2005 Chevrolet Uplander: engine stalls while driving

Filed Oct 13, 2014 · Engine · 125,000 miles · IL

It is difficult to pinpoint the first occurrence. Approximately 1 year ago, my wife mentioned that her 2005 uplander would stall at random times while she was driving. She said there seemed to be no pattern to when it would happen except she was always moving and after stopping it would always restart. We took it to a mechanic who found now issues with the car. I started driving it and never had a problem, until the day I realized that all you had to do was tap the key and it would turn off. I put my wife's keys in and slightly touched her key chain and it turned right off. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Then I read about the gm recall on key cylinders for all these cars built around the same time as mine. I contacted gm and they told me our car didn't qualify for the recall. I then read a recent article stating that our uplander has one of the recalled cylinders but they deemed it "safe" in our car. Safe is completely inaccurate. Any vehicle that is showing this problem should be fixed at gm's expense.

Filed Sep 16, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 119,000 miles · WI

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet uplander. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle was able to restart after multiple attempts. On another occasion, the entire electrical components failed. In addition, the brake and the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact also stated that there was an abnormal noise coming from the vehicle and hesitated to accelerate. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who that the ignition switch needed to be replaced. Additionally, there was an electrical shortage for the interior lighting, and head gasket needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 119,000.

Filed Jun 12, 2014 · Electrical · MS

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet uplander. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, it stalled without warning. The contact mentioned that the failure would also occur when driving over a bump. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the ignition switch was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown and the current mileage was 160,000.

Filed Oct 29, 2010 · Engine · 108,000 miles · NC

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet uplander. The contact stated that the vehicle suddenly stalled she was driving 35 MPH without any warning. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The current and failure mileages were approximately 108,000.

Filed Aug 30, 2010 · Acceleration · 68,000 miles · PA · 1 injury

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet uplander ls. While driving in reverse 2 MPH she heard a loud pop. She felt something on her left foot and noticed blood and her right knee was also bleeding. She stated that the vehicle was accelerating and moving backwards. The vehicle stalled in the middle of the street forcing her to use all of her body weight in order to stop the vehicle. She had to use all of her body weight in order to shift gears and stop the vehicle. After the vehicle stopped, she notice that the entire spring to the gas pedal was broken into pieces on the floor board of the vehicle. A neighbor put the vehicle in neutral and pushed it into the driveway. She sustained injuries to her knee and foot. Her right knee had a torn cartilage. A police report was not filed. The dealer referred her to the manufacturer. The manufacturer was called on august 20, 2010 and advised her that they would call her back in 3 to 4 working days. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was previously owned when it was purchased. The approximate failure and current mileages were 68,000. Updated 06/26/12

Filed Jun 19, 2008 · Brakes, Electrical · 20,000 miles · DE

I purchased a 2005 uplander from a gm dealer in july 2005. I now have 32,167. I took my vehicle in for its normal oil change at 22,000 when the service department said I needed front and brakes and rotors. We replaced the brakes and rotors and my rotors need to replaced again. I also noticed a noise coming from the left front tire I was told that they did not hear the noise and everything was fine. I have taken the van in for dimming on the lights and the vehicle feeling like it is going to stall too many times to count and every time they tell me it is just the way gm vehicles run. I also have a problem with the starter I will crank it and nothing this happens at lease once a day and I have to retry at least two times before the van will start.the steering has been a big issue we have been having problems with the tightness and when I am driving I can feel the back end swaying. The vehicle is unsafe to be driving and with two small children it is extremely scary. After reading all the complaints how is this vehicle still on the road. The issues people are having are extremely dangerous. The dealership I go to has never tried to fix or replace any of the issues with my van. They also tell me its normal and they cannot find anything wrong. I am looking to replace the tires they are bald which is causing the van to hydroplane everytime it rains. The sticker on the inside panel is different from the tires. The tire goodyear intergrity p225/60r17 states 44 psi with a max load of 1653 lbs. The inside sticker states 35 psi and max load of 1330 lbs. The tire size is extremely hard to find. I have also noticed when we close the sliding doors they do not shut, the latch doesnt catch the door until you slam extremely hard. Then my daughter will try to get out of the vehicle and the child lock will be on when we didn't slide it on. Can someone please do something to stop this

Filed Aug 25, 2007 · Electrical, Fuel system · 11,000 miles · CA · 1 injury

The car intermittently tries to start the crank keeps turning but does not start. As well as I was traveling on freeway with a big rig on the side of me and the car stalled and steering locked. Thank god I managed to glide over to the exit lane. I was terrified as was my passenger. When I looked at the gauges I noticed I was out of gas, but I had just put in $20 . Chevy sent out tow truck to give me gas, but car still would not start. Finally hours later car was taken to chevy. When uplander was finished they said it was electrical short due to water in lines. Weather was great no rain or puddles anywhere. Uplander almost stalled on another night lights dimmed and tires stopped ,but then it worked fine. Strange very!!! Driver side sliding door opens or shuts when it wants. My daughter was in her car seat and I pushed button to close door she put her foot up towards door and it shut and locked. Luckily her tennis shoes were a little big so only minor bruising occurred. However my daughter is terrified of car. Also I have already put 6 new tires on car because they were bald at 13,000 miles first time. Tires in front are bald again. Uplander is not stable to drive on highway.

Filed Aug 22, 2007 · Fuel system · 20,000 miles · MN · 1 injury

I will be driving on a half a tank of gas, just up to town, 1mi, all of a sudden, it goes to low fuel and I will stall. I was stuck on the side of the road with 6 kids for 2 hours before I could find help. This happens all the time. I can have almost a full tank and park on a hill and it will go red and low fuel. Cannot get any help with this problem.

Filed Nov 15, 2006 · Electrical · 1,600 miles · PA

2005 chevy uplander shuts off while driving. Vehicle will not start back up sometimes. Radio and blinkers go off and on. Before vehicle shuts off a service theft system warning message comes up on dash display.

Filed Oct 4, 2005 · Fuel system, Lights · NY

Dt: 2005 chevrolet uplander. While driving vehicle stalled on the highway with children inside. There was a fuel line problem. This occurred more than once. Had to roll vehicle to neutral so the vehicle will start. The vehicle showed no gas if it was b not level parked. The interior and exterior lighting flickered more than on one occasion. People thought the consumer was flashing lights at them. The vehicle was manufactured for a handicap person. The consumer contacted the dealership , and they were able to duplicate the problem. The consumer was working with manufacturer to not have this vehicle any more due to all the problems. Had problems since february 2005. The vehicle was not safe to drive. Would not recommend anyone to buy this vehicle.

Filed Aug 4, 2005 · Fuel system · NY · crash

Dt: the contact owned a 2005 chevrolet uplander. The vehicle will stall if the gasoline tank is below a half a tank and on a hill. Contact's wife hit a garage because the vehicle stalled. She was pregnant, and also had a two month old son that was in the vehicle. The dealership acknowledged the problem, and their answer was not to let the vehicle go below a half tank. There was no way to correct the problem, and told him to call the manufacturer. The manufacturer said they could not correct the problem, and they will not pay for the damages. Gm did say they would send a representative to look at the car because they could not do anything until they look at it. Caused an accident. This happened two weeks ago. The vehicle hit the beam, but there was no property damage.

Filed Jun 27, 2005 · Brakes · 6,926 miles · KY

May 1, service stabilitrak system message came on, traction control light came on, vehicle stopped on own. Able to drive about 20 feet before it stopped again. This repeated about 20 times. The brakes engaged all 4 wheels without pressing the pedal each time. After restarting vehicle it works fine. May 2 going 65 MPH on I-275, the lights came back on and the brakes engaged without notice. My wife was able to get off the road (lucky). It was like she slammed on the brakes on a slick road (without using the pedal). Dealer could not locate reason, called gm tech assit and they found a bad connection with the wiring harness. Got van back may 3. May 11 lights back on and kept engaging brakes in driveway. Dealer found another suspect connection with gm tech assist and gave us the van back. June 5 lights back on until getting gas. June 8 lights back on, onstar ran diags and reported anti-lock brake issue. Lights stayed off after restarting van. Each time we turn off the van and then restart it, it seems fine. June 9 lights back on, onstar found same error reported. June 10 lights back on. On way to dealer the brakes failed to engange just yards from dealer and wife went through stop sign. Service advisor tried 4 times to stop van driving it to the stall. Dealer found tire going flat while in stall. Dealer found 17 codes stored showing low voltage. With gm tech assist dealer claims to have found yet another bad connection. Gave van back after only 4 hours. June 12 lights back on. June 13 took it to selling dealer (45 miles away). Dealer still has van (2 weeks later-june 27) claims engineer came down, could not find problem but suggested replacing bcm (17 codes again). They are replacing the computer hoping it is the cause. We dont want the van back and asking for a replacement under the lemon law and the fact that it fails to stop if a tire is low on air. Replaced radio and mouldings. Had brake failure, sliding door failure, and more. I would not buy another uplander.