Cold start engine noise 2011 Silverado

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I have a 2011 Chevy Silverado with the 5.3 motor. It has 51700 miles on it, I am currently using Havoline 5W30 synthetic Dexos approved motor oil and an AC Delco filter. It makes an awful rattling noise that seems to come from the left front of the engine, this lasts for about 40 seconds to a minute. It just started doing this about a month ago. Any ideas? Thanks Dennis.
 
My 2013 Silverado with the 5.3L LMG engine makes a rattling noise for about 15 seconds during cold starts during cold weather. After that it goes away and purrs like a kitten.

Is this damaging to the engine, I don't know. Many have said that their 5.3L rattles like this and it has been doing this for over 100K.

I have tried several different oil filters and it does the same thing.
 
This is a somewhat common complaint. Doesn't really seem to be a cure for.

I have the same truck as yours. Mine has done it on an intermittent basis.

While maybe not a cure....many run Mobil 1 full synthetics motor oil for the 5.3's. Either version.

With the advent of the ACDelco Filter now becoming e-core, I just installed the Fram Ultra with the regular version of Mobil 1.
 
40 seconds in a cold engine represents about 1,500 plus reciprocations (idle high rpms) with maybe lack of lubricant.Id address this asap.
 
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Originally Posted By: Pontual
40 seconds in a cold engine represents about 1,500 plus reciprocations (idle high rpms) with maybe lack of lubricant.Id address this asap.



It's been pretty much narrowed down to piston slap and not lack of lubrication.....
 
My brothers 2010 silverado 5.3 does this occassionally. Sounds like lifter/valve train noise, it's definitely a rattle not a slap. It's not piston slap, I know what that is. I think a lot of 5.3s with VVT make this noise.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Is piston slap caused by poor,sloppy machining and engineering?


It is driven by getting an improvement in gas mileage by one tenth of one percent.

Thank the government and their mandates.
 
Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: Pontual
40 seconds in a cold engine represents about 1,500 plus reciprocations (idle high rpms) with maybe lack of lubricant.Id address this asap.



It's been pretty much narrowed down to piston slap and not lack of lubrication.....

Narroed down to piston slap ... By whom, you? Not even heard the noise ... fine
FYI piston slap go out when the engine gets warm enough, thats above 2 minutes, not half minute.
 
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My vote is a collapsed AFM lifter. Ours was always noisy after a cold start but once oil pressure came up the sound went away within 15 seconds. It's not piston slap. Sound is completely different.
 
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Piston slap in a GM V8 is rarely a problem. It is annoying but the engines still run a long time without issues.

All AFM owners should beware of the oil pump. They have a slight air ingestion issue that makes for bizarre intermittent lifter noise that can be quite hard to figure out. There is a note in the dealer's computer about this but it is often ignored...
 
Before you go to nuts throw a different oil filter on it, maybe a K&N or something.

I had a bad oil filter on my Silverado once that caused a bit of a rattle on start up, than must have went into bypass because your oil pressure will drop ever so slightly when they do if your paying attention.

It was a bad oil filter I spun on a new one and everything was back to normal; 90k+ miles later with the new owner its still running fine.
 
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Originally Posted By: Pontual
Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: Pontual
40 seconds in a cold engine represents about 1,500 plus reciprocations (idle high rpms) with maybe lack of lubricant.Id address this asap.



It's been pretty much narrowed down to piston slap and not lack of lubrication.....

Narroed down to piston slap ... By whom, you? Not even heard the noise ... fine
FYI piston slap go out when the engine gets warm enough, thats above 2 minutes, not half minute.


Piston slap has been so common in so many thousands of engines that most people routinely thing a cold start rattle is piston slap. Because most of the time it is and GM was the king of piston slap for years. Some Toyota Tacomas do it. Heavier oil can sometimes reduce or stop it. I heard it in my Tacoma for only a few seconds once or twice and went from 5-30 to 10-30 and haven't heard it since. As for how long it takes to disappear? I'd bet that has a lot to do with the size of the piston and how colds it is. Hypertuetectic pistons and the short skirts on them are the culprit, If the clearances aren't just right they rattle until they expand enough. You can Google it. It's very common with many manufacturers and various engines. Hypertuetectic piston technology is getting better and better so piston slap isn't as common as it was back in the 80's and 90's when they first went to the Hypertuetectic cast pistons. Back in the 80's GM had big problems with them and had oil consumption problems because of them as well. Thank your government.
 
Originally Posted By: Pontual
It's been pretty much narrowed down to piston slap and not lack of lubrication.....

Narroed down to piston slap ... By whom, you? Not even heard the noise ... fine
FYI piston slap go out when the engine gets warm enough, thats above 2 minutes, not half minute. [/quote]

Good point about internet diagnosis. Generally unreliable.

But I have owned quite a few GM slappers and have never had one that made noise for more than 30 seconds or so. Even my toy with forged pistons only makes a bit of noise for about 20-30 seconds when it's cold outside. People may need to note that the newer GM V8's start up at 1300-1500 rpm initially even in warm climates.

Pistons don't need 2 minutes to warm up a bit...
 
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Also true piston slap will NOT stop instantly, it a gradual reduction that happens as engine warms up...
 
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