with accompanying additional fuel savings. The change in exhaust tone is expected as all sound from the exhaust is the result of combustion in the engine. The ability to perceive these changes in sound are kept to very minimal levels as the Active Fuel Management System is only activated during a steady state/near steady state driving or during coast down. In both of these situations, the load on the engine is minimal and general exhaust volume (sound) is low. You may give a copy of this bulletin to your customer


&#PIP4371A
Click to expand...

"very slight vibration" is an understatement. Some trucks its more than slight and I have experienced that to the point of getting rid of the truck. My experience was in the winter which seemed to make it worse. It drove me nuts so I dumped my 2010 fully loaded Sierra E. Cab Z71 All Terrain with only 24,000 miles for a 2012 Sierra Denali with 6.2L engine and NO AFM. They can take AFM and stick it where the sun don't shine.


2012 Sierra Denali AWD
2009 Cadillac CTS AWD
 
Last edited:
happy 2011 said:
wow your a service manager and your asking the forums to fix your tk.
I think you of all people should be able to get to the bottom of this. Also you of all people should know that if it's normal then drive another one on the lot and see if it does it.
Click to expand...

Contrary to popular belief, as a Service Manager, we do not have all of the answers! We have more tools to diagnose and avenues to work with, but does not mean we have all of the answers. I have driven several other vehicles and none act in the same manner as my truck which lends me to believe that either my truck is just simply a "worse case" than others or has something more severe wrong with it? Unfortunately, I am not the Service Manager at our GMC dealer and unlike some people, I am not looking to complain about my issues, but rather looking for one additional avenue to try and remedy the issue. The voice of the owners can sometimes be just as helpful to try and reach a larger group of folks that may experience the same issue. To be honest the issue has no impact on safety of the vehicle but is just rather more annoying than anything. It has been suggested to purchase a tuner to see if the Active Fuel Management can be overriden. Any suggestions on tuners in the market out there?
 
almost the same happens to my truck sierra 1500 5.3 L
when i reduce the gas the gear reduce indeed and there i feel there is sound comes either from the gear or the shaft , i asked alot of people they are facing the same thing even in their tahoe
 
markroberts0011 said:
2011 Sierra All Terrain that is having a continued issue with a driveline shudder vibration sensation only after I let off the gas to coast and upon light acceleration I feel and hear a vibration for about 1-2 seconds. The best example would be "In Town" driving around 20-30 mph (but not limited to these speeds) and you let off the gas to coast due to trafffic and upon light reaccleration the entire truck has a vibration and brief chatter noise. You can feel this through the vehicle, steering wheel and gas pedal as well you can hear it in different degrees of severity depending on the driving situation. The rpm's must drop to around 900-1000 and upon the reacceleration and they will increase to about 1400 and stay "locked" at this rpm until the noise/vibration abruptly stops and the rpms surge to about 1900 to 2000 and quickly return back down to about 1500 and then shifts fine after that. The whole sensation is about 1-2 seconds and will not happen again until the same conditions are met. When drivnig in town, it will drive you crazy when it happens repeatedly as traffic or conditions slow you down. I have a 3 mile commute to work that is mostly 35-40 mph and it happens 20-30 times during this commute. I am a service manager for another one of our franchises and can understand both sides of the issue here. What I need to know is if anyone else experiences this issue and if so, has there been any fix? To date, our GMC dealer has replaced the torque converter assy , but now they think it has something to do with the 8cyl to 4cyl Eco mode? There are never any DTC codes or apparent faults.

If this is normal for these trucks, I can accept that even though I would not agree that a $44k truck should do this. I am not sure what else to recommend for repair at this point and I think the tech is giving up on trying to find the root cause? If you have any insight or experience that would be helpful, please feel free to share. Thanks!
Click to expand...



markroberts0011,
I understand your concerns as well as frustrations with this. I would like to look into this further for you. Can you please send me a PM with your name, address, phone number, VIN, current mileage and the name of your dealer? I look forward to hearing back from you as well as assisting you with this issue.
Thank you,
Stacy GMC Customer Service
 
98trck said:
my 2011 has that same sensation it happens when it is in v4 mode
it was more noticable since i put a Flowmaster super 50 on it , i did a side exit in front of the rear tire
it was very bad at first so i adjusted the exhaust hangers and the band clamp
now i only hear it and not feel it in my back, when it is v4 mode
so here is an idea try loosing the band clamp (13mm) that is after the last cat and retighten
also set the dash information center to display 'instant economy' which also show wether it is in v4 or v8 mode
Click to expand...



98trck,
Have you had your dealer look into this for you? I would suggest that you let them take a look at this. Will you please send me a PM with your name, address, phone number, VIN, current mileage and the name of your dealer? I look forward to hearing back from you.
Thank you,
Stacy GM Customer Service
 
Sierra_411 said:
almost the same happens to my truck sierra 1500 5.3 L
when i reduce the gas the gear reduce indeed and there i feel there is sound comes either from the gear or the shaft , i asked alot of people they are facing the same thing even in their tahoe
Click to expand...



Sierra_411,
I would suggest that you have your dealer look into this for you. I would be happy to also look into this further for you. Can you please send me a PM with your name, address, phone number, VIN, current mileage and the name of your dealer? I look forward to hearing back from you as well as assisting you.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service
 
i have been almost completely successful at re moving the vibration
i marked the band clamp/flex joint with a marker
then lossened tha clamp and rotated the assembly alittle and retighten
then drive to work next day (35 miles round trip)
then turn assembly again same direction ,when th vibration got worse, i started turning the assembly the other direction , keep records,or a good memory ,then set the assembly at the point of least vibration
 
well tell ya this markroberts0011
Frist you should know if you use a after market programer you can kiss your drive line waranty good by. GM has TSB on this and how to see if it's a factory program. So i would rule that out.

Next if you work for the same company then you would think they would take care of you. If it was me i would just drop it off and tell them not to give it back till it's fixed.

Now so you know i was a GM tech for a lot of years. When i was there and something like this came in it was put in my bay and did not leave till i fixed it plan and simple.

Maybe you need to get pushy with them and give it to there BEST GM tech and not some tom d**k or harry. You of all people know that it's like a lotto as far as who's bay it goes in. This also will depends on if your tk gets fixed the frist time becaues not all techs are equal.
 
i never had any vibration until i altered the exhaust make ajustments to the system has made differances
 
Just bought a 2012 5.3 Crew Cab and it Shudders

I noticed my truck doing this all day long yesterday. I love the truck except for the shudder that occurs between 2nd and 3rd gear, maybe 1st and 2nd, when accelerating lightly from a full stop. I also notice the tach jumps with the shudder, usually a few 100rpm rapid increase/decrease. No shudder at all when you get on it!

Did anyone discover what was causing this? The truck has 46,000 miles.
 
vibration/shudder

I have a 2011 Z71 with the same problem. I had it to the dealer 3-4 times. They reprogrammed the computer, did something to the exhaust, Drove it numerous times. In the end, NORMAL, no further action. What about all the extra viberation on the engine over time?? They just put you off till the warranty runs out! Good-by GM!!!!!:mad:
 
I'm having the same problems.Anyone know of any fixes yet for this problem?If I have to get rid of it,I'll be looking at Toyota.
 
Renewing this - same issues here (2011 GMC Sierra 4x4) at low speeds around 25-30mph. Can't tell if it's transmission or possibly something else? Had this truck a few weeks now. Didn't know if there was anything from GM posted about this issue?

Appreciate any feedback!
 
Mark have tried putting the transmission before driving in the manual shift mode and use the toggle to only permit the trans to shift no higher than 5th gear, try this around town and lower speed areas this well disable the AFM while your in this trans mode, give it a try see if you notice a difference hope this helps.
 
2014 GMC shudder/vibration

Help !!
I own a 2014 GMC Sierra All Terrain 1500.
Am experiencing a "shudder/vibration" at certain speeds or driving conditions and am wondering if there is a "fix" to this annoying ailment. It seems more prevalent when switching from V8 to V4 mode and/or at about 49-52 mph, but can also be noticed at slower speeds in town driving conditions.
The truck only has 36000 miles on it and has been very well maintained.
Can anyone please steer me in a direction where I can rectify this problem??
 
2014 GMC tailgate emblem sizes

Hello fellow GMC drivers....
My 2014 GMC Sierra SLT / All Terrain truck has no tailgate emblems on it. I think it came that way from the factory. Saw an article somewhere recently stating that the "All Terrain" package was a factory "de-chromed" option.
While the truck looks absolutely great otherwise, including "All Terrain" emblems on the side doors....I'd like to add just a few emblems on the tailgate.
The problem is that I cant find emblems relatively close in size!!
Either the "sierra" emblem is 13"x 1-3/4" (Waaay tooo big) and/or the "SLT" emblem is only 4-1/4"x 3/4". It seems that the difference in emblem sizes would look ridiculous.
Are there possibly some older vintage emblem versions closer in size available online that anyone knows of? I don't mind if they are not specific to a 2014 model, I just want them to look appropriate. Any help would be really appreciated! I can also be reached via email at bulldogsov@gmail.com. Thanx
 
2014 GMC shudder/vibration

Can the AFM "Active fuel management" system be overridden in a 2014 GMC Sierra SLT/ All Terrain/ 1500/ 5.3L ?
Upon reading other posts regarding this topic, I struggle with the "fix" some have tried by loosening, rotating, then re-tightening an exhaust system hanger. What's that got to do anything here ??
 
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