My Acadia went into limp Mode displaying low power mode on the screen and wouldn’t start for a couple days after. Lights started illuminating on the dash as abs, traction control, and stanilitrack, then check engine light came on and my gmc app displayed code p2138. I have had since low power and extremely high gas consumption.
GMC Acadia won't shift problems
121 of the 5,599 owner complaints about the GMC Acadia describe stuck in gear or won't shift, most of them for the 2008 model year.
- owner complaints
- 121
- worst model year
- 2008
- typical repair cost reported
- $3,200
- typical mileage
- 76,462
Is there a fix? There are 6 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
Check engine light 28Transmission failure 18Slipping 7Loss of power 7Whining noise 4Stalling 4Jerking 3Airbag light 3
Trouble codes mentioned
P0700 3P2138 2P0797 1P0776 1P0752 1P0716 1P0017 1
What owners say
Engine randomly shuts off when driving for no reason. Will restart and check engine light comes on. Has now happened three times , twice to me in traffic. One of those the car went into a limp mode where it wouldn't drive above 30mph at most. This is very unsafe in the middle of highway traffic. The second happened approaching a traffic light , I put the car into neutral and luckily it restarted and check engine light came on. The third time my wife had her friends in the car and it shut off at a light , she had no idea what to do. I had her stay there and brought her our other car. I have read this is caused by a known fuse box issue. They should be made to fix this problem before someone gets seriously hurt driving in traffic.
The car would not shift causing me to pull over on the side of a highway to restart the car this happened 5 times in a row b4 the car would shift into proper gear
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle and attempting to shift into park, the vehicle failed to recognize that the transmission was in park(P). There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that several attempts were required to shift the vehicle into park(P) to turn off the vehicle. The contact further stated that on other occasions, the vehicle remained stuck in park(P) and failed to shift into drive(D). The contact related the failure to TSB: 19-NA-205. The dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was opened. The contact was referred to the federal safety agency Hotline to report the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.
Gear shifter will not go into park.
Car will not shift into park therefore I cannot turn the car off without disconnecting the battery. Dangerous bc you don’t know if the car is in park or not when you have to get out and stand in front of car to life hood and disconnect battery.
Won't shift into park alert came on. Vehicle wouldn't shift into park. Danger of vehicle roll off? Took to GM dealer who replaced GM part 13545094 transmission controller aka shifter assembly. It is believed this defect was detected and recalled on 2018 GMC Acadia models. My 2019 was made in 2018. In service date 10/04/18.
Vehicle is randomly stalling or going into limp mode when driving. Has done it in intersections, driving down the hight way and even stopped in a parking lot. No warning but throws codes unrelated to the problem. I’ve been told that it shuts off half of my engine randomly while running and that contributes to the stall. Can cause accident if stalls while turning or even if in wrong lane on high way. You loose all power steering and basically have to coast to safety. Sometimes it re starts some times your stuck there with no reasons for it to not re start. Usually it starts same day when this happens but hours later. Sometimes it stutters and you know it’s coming but not often will you get this warning. I’ve replaced every thing in every code it’s thrown and still can’t go a week without stalling out. Very unsafe for families just trying to go anywhere. Has done in an hour into a trip or three minutes down the road. All weather conditions as well. I’ve had it to two different garages with no luck yet. Have found a bulletin on wiring for the fuse box which seems promising for the issue but am worried about putting more money into something so unreliable. At this point it’s dangerous to drive and is a safety hazard.
Around 7k miles on the vechicle, driving down the road it kept coming to a stop and skipping. Pulled into the parking lot the best that I could and put it into park. After it wouldn't shift into anything. Never gave any dash signals. It is currently in the shop getting a whole new transmission.
My 2022 Acadia does not go into park at times even though the control button shows that it is in park. On May 15, 2025, I pulled under my carport and put the car in park. As I reached for my purse in the passenger seat, the car started moving forward even though it was in park. It ran through my privacy fence and injured my daughter who happened to be on the other side of the fence. She had some pretty severe bruising and scrapes on her hip, thigh, and upper body. The pain is bad enough, but her arm and shoulder was injured. It continually feels like something running up and down her arm. This is three weeks later and she still has the problem. The horrifying fact is the reality that I could have killed her through no fault of my own. I had the car towed to the dealership because I was afraid to drive it. Of course, the service department said they ran a test through the electrical system and found no problem with it. They brought my car to the front and told me there was nothing wrong with it. In fact they said they had not heard of that kind of problem. When I have to park I find a parking spot that would be least likely to have someone walk in front of it. If I have to park facing anything I will not pull up fully into the parking space so if my possessed car decided to go for a joy ride while in park again, at least someone would have a running chance to stay alive. I consulted the internet trying to find a fix to the problem. What I found was that GM has had the problem for years and has no idea how to fix it, yet they are allowed to continue to sell vehicles that are a potential safety hazard to society. My vehicle is a safety hazard to me and to society. Also learned that if you take you car to the repair shop you are appeased thinking they repaired the problem and yet it continues. When your warranty runs out, GM expects you to pay for any further visits to the shop. As far as I'm concerned selling GM products could be considered A FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY!
Related recalls
Power train: automatic transmission
- What is wrong
- General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2023 Cadillac XT6, GMC Acadia, Chevrolet Blazer, Traverse, and 2022-2023 Cadillac XT5 vehicles. The transmission may have been built with an incorrect sun gear, which can result in the driver-side half-shaft disengaging from the transmission.
- Risk
- A half-shaft disengaging from the transmission can result in a loss of drive power or vehicle rollaway when the vehicle is placed in park. Either of these scenarios can increase the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the sun gears, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on July 27, 2023. The remedy is expected to become available August 31, 2023. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1‑800‑458‑8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1‑800‑222‑1020, or GMC customer service at 1‑800‑462‑8782. GMC's number for this recall is N222389310.
Recall number 23V172000 · Recall details
Power train: driveline: driveshaft
- What is wrong
- General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2023 Cadillac XT5 and GMC Acadia vehicles. The right-front half-shaft assemblies may be improperly connected to the transmission, causing them to separate.
- Risk
- Separation between the half-shaft and transmission can result in a loss of drive power or vehicle rollaway when the vehicle is placed in park. Either of these scenarios can increase the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the right-front half-shaft assemblies, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 17, 2023. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1‑800‑458‑8006 or GMC customer service at 1‑800‑462‑8782. GM's number for this recall is N222393410.
Recall number 23V043000 · Recall details
Power train: automatic transmission
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Chevrolet Cruze and Buick LaCrosse, 2018-2020 Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Terrain, 2018 Chevrolet Malibu, 2019-2020 Buick Encore, Buick Enclave, Cadillac XT4, Chevrolet Blazer and GMC Acadia, and 2020 Cadillac XT6 vehicles. The start/stop accumulator endcap may have missing bolts.
- Risk
- Missing bolts on the start-stop accumulator endcap could result in a transmission oil leak and may progress to a loss of propulsion, increasing the risk of a crash. A transmission fluid leak in the presence of an ignition source may increase the risk of fire.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the start-stop transmission accumulator and replace it if any bolts are missing, free of charge. The recall began December 15, 2020. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1‑888‑988‑7267, Buick Customer service at 1‑866‑608‑8080, Chevrolet customer service at 1‑800‑222‑1020 or Cadillac customer service at 1‑800‑458‑8006. GM's number for this recall is N202313440.
Recall number 20V668000 · Recall details
Power train: driveline: driveshaft
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2018 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles and 2017-2018 GMC Acadia vehicles. The right front intermediate driveshaft may fracture and separate while driving.
- Risk
- If the front right intermediate drive shaft assembly separates while driving, the vehicle will lose propulsion, increasing the risk of a crash. If the assembly separates while parked on a grade, without the park brake engaged, the vehicle may move unintentionally, increasing the risk of a vehicle roll-away.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the right front intermediate drive shaft assembly, free of charge. The recall began August 25, 2017. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1‑800‑462‑8782 or Chevrolet customer service at 1‑800‑222‑1020. GM's number for this recall is 17329.
Recall number 17V516000 · Recall details
Power train: automatic transmission
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014 Buick Regal, LaCrosse, Verano, and Enclave, and Chevrolet Impala, Malibu, Cruze, and Traverse, and GMC Acadia vehicles equipped with automatic transmissions. In the affected vehicles, the transmission shift cable adjuster may disengage from the transmission shift lever. As such, these vehicles do not conform to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 102, "Transmission Shift Lever Sequence, Starter Interlock, and Transmission Braking Effect." They also fail to conform to FMVSS number 114, "Theft Protection and Rollaway Prevention."
- Risk
- If a vehicle's shift cable disengages from the transmission shift lever, a driver may be unable to shift gear positions and the indicated shift position may not represent the gear position the vehicle is in. Should a disengagement occur while the vehicle is being driven, when the driver goes to stop and park the vehicle, the driver may be able to shift the lever to the "PARK" position, but the vehicle transmission may not be in the "PARK" gear position. If the vehicle is not in the "PARK" position there is a risk the vehicle will roll away as the driver and other occupants exit the vehicle or anytime thereafter. A vehicle rollaway increases the risk of injury to exiting occupants and bystanders.
- Remedy
- General Motors will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace any affected transmission shift cable adjusters, free of charge. The recall began on April 10, 2014. Chevrolet owners may contact General Motors at 1‑800‑222‑1020, Buick owners at 1‑800‑521‑7300, and GMC owners at 1‑800‑462‑8782. General Motors' number associated with this recall is 14048.
Recall number 14V092000 · Recall details
Power train: automatic transmission: lever and linkage: column shift
- What is wrong
- General motors is recalling 276,729 my 2009 buick enclave, chevrolet cobalt, hhr, malibu, traverse, gmc acadia, pontiac g5, g6 and saturn aura and outlook passenger vehicles. These vehicles fail to comply with federal motor vehicles safety standard 102, "transmission shift position sequence, starter interlock, and transmission braking effect", and fmvss 114, "theft protection and rollaway prevention". On some of these vehicles, the transmission shift cable adjustment clip may not be fully engaged. If the clip is not fully engaged, the shift lever and the actual position of the transmission gear may not match. With this condition, the drive could move the shifter to "park" and remove the ignition key, but the transmission gear may not be in "park".
- Risk
- The driver may not be able to restart the vehicle and the vehicle could roll away after the driver has exited the vehicle, resulting in a possible crash without prior warning.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect and ensure that the shift cable adjustment clip is fully engaged. In the event that the clip does not engage, the shift cable will be replaced free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on or before march 24, 2009. Owners may contact buick at 1‑866‑608‑8080, chevrolet at 1‑800‑630‑2438, gmc at 1‑866‑996‑9463, pontiac at 1‑800‑620‑7668 and saturn at 1‑800‑972‑8876 or at www.gmownercenter.com.
Recall number 09V073000 · Recall details
Questions about the GMC Acadia won't shift
Which GMC Acadia years have stuck in gear or won't shift problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2008 (31 complaints), 2007 (28 complaints) and 2017 (15 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix stuck in gear or won't shift on the GMC Acadia?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $3,200 (median of 21 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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