Eight problems related to differential unit have been reported for the 2000 Chevrolet Silverado. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
I was driving home one night in my 2000 z71 when I noticed a banging sound coming from the rear. I thought it was the air compressor in the bed of the truck moving around. When I determined that was not the source of the sound, I took the truck to a friends garage where we lifted the rear and removed the rear-end housing cover. Upon inspection of the differential we noticed that the retention bolt had broken and the cross pin fell out. This in turn caused the spider gears to "explode. " I purchased and installed a new differential, $500. 00. I still have a "ticking" noise coming from the rear. I believe that is due to a missing tooth on the pinion gear caused by the cross pin. Now I have to order a new ring and pinion gear set, $300. 74,000 miles. 14,000 over warranty. I found out that this is a fairly common problem in these z71's.
Truck woulc clunk and front end would jump when putting into gear and and turning. Truck was towed to dealership in fear that it would break down. Rear differential assembly replaced with used rear-end.
At 36,900 miles I had the rear and front pinion berrings replaced on my drive train. I also replaced the tires which were worn out. The vehicle is not driven much (4. 5 years old) as indicated by the mileage. I also experienced my accelorator being "stiff" when I attempt to depress it. I think gm needs to look into their shoddy transmission components. I also had the rear seal replaced at approximately 10,000 miles.
There is a backlash in the rear differential.
Pinion shaft broke and locked differential while driving the vehicle down the road. I have read of other instances with this same vehicle, year, make and model. I think this is soemthing that should be investigated on other vehicles.
Dealer refused to replace mirror even though truck under warranity and I have additional coverage.
Wheneve the truck climbs a slight to heavy incline at 35 to 40 mph it sound as though the drive trane is going to drop out from under the truck. The dealer tells me after 5 repair visits that this is normal and within gm tolerances.
On three (3) separate occasions over the past two years accelerator pedal has become very difficult to depress, enough so, that I became apprehensive to accelerate in a parking situation, so that I would let the vehicle pick up speed on its own until I was out in an open area. The dealer has "cleaned " the throttle body assembly on each occurrence. After the last service he charged $65. 00 for this service. Upon checking your website I see that this is not an isolated situation. I feel that the manufacturer should be made aware of this potentialy dangerous problem, and that a "fix" should made available at no charge to correct this problem. In regard to the second problem, I was very surprised, and disappointed when $1500 in repairs was necessary to repair the ring and pinion assembly in the rear end. The servicing dealer in all of these incidents was not the dealer that I bought the vehicle from, but it was tom gibbs Chevrolet,bunnell, FL . (386) 437-3314.