Vibration of metal at 2000 RPM in front?

WILLISM2009

MEMBER
2009 HUMMER H3
V8
4WD
AUTOMATIC
24,000 MILES

I have been for several weeks experiencing a noise that sounds much like a heat shield vibrating in the front of my 2009 hummer. I have been to the hummer dealer 3 times and they have heard the noise but can not find where it is and have pretty much washed their hands of the problem. This vibrating noise is horrible and only occurs at 2000 rpms.

Sunday, May 17th, 2009 AT 11:02 AM

7 Replies

DR LOOT

MECHANIC
2,311 POSTS

That is hard to believe on a 2009 Hummer, but anything's possible, I don't know the history of the vehicle, I don't know if you've been off-roading and may have damaged something underneath, with 24,000 miles the vehicle is still brand-new, the only thing I can think of maybe when you were parked at Wal-Mart, somebody tried to cut off your catalytic converter, and did not have sufficient time, check all of your heat shields on the exhaust, make sure they are secure, also the heat shields that are against the body (I'm talking attached to the floorboard of the Hummer) take something and tap them and if they sound like a cymbal on a drum set then you've found your vibration noise let me know what you come up with.

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Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 AT 11:37 AM

WILLISM2009

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2 POSTS

We have tried this but with no success. It sounds like something on the passenger side outside of firewall possibly between motor and firewall we tapped on everything that was visible. We do not go off roading this this vehicle it is more long distance travel on vacations towing motorcycles. We have had a allstate insurance inspector take a look and says that it is a warrenty issue however GM and burdick in syracuse have washed their hands and told us to go to another hummer dealer this is not solving my problem and the noise is terrible.

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Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 AT 12:15 PM

BRIAN 1

MECHANIC
1,030 POSTS

Check the power steering hoses, sometimes they can touch the body, frame or firewall and cause a noise or vibration. Its hard to know what type of noise, but here is some info you could follow:Some customers may comment on a tick or noise coming from the exhaust. Upon further inspection, the technician may discover a leaking exhaust manifold gasket. In some cases the leak may be accompanied by a broken manifold bolt.

Correction
Replace the exhaust manifold gasket and bolts. The exhaust manifolds are ductile; they must be allowed to move with heat expansion and cooling contraction. The manifold bolt holes are larger than the bolts to allow manifold movement. If the bolts are overtightened or torqued unevenly, the manifold movement will be restricted, which may result in manifold cracking or bolt breakage.

In rare cases, the exhaust manifold may also be cracked -- most likely between exhaust runners #4 and #5. Not saying this is the problem but a place to start. If the dealer does not want to fix it you might want to go to another dealer. What exactly did they do to diagnose this problem?

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Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 AT 2:39 PM

DR LOOT

MECHANIC
2,311 POSTS

Thanks for responding, that only tells me that you're serious about fixing your Hummer and me to, if you don't mind I'd like for you to describe the noise 4 (four) different descriptions, in other words explain to me giving me 4 (four) different descriptions of what it sounds like to you, and 4 (four) different descriptions of where you think it is coming from, I am only having you do this to give me some leeway, to try to figure out what you are hearing and where it's coming from, only because I am not there.

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Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 AT 3:36 PM

X_TONIOM

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Hi,

Not to get off track, but I was very impressed with the H3 since GM vehicles historically rattle and vibrate after a while. Usually not in the first year.

Relavant part: I had the same problem. One of the nuts that holds the heat shield on the exhaust manifold worked its way off. The manifold is steel and the shield is aluminum. Since they expand at different rates, the center is fixed and the other two holes in the shield are slotted. This allows relative motion during heating/cooling. But, it also encourages fasteners to work themselves free. This happened on my truck ('06 with almost 100K miles). I replaced the nut/washer tonight, and the noise (very annoying) seems to be gone.

Not sure if this is your exact problem, but it sounds to me like you probably are missing a fastener in a heat shield somewhere. I doubt it is anything more serious in such a new vehicle.

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Sunday, December 13th, 2009 AT 11:48 PM

DR LOOT

MECHANIC
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SMART! I could not have said that any better, oh I think I did.

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Monday, December 14th, 2009 AT 12:15 AM

X_TONIOM

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Well. Not exactly, bright boy.

Anyway, I took my truck to get it serviced. It turns out one of the bolts that holds the exhaust manifold to the head is broken (like someone else so eloquently suggested above :) ). As a result, they are replacing the manifold, as it might be warped, and are having a heck of a time getting the remains of the broken bolt out. As of this afternoon, they were putting something (probably penetrating fluid) on the bolt to (hopefully) loosen it up so they can try again to remove it tomorrow.

Fortunately, my extended warrantee is covering it (2006 with 98,500 miles). Phew!

We'll see if that solves the vibration problem. My loose heat shield was not the culprit, as I and other bright people in this forum suspected, even though the vibration sounded like thinner metal than a manifold.

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Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 AT 12:02 AM