2017 Suburban Rod Knock

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Feb 28, 2003
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Location
Cajun Country, La.
I had to get gas at WM yesterday. As I was pumping my $4.44 per gallon gas, a beautiful white 2017 Chevy Suburban was at the pump opposite of me. When he was finished and started his engine it was making a God-awful rod knock! It was more pronounced as he drove off (engine revving up). I'm thinking to myself, "Has he EVER checked the oil? Is there HARDLY ANY oil in the engine? Does he hear the rod knock noise and just doesn't care?"
There were more thoughts, but I can't post them here.
 
It’s more than likely a lifter slamming against a cam lobe. Anything is possible, but camshaft and lifter failure is somewhat common on that generation 5.3L
 
Similar experience when i stopped at a college town to eat on a road trip about 3 years ago. Saw this bratty looking college age white blond girl in a lifted daddy bought jeep wrangler that had a something of a loud rod knock sound to it as well as it was slowly rolling in the lot. I just kept staring at it as it drove away from the restaurant parking lot and accelerated.
 
It’s more than likely a lifter slamming against a cam lobe. Anything is possible, but camshaft and lifter failure is somewhat common on that generation 5.3L
No offense mattd, but I have built/helped build well over 30 small block Chevy engines and had rod knock issues before I grenaded a few whiles racing. I know the difference between a lifter tick/knock? and a rod knocking.
I have never rebuilt a new Gen small block engine though. Maybe what you state is correct. But my money is on a rod knocking.
 
The ones I don't understand is ear-protection-requiring FEAD squeals or brake squeals. You know they hear it because you can hear it three blocks away.

I can kinda sorta understand the general public ignoring a rod knock
 
The ones I don't understand is ear-protection-requiring FEAD squeals or brake squeals. You know they hear it because you can hear it three blocks away.

I can kinda sorta understand the general public ignoring a rod knock
I can't. I still have Chevy Orange (Hugger Orange) coursing through my veins! 😁
 
I had to get gas at WM yesterday. As I was pumping my $4.44 per gallon gas, a beautiful white 2017 Chevy Suburban was at the pump opposite of me. When he was finished and started his engine it was making a God-awful rod knock! It was more pronounced as he drove off (engine revving up). I'm thinking to myself, "Has he EVER checked the oil? Is there HARDLY ANY oil in the engine? Does he hear the rod knock noise and just doesn't care?"
There were more thoughts, but I can't post them here.
Reckon how you knew it was a 2017?
 
Funny, yesterday I was sitting outside the laundromat since our washer broke and an early 2000's Suburban pulled up. It sounded like a severely damaged Ford 5.4l with phasers that were about to explode and like the tensioners had been removed. The noise was horrendous. I could not come up with any option available for this vehicle that I could imagine making these noises. The guy left it running for a few minutes, moved it around a few times... it's like he loved just driving the truck. I don't know what the noise was. It was not a knock but more like clacking and scrubbing. Maybe a/c compressor or something.
 
Reckon how you knew it was a 2017?
My brother owns a black 2017 Chevy Suburban. There are certain body emblems, parts, designs, etc., that I (maybe you can too?) can identify what year it is. When you've been around racing, hot rods, and just basic vehicles in general all your life (I can remember as far back as 5 years old) it just comes naturally. You know, like riding a bicycle?
 
My brother owns a black 2017 Chevy Suburban. There are certain body emblems, parts, designs, etc., that I (maybe you can too?) can identify what year it is. When you've been around racing, hot rods, and just basic vehicles in general all your life (I can remember as far back as 5 years old) it just comes naturally. You know, like riding a bicycle?
I’m right there with ya BOF! I’m the youngest of nine and by the time I started grade school my parents and older siblings were asking me what year, brand, and models of cars we would see on the roads in our small town. We made a game of it and my 4 older brothers would occasionally try and stump me but they rarely succeeded. I remember telling an older neighbor that you could look at the tail light lens on most cars and the year model was molded into the lens. I walked over to his car and showed him the tiny numbers on the lens and he chuckled and said well I never knew that! His car was a 59 Chevy btw!
 
That rod knock sounds like a two week vacation in Waikiki to the person that is doing the rebuild..
 
Y’all are good. The 2015 through 2018 Tahoes look identical to me… A lot of the mid 2000s LS engines had a pretty loud piston slap until full operating temp. Heard a lot of those knocking before. The 2015 to present LS engines hold 8 qts of oil. It’s a shame someone run it so low that they spun or beat a rod bearing out. If it’s a rod bearing it’ll probably lock up soon. Maybe it’ll go up for sale. Drop a good salvage engine in it for cheap and have nice Tahoe then!
 
I know, RIGHT? I think it's a curse for us that can hear and understand what's going on. Kinda like Xray vision!
Can't tell you how many cars I hear passing by when I'm in the yard. 25 mph road.... Oh, bad tire, Ooops, bad u joint, next, Wheel bearing gone...then the brake issue pops up! It never seems to end.

I just wish I could stop them and tell them, but they'd prob take offense anyway.
 
I have told more than a couple of co workers that pull into the parking lot as I'm walking into work - "you know you should REALLY check your oil level" when I hear valve noise or something that is obviously wrong. Had one girl ask me to help, lifted the hood and found nothing on the dipstick - add a quart and said you need to keep an eye on that or you will be buying a new engine. A week later she asked me to replace a headlight, then a month later she had a CEL and I had to tell her to take it to a mechanic. Kinda wish I kept my mouth shut, but she at least kind sorta appreciated it.
 
Threads like this are bad for BITOG.
Zero info from the vehicle owner.
5 minutes of ships passing in the night style info gathering.
Rampant speculation.
Assumptions.
Stereotyping.
Holier than thou camraderie.

Yeesh.
 
I had to get gas at WM yesterday. As I was pumping my $4.44 per gallon gas, a beautiful white 2017 Chevy Suburban was at the pump opposite of me. When he was finished and started his engine it was making a God-awful rod knock! It was more pronounced as he drove off (engine revving up). I'm thinking to myself, "Has he EVER checked the oil? Is there HARDLY ANY oil in the engine? Does he hear the rod knock noise and just doesn't care?"
There were more thoughts, but I can't post them here.
Why do you care of even give it a second thought? Someone else's vehicle knocking, rusting away, smoking like my mother mothers old frying pan is as important as bicycle falling over somewhere in China.
 
Why do you care of even give it a second thought? Someone else's vehicle knocking, rusting away, smoking like my mother mothers old frying pan is as important as bicycle falling over somewhere in China.
Easy there baby moose. Let's not tangle our antlers with maw and paw moose. :p 🦌 I just thought it would make good conversation. 🤷‍♂️
 
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