2017 GMC Sierra 2500 Complaints

POWER TRAIN — Filed 02/27/2026

The ABS light came on while driving. Tire and components were removed to expose the axle housing. It was determined by the parts manager at DeBauche Truck and Diesel that the rear wheel hub nut had come loose and destroyed the threading. The damage was catastrophic, in that continued use of the vehicle may result in an accident and the vehicle cannot be driven until remedied. GM customer satisfaction program released a notice dated January 2018 for this specific safety issue. Reference number N172120230. A replacement axle cost was 2078.35 with additional parts and labor to be determined. Vehicle was purchased 8/29/2025 from Morrie's West Salem with no indicated reports of the issue through carfax and no related recalls through nhtsa. The vehicle had 30,967 miles at time of purchase.

ENGINE — Filed 02/28/2026

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra 2500 Denali. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with a failure of the #8 glow plug. The contact was informed that all eight glow plugs were replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the failure was a known failure with the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 63,800.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — Filed 12/26/2023

The pigtails to the injectors are prone to failure. The vehicle without warning throws multiple codes and immediately limits power and speed while shaking. This can cause a dangerous driving situation. This is a known problem and is on many online forums as a common failure. The repair shop gets so many of these that they were able to diagnose the issue over the phone and noted that it usually happens around the 200k mile mark. However many reported this as an issue while under warranty. The issue is with the metal connector material being prone to failure and arcing.

POWER TRAIN — Filed 03/22/2017

The vehicle had a shudder when I first bought it and towed a boat. Around 60-70 it felt like a tire out of balance. The truck is stock no alterations. New tires and the vehicle has the same shudder. Had the tires balanced three times at different tire shops with no correction. I was getting my oil changed and the shop suggested a transmission and transfer case oil change. Once they looked up my vehicle they told me I would have to go to a dealer for the transmission oil change. I brought my vehicle to a GM dealer for the transmission oil change. They diagnosed my vehicle with a bad transmission causing the shudder with the only fix a new transmission at $7,800. I have yet to replace my transmission. Reading only thousands of GM owners complaining about the transmission issues. Two other types of transmission have had recalls and fixes but this version no fix. GM knowingly has produced thousands of faulty transmissions not offering to correct. I have spoken with multiple transmissions shops and they all know the issues. GM should honor their faulty product either replacing or correcting it. It’s a shame. I didn’t realize what the issue was till it was past the warranty. Upsetting knowing it was messed up from the new sale.

FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL,ENGINE — Filed 07/09/2024

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra 2500. The contact stated while driving approximately 75 MPH, the vehicle started to jerk and vibrate abnormally. The contact stated that the "Engine Power Reduced" warning light was illuminated. The contact pulled off the roadway and placed the vehicle in park(P). The contact depressed the accelerator pedal, and the vehicle was vibrating. The contact stated that the steering wheel was also vibrating abnormally. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the injector connection was worn, causing the engine to misfire, and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The contact researched online and related the failure to Technical Service Bulletin Number: 23-NA-027 Fuel Injectors (Fuel System, Diesel). The failure mileage was approximately 104,000.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER — Filed 08/01/2023

Service Trailer Brake System warning will not stop dinging and alerting. this happens constantly with or without a trailer . I dismiss the alert and it continues to sound off. I have trouble thinking or talking. Very Very distracting. Took my vehicle to the dealer and they did not know how to fix it.

POWER TRAIN — Filed 07/05/2024

On July 5, 2024 while traveling and towing our 5th wheel (7,200lbs) with our 2017 GMC 2500 6.0L GAS engine (with the 6L90 transmission) and without any previous warnings or signals the check engine light illuminated and approximately 10 mins later the vehicle went into limp mode with "Transmission Hot.....Idle Engine" warning, causing us to lose power of the vehicle. We coasted over to the side of a 2 lane road with no shoulder and stopped the vehicle to let it cool down. This happened several times leaving us stranded in places that were NOT safe to allow the transmission to cool because we had no other choice since we were on country roads with no pullouts. At this point, we were just trying to get to the closest safest place to disconnect the trailer, so we could have the vehicle looked at by the GMC dealer. The closest place was an RV park approxiamately 20 miles away, so we limped there and disconnected from the trailer. Our safety and the safety of other drivers was a huge issue since there was nowhere we could pull over where we would be out of danger. We had no warning that our transmission was bad up until this point. The dealer inspected the vehicle and confirmed on July 8, 2024, that the vehicles transmission failed and needs to be replaced. We serviced our vehicle religiously and had the transmission flushed/changed at 49,944 miles. The failure of the this transmission occurred at approximately 54,000 miles. We were stuck and without our vehicle for 7 days while we waited for The GMC dealer to replace our transmission. There are plenty of problems with the GMC/Chevrolet 6L90 transmissions and unfortunately, we fell victim to this problem. GMC should be held accountable for issuing a recall as we could have easily caused an accident and serious damage to ourselves as well as others. This transmission is failing causing it to be is unsafe.

VISIBILITY — Filed 04/27/2024

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed with the defroster activated, a smoke odor was detected inside the vehicle. The contact's wife checked the rearview mirror and saw flames coming from the rear windshield. The contact's wife pulled over and heard a loud explosion from the rear windshield shattering before turning off the vehicle. The flames from the rear windshield were extinguished on their own after the vehicle was turned off. There were no injuries sustained. The vehicle was restarted, and the contact's wife deactivated the defroster before driving to work. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was determined that the rear windshield needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The failure mileage was approximately 97,000.

ENGINE — Filed 04/01/2024

The truck had 8 glow plugs replaced.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 07/25/2023

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra 2500. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist, and the brakes failed to stop the vehicle immediately. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle coasted to the side of the road. When the contact arrived on the scene, he noticed that the generator pulley had detached. The contact then purchased a new generator, which he replaced himself. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 55,756.

POWER TRAIN,ENGINE — Filed 09/17/2023

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra 2500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the transmission was slipping. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle was diagnosed with transmission failure and the contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was being repaired by an independent mechanic. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 46,000. The VIN was unavailable.

ENGINE — Filed 12/29/2022

On December 29, 2022 I stopped at the bank for 2 minute and when I got back to my truck I noticed smoke coming out from under the hood. I immediately called 911 and luckily some nice people were able to get my hood up safely and the bank provided a fire extinguisher before the fire trucks arrived. It was engulfed in flames. The fireman said it appeared the fire started in the wiring at the engine. I had a recall fixed a while back for the engine block heater so I was worried maybe they didn’t repair the recall. A week after the fire I received a 2nd recall in the mail for the same recall. Today is July 9th and my truck is still in the shop waiting on parts that have been on back order this whole time. GMC told my insurance company they were sending someone down to look at it. Never heard anything back. This could have been so bad had I been driving it when the fire started. So here I am going on 7 months without my truck all while paying $942/month. I just want something to be done to speed up the repairs that my insurance has paid. Estimate is $22,000

UNKNOWN OR OTHER — Filed 01/15/2023

The radio in my truck acts on its own (buttons push by themselves). The problem is known and I’m fine with turning my radio off instead of paying a lot of money for a new one. I’ve been fine with it until recently. First problem I’ve let go for a while now which is that it turns on by itself while driving which is a distraction. But biggest problem now is not only did the radio turn on by itself but it also went into the backseat reminder and turned it off. I do have an infant and I hope to never forget. But when paying for a vehicle this is a feature you pay for. No one should lose a child bc of this. I’ve talk to a dealership about the initial problem and have done research on it. There is no warning signs. Vehicle has not been inspected by any others. I do have a video of the backseat reminder turning off without my control.

STEERING,AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 10/20/2022

I was in an accident on October 20th 2022 while driving home. U had just reached the top of a sharp crest on a two way road. As I started to straighten out the wheels coming out of the turn I noticed my direction was still as if I was turning the wheel. I tried to brake and pressed the brake but it went to the floor and the truck kept going. I collided with the other vehicle and it was a miracle neither of us were seriously injured or killed. We had problem with the steering box about 2 years ago and had to have it towed to the dealership. The other vehicle was a Chevy 2500 with a custom steel flat bed & it slowed me down and I finally came to a stop with the front tires off the road. Neither vehicle alerted onstar & airbags did not deploy. His vehicle miraculously had minimal damage to the cab the majority of the damage was the metal gear box located under the bed in between the cab & tires. It was super scary & left both vehicles disabled.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — Filed 06/02/2022

The def heater gm part#84162464 has broken on my truck. There are many owners with the same problem on their duramax diesels. This has been an issue since def tanks were mandated by the federal government. The replacement cost is estimated to be $2000. from my local dealership. The truck had 50,000 miles on it when the heater first started working intermittently. I'm reporting this so it can be logged in as another incident for failing, poorly engineered parts.

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC — Filed 09/16/2022

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra LD. The contact stated that on two separate occasions while driving at approximately 50 MPH, the front passenger side wheel locked inadvertently. As a result, another vehicle crashed into the attached trailer which caused the trailer to jackknife. The driver alert warning light illuminated. The air bags failed to deploy. No medical attention was required. No injuries were sustained. A police report was filed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact then stated that on a separate occasion while driving at normal speed, the front passenger side wheel inadvertently locked without warning. As a result, the strut detached from the control arm which caused the attached trailer to detach and crashed into the vehicle that caused the vehicle to crash into a ditch. the rear passenger side air bags deployed however, the front driver and passenger side air bags failed to deploy. No injuries were sustained. No medical attention was required. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the contact’s residence and then towed to a collision center. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact referenced an unknown NHTSA recall related to the Service Brakes, Hydraulic as a possible cause. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 51,117.

POWER TRAIN — Filed 10/06/2022

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the transmission inadvertently shifted from high to low gears and the RPMs revved up. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the failure could not be duplicated. However, the failure recurred while driving. The vehicle was then taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the valve body, the clutch, the piston, and the transmission plates needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that while driving and an undisclosed speed, the transmission was shifting hard into a lower gear, then into third gear without warning. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer but was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 07/19/2022

Service Trailer Brake warning comes on repeatedly. Trailer brakes fail to work.

TIRES — Filed 07/06/2022

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra equipped with Goodyear, Tire Line: Wrangler SRA, Tire Size: 275/55/R30, DOT Number not available: The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the passenger’s side front tires experienced blowout. The contact was able to pull over safely and replace the tire. The failure reoccurred and the front driver side tire blowout causing the contact to sideswipe another vehicle and crashing into a building. The airbags deployed but no injury and a police report were filed. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer had been notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 05/18/2022

We were at a restaurant with friends we got back into the vehicle. I started up the vehicle and several electrical things happened. The service trailer brakes message came up, then the service power steering message came on. The engine was running but the tachometer didn’t work, or the oil pressure gauge. A couple other warning lights on the dash were on and stayed on. When I put it in reverse it wouldn’t move. When I put it in drive it would move forward. So we were stuck in our parking spot. We decided to put it in neutral and two of us pushed the truck out of the space into a busy street in hopes of getting home. Luckily none of us or the truck was hit by the people driving on the roadway. I put the transmission in drive and it would go into gear but not not shift out of first gear. The speedometer was not working either. We drove a few 100 feet in hopes that it would shift into a higher gear and it would not. We were able to find a safe place to pull off the highway and parked it. Turned the truck off, waited several minutes and tried it again. Still the same so we were stranded there. Left it there and called an Uber driver to come out and pick us all up. I called for a towing service to pick the truck up the next morning. When I arrived the following morning to meet the tow truck I got in and started it up. Other than the check engine light being on the truck seemed fine. I still had it towed to the dealership to be on the safe side. It was there 6 days and today I picked it up. They couldn’t find anything wrong. In the description of service and parts it states “scanned found long list of codes, most of codes are lost communication with engine control module, followed some tsb for possible issues, no results”. Also, “cleared codes and test drove vehicle, have not been able to duplicate concern at this time”. So I now have a vehicle that I can’t trust and hope our safety will not be in jeopardy in the future.

SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 03/05/2022

Service trailer brake system warning blinking while driving, it happened couple of time on highway, I couldn't take a pic, this is a headache

SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 02/10/2020

MY 2017 GMC SIERRA DENALI HAD ALREADY BEEN THE SUBJECT OF THE RECALL RELATING TO THE BRAKE ISSUE. SHORTLY AFTER THEY PERFORMED THIS RECALL WORK THE BRAKES BEGAN FAILING AT LOW SPEED. WHEN DRIVING BELOW 5 MPH, THE PEDAL WHICH SUDDENLY FALL AND THE ABS WOULD TRIGGER. DURING THIS TIME, THE CAR WOULD CONTINUE MOVING WITH THE ABS FULLY VIBRATING. THANKFULLY, MY TRAILER HITCH ABSORB THE REAR IMPACT AGAINST A WALL. THE PROBLEM CONTINUED. I THEN TOOK THE TRUCK IN FOR SERVICE AND THEY REPORTED THAT THERE HAS BEEN A SIGNIFICANT FAILURE RATE OF THE VACUUM ASSIST. THE DEALER REPLACE THE VACUUM PUMP AND VACUUM LINES. I'M EXTREMELY CONCERNED THAT THIS WOULD HAPPEN TO SOMEONE ELSE NEAR AN INTERSECTION, NOT JUST SLOWLY BACKING INTO PARKING SPACES. I HAVE CONTACTED GMC BY EMAIL BUT STILL HAVE RECEIVED NO RESPONSE OR ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MY COMMUNICATIONS.

AIR BAGS — Filed 09/19/2019

HAD MAJOR HEAD ON COLLISION AND THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY

SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 07/12/2019

AS I WAS BACKING UP I APPLIED MY BRAKES AND FOR SOME REASON NOTHING HAPPENED WHICH RESULTED IN MY HITTING MY WIFE'S CAR AND DAMAGING HER DRIVERS SIDE QUARTER PANEL. WHEN I ASKED GMC ABOUT THE ISSUE THEY SAID IT WAS JUST AN ERROR ON MY PART. NOW I FIND OUT THAT THERE IS A RECALL ON THE BRAKING SYSTEM THAT THE PRESSURE TO THE BRAKES MAY BE AFFECTED. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DAMAGE TO HER CAR?

SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 03/06/2018

I ALMOST KILLED A KID TODAY PARKING FOR A BASEBALL GAME. I WAS TRAVELING SLOWLY AND PARKING WHEN MY BRAKES BECAME HARD TO PUSH AND FAILED. TRUCK WENT OVER CURB AND TOWARD KID PUTTING ON HIS CLEATS AND NOT FACING ME. I WAS ABLE TO PUSH AS HARD AS I COULD AND IT STOPPED. I BACKED UP AND BRAKES WORKED AGAIN. I HAVE 46,000 MILES ON THE TRUCK. I AM NOW AFRAID TO DRIVE IT, BUT IT SEEMS THEY ARE WORKING AGAIN. IF THIS IS COMMON, GMC NEEDS TO TAKE CARE OF THIS. SOMEONE WILL SOON BE HURT SERIOUSLY!