All Wheel

[midwest]

Hello all,

I bought a 03 Denali XL with 63k last week. I love it, but it has a slight whine in the front-end at low speeds. From reading here and other sites, it seems this is common and not a big issue.

How durable is the all-wheel-drive system? Are people getting high miles with this system without failures? I now wish I had gotten something without AWD.

My only other issue is poor am/fm reception.

 

[Custom73]

The 6.0 and awd are the best two features of my '05 Denali. Mine also has a whine at 30-40 mph. It has 100K miles and all is working fine, so I try to ignore the whine. I love the awd and don't want to be without it. Does great in mud and snow and doesn't cause any adverse effects on dry pavement. I don't see why anyone would want to be without it (unless you were doing some seious off roading). Brother-in-law has a '02 Denali with 130K miles and no problems with it (it whines too). Very durable drivetrain, just keep up with regular maintenance - including trans service and changine fluids in transfer case and differentials every 30K miles or so.

 

[Rollin Thunder]

The 6.0 and awd are the best two features of my '05 Denali. Mine also has a whine at 30-40 mph. It has 100K miles and all is working fine, so I try to ignore the whine. I love the awd and don't want to be without it. Does great in mud and snow and doesn't cause any adverse effects on dry pavement. I don't see why anyone would want to be without it (unless you were doing some seious off roading). Brother-in-law has a '02 Denali with 130K miles and no problems with it (it whines too). Very durable drivetrain, just keep up with regular maintenance - including trans service and changine fluids in transfer case and differentials every 30K miles or so.

damn 100k on an 05.

 

[midwest]

The 6.0 and awd are the best two features of my '05 Denali. Mine also has a whine at 30-40 mph. It has 100K miles and all is working fine, so I try to ignore the whine. I love the awd and don't want to be without it. Does great in mud and snow and doesn't cause any adverse effects on dry pavement. I don't see why anyone would want to be without it (unless you were doing some seious off roading). Brother-in-law has a '02 Denali with 130K miles and no problems with it (it whines too). Very durable drivetrain, just keep up with regular maintenance - including trans service and changine fluids in transfer case and differentials every 30K miles or so.

Is our AWD system the type where it is mostly in 2wd mode, and only puts power to the front when it's needed? If that is the case, then I agree it is a great system.

 

[Jsho13]

got 116k on my 04' denali with no problems. She's ready for a change of differential fluid but still running strong. Love the AWD and love the 6.0 even more.

 

[Custom73]

Is our AWD system the type where it is mostly in 2wd mode, and only puts power to the front when it's needed? If that is the case, then I agree it is a great system.

This is how I understand it to work...

AWD is full power to all wheels all the time.
Auto 4x4 is 2wd and automatically locks into 4x4 when the rear tires spin.
Standard 4x4 is 2wd until you press the button to engage the 4x4.

I've driven them all and prefer the awd for my driving.

 

[Custom73]

damn 100k on an 05.

Yup. Bought it last July with 68K and now have just under 100K. Thats 30K+ in 1 year and 8 months... Not real happy seeing it at 100K, but have no doubt it will last much longer - it looks and drives like it has 20K on it!

 

[justin mazzon]

Took my AWD ESK out after some rain in a 2' grassy field. Has a culvert that runs thru it. It was full of water. Took some gas to make it thru. Coming back I got stuck in the culvert for about 5 minutes but made it out. After I was parked for about 10 minutes a gentleman in his suv told me not to try and go there EVERYONE GETS STUCK! When I told me I made it-ruined his day. Having fun on the grass!!