Squeaky sound. Took off the belts, turned on, sound still there

[wjburken]

take a long piece of rubber tubing (like fuel hose) if you have it and listen through it while moving the end around the engine compartment to try and pinpoint where the sound is coming from. Based on what you have done, I still suspect a pulley or the water pump. It sounds like a bearing is starting to make noise and water pumps will begin like this and get louder as the bearing is damaged further. Be careful not to get your hose too near the belt with the engine running. Let us know what you find.

I blamed belt or pulleys. But took off both belts, started the truck and the problem is still there.
Checked oil levels in the engine and transmission, everything is up to regular level.
Hmmm....

He stated that he has removed the belts and still hears the noise with the belts removed so the water pump is not turning and neither are the idler pulleys.

 

[91RS]

I think I will start from pulling out the harmonic balancer and see if the sound will go away (I'm not sure what could be wrong there, except if it cracked, but sound is more squeaking than anything else).
If yes, means I have to change it. If not, I will pull the plate that covers flex plate and will look there.

Do not run the engine without a balancer on it unless you want to damage the engine.

Your video sounds like you need a cam and lifters but hard to say 100% for sure off just a video.

 

[Ss68chvll]

Does the sound seem to be coming from the front or rear of the engine? I’ve heard this on other 5.3’s and 6.0’s and it was a cracked flex plate. You said you recently replaced the engine with a reman, how long after replacement did the noise start??

 

[PeteCT]

Do not run the engine without a balancer on it unless you want to damage the engine.
Your video sounds like you need a cam and lifters but hard to say 100% for sure off just a video.

thanks for your reply! how would I check the balancer without pulling it off? It wiggles maybe a bit (hard even to say) which can be okay.

I was a bit over the place these couple months and couldn't get back to it (was driving "as is", yeah).
In February, I have to drive up north (FL-CT-FL), have no choice but to figure out what is going on.

I also noticed, the sound doesn't come right away. It starts fine, runs a bit (1-10 minutes, depends how long did it sit in the driveway), then the sound comes in but not too loud, after driving it sounds louder.

 

[PeteCT]

Does the sound seem to be coming from the front or rear of the engine? I’ve heard this on other 5.3’s and 6.0’s and it was a cracked flex plate. You said you recently replaced the engine with a reman, how long after replacement did the noise start??

I will go under the car to check it.
I mentioned in previous post, that after a night on the driveway, car starts fine, but a few minutes later the squeaking sound appears. After driving around it gets more noticeable. So not sure if flex plate would act like that.
About 4 months later. It started very slight and just sometime (as I believe, because I didn't notice that, my wife mentioned that) and one day it just appeared and never wanted to go away.

 

[PeteCT]

He stated that he has removed the belts and still hears the noise with the belts removed so the water pump is not turning and neither are the idler pulleys.

take a long piece of rubber tubing (like fuel hose) if you have it and listen through it while moving the end around the engine compartment to try and pinpoint where the sound is coming from. Based on what you have done, I still suspect a pulley or the water pump. It sounds like a bearing is starting to make noise and water pumps will begin like this and get louder as the bearing is damaged further. Be careful not to get your hose too near the belt with the engine running. Let us know what you find.

I pulled off all the belts. The only pulley that was spinning was the balancer. I think that in the water pump nothing to spin unless belts are connected. Correct me if I'm wrong, because I'm not an expert.

 

[rd62rdstr]

Wondering if you ever figured it out. What the heck was it?


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[Foggy]

Did you ever figure it out?
I might suspect a bad balancer... It can "walk" some it its bad and
rub against the front cover. You should be able to SEE if it has any kind of wobble too
These engines don't generally have issues, but all the C5 LS corvettes did

 

[Geotrash]

The only other possibility I can think of is a timing chain sprocket rubbing against the timing cover, but I would think the lubrication would keep it quiet.


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[PeteCT]

Geotrash I thought about it too, but when I pulled it off I didn't see any signs there. Also, the sound was right under the block and from the right head.
I was thinking since it starts squicking on hot only (if drive with 20w50 it takes about 3-5 min to start squicking, thinner - faster), it could be a lifter that locks down that wheel under the heat.
Whatever it was didn't want to go away. Until 3 days ago I changed oil as usual (which I do about each 1000-1200 miles) and.... also dumped 16oz AC Delco E.O.S. Assembly Lubricant into the engine. After 6 months of non stop hardcore squicking.... sound is gone. Completely. I cried

I still can't pin point what was that (especially because all the parts in the engine are brand new), but....

Problem is solved.