mobile-menu-icon
GM Authority

Here’s Why Your Chevy Traverse Starter May Be Making Strange Noises

Some Chevy Traverse owners may notice that their crossover is producing a grinding or free spinning sound under the hood. In addition, owners may notice some issues related to the engine’s automatic stop/start operation. Now, a possible cause behind these issues has been identified, as has a potential fix.

The front end of the 2019 Chevy Traverse.

According to a recent report from GM TechLink, these issues may be present on some units of the Chevy Traverse produced for the 2019 through 2020 model years. Affected models are equipped with the naturally aspirated 3.6L V6 LFY gasoline engine.

Per the report, the issues may be related to a damaged automatic transmission flex plate. If the flex plate has any damaged or missing teeth, the starter may not properly engage, and there may be an open 350A starter mega fuse.

In order to address this issue, it’s recommended that a GM technician removes the starter and inspect the automatic transmission flex plate through the starter mounting hole. The tech should look for any damaged or missing flex plate teeth while rotating the crankshaft, and if any teeth are damaged or missing, the flex plate should be replaced. In addition, the starter pinion should be rotated and inspected for any damaged teeth. If there is no damage to the starter pinion teeth, the starter does not need to be replaced. Starter pinion teeth can be damaged by a broken or damaged flex plate.

As a reminder, the full-size Chevy Traverse crossover offered a single engine option throughout most of the 2019 model year and through 2020, specifically the naturally aspirated 3.6L V6 LFY gasoline engine, rated at a maximum of 310 horsepower at 6,800 rpm and 266 pound-feet of torque at 2,800 rpm. Output is routed through the GM nine-speed automatic transmission, while the GM C1 platform provides the underpinnings. Production took place at the GM Lansing Delta Township plant in Michigan.

Subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevy Traverse news, Chevy news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.

[nggallery id=1028]

Jonathan is an automotive journalist based out of Southern California. He loves anything and everything on four wheels.

Subscribe to GM Authority

For around-the-clock GM news coverage

We'll send you one email per day with the latest GM news. It's totally free.

Comments

  1. Auto Start/Stop is the worst invention in the history of history…

    Reply
  2. There’s that GM lack of quality.

    Reply
  3. We overrode the start stop on our 2021 by shifting to manual and going to 9th gear. After a couple of weeks the start stop just stopped working on it’s own and we couldn’t be happier. The 2022 got an override button.

    Reply

Leave a comment

Cancel