2010 Buick Lucerne: fuel pump failure

Filed Aug 14, 2025 · Electrical, Fuel system · MI

We have a Buick Lucerne 2010. We went out it would not start. Tow it to dealership they replace the fuel pump. We did. Get it home next day it will not start again. Tow it to dealership again. This time they find melted wire connectors. Under back seat and on a fuse box.They replace them it starts and melt them again. This time they call to junk yards to get a used fuse box and connectors. Because of cost. The junk yards did tell them it's a known problem with these cars and they sell these fuse boxes and connectors sell as fast as they get them. We said no used parts on this car. Come to find out that GM now's about this problem. And has not done anything about it. They meaning GM. Has even put out papers on the internet as how to try and fix it. Such as cut the insulation around the fuse box.And even cutting the seat belt bracket. My wife drives this car everyday. Now she is afraid of it. Because if it happened once could it happen again. I don't now. I have drove GM's all my life but am not happy about this. What do I do. Please help. I am a retired firefighter and I do not want her to drive this car if it could catch fire.

Filed Jan 27, 2024 · Electrical · NC

Rear fuse block, fuel pump relay, gets hot and melts. Apparently due to seat latch pushing against fuse block cover. Smoked, but not fire.

Filed Apr 28, 2022 · Electrical · 70,000 miles · IL

The contact owns a 2010 Buick Lucerne. The contact stated that while the rear seat was occupied, it was raised up on the battery and fuse box, causing the fuse relay to short circuit. While driving, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the fuse box and fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

Filed Oct 6, 2021 · Electrical, Fuel system · MI

See GM Bulletin # 15-na-051 Vehicle died, required tow, found out due to fuel pump relay per bulletin cited above. Rear seat bracket interfered with fuse box, disabling vehicle requiring tow. Vehicle repaired at owners cost. Due to safety factor involved, the seriousness of the situation, for what portion of the costs of repair will the manufacturer be responsible?

Filed Nov 26, 2020 · Electrical, Seats · 105,000 miles · WA

Initial incident happened while driving on a street. Door locks power cycled lock/unlock and then the car would cut off. No warning, no time to move to out of traffic or turn on hazzard. I use this vehicle to commute to and from work/childcare etc. I also travel of the freeway alot. That was the previous incident. The most recent incident occurred when the car would not turn over and upon doing research we found that it may be related to. Relay issue due to the fuze box being underneath the rear seat. Gm claims that because a bracket used to fasten the seat in place interferes with the fuze box and presses down on the fuze pump relay and causes it to burn out. After switching out the relays with the suggested lower profile relay, the car drove for a few hours and then when we parked we couldn't remove the key from the ignition. Upon lifting the back seat to disconnect the battery we smelled and heard the fuel pump relay burning and sizzling. Since the car was "serviced" by a buick dealer in june I'm assuming that it wasn't actually serviced the relay was just replaced and maybe a few other tweaks here and there but the issue was not resolved. I am very concerned about the reliability of this car. I have children that ride in the back seat. I am fearful that the car will catch fire or spark.

Filed Oct 14, 2020 · Electrical, Fuel system · 71,000 miles · NY

Fuse box problem with design. The seat latch design together shorts out the fuel pump relay. This gets hot, shorts out and damages the fuel pump and can cause possible fire. This is a costly deadly design flaw and should be recalled. Lucky we fixed it in time. I have babies that sit in my back seat and it's scary to think that it could catch on fire with them sitting there.

Filed Sep 14, 2020 · Electrical · 158,000 miles · TN

Tl* the contact owns a 2010 buick lucerne. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle stalled without warning. Due to the failure, the contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was diagnosed with a defective fuel pump relay. After receiving the diagnosis, the contact had the fuel pump relay replaced. Despite the repair, the contact stated that while her husband was driving home from the mechanic at a low rate of speed, the vehicle shutoff again without warning. Due to the failure, the contact had the vehicle towed back to the same independent mechanic where it remained in their possession. Upon investigation, the contact linked her failure to the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v355000 (electrical system). The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed her that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The contact was offered no further assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 158,000.

Filed Nov 7, 2019 · Fuel system · 115,000 miles · IA

Car would not start while out of town. Had car towed to mechanic I trusted (not a certified buick dealer). Replaced fuel pump but after car was running a few minutes fuse box overheated and caused fuel relay to fail. He called buick and was told how to fix. He was also told that in order for fuse box and relay to be reimbursed buick dealer needed to submit claim. Submitted claim and got reimbursed for fuse box and relay but not pump. After 3-4 months of fighting buick to get fuel pump reimbursed, the denied appeal. Was told by agent of buick that fuel pump was warranted to 120,000 miles but only if taken to buick dealer. I don't trust the buick dealership in the town I was in when the car wouldn't start, which is why I took to mechanic I trusted. Communication with buick has been horrible...they don't even bother to respond unless you get contacting them. We have a 2006 buick lucerne with 205,000 miles and it still has original fuel pump. Car complaints.com has many instances of this problem in 2009 and 2010 lucerne but buick won't stand behind them!

Filed Oct 28, 2019 · Electrical, Fuel system · 60,000 miles · TX

2010 buick lucerne had been driven home and was cooling in driveway. After two hours, starter would turn over but engine would not start. Began to smell burning plastic inside vehicle. Found symptoms of problem described in gm service bulletin 15-na-051. After removing back passenger seat bottom cushion, checked inside rear fuse box and found that fuel pump relay had shorted and melted the relay and damaged adjacent fuses with burn marks across surface of fuse box. Waiting for vehicle to be towed to mechanic for fuse box replacement and to diagnose other potential damage caused by relay failure. Mileage at time of failure was 60,000. According to the bulletin, bracket on bottom of seat cushion pushes against the fuse box lid, which pushes against the fuel pump relay causing damage to the relay and fuse box. Why has there been no recall to repair this dangerous design flaw?

Filed Aug 26, 2019 · Fuel system · 116,000 miles · TX

Car started and was cooling down in a parking lot when it died without warning. It wouldn't restart. We towed it to a shop where they determined that the fuel pump had gone bad. Later discovered a bad sensor and relay. All traced back to the fuse box under the driver's side passenger seat that had melted due to pressure put on it by seat and various occupants/items. Mechanic replaced fuse box, relay, sensor and fuel pump plus warned me not to place anything heavy (or allow a heavy person to sit) on that side of the back seat. Mileage is 116,245

Filed May 7, 2018 · Electrical · 90,000 miles · IN · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2010 buick lucerne. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was examined by an independent mechanic who replaced the fuel pump, but the failure continued. Upon inspection, it was discovered that one of the fuses in the fuse box had burned out. The fuse was replaced, but it was later discovered that the fuse and fuse box had melted. The failure was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer was not notified. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000.

Filed Jul 21, 2017 · Fuel system · 144,800 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2010 buick lucerne. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start without warning. The vehicle was towed to ken's auto service center (located at 1656 massillon rd, akron, oh 44312; (330) 733-4328) where it was diagnosed that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The same failure occurred the second time. The vehicle was towed again to ken's auto service center where it was diagnosed that the fuse box underneath the seat needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted and made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 144,800.