2015 GMC Canyon: jerking or lurching

Filed Jun 23, 2026 · Steering · NY

Was driving my truck and would randomly lose power steering while driving. When the power steering cut out it would jerk the steering wheel to the left a little bit and if I pulled over and turned the key off and turned it back on, it would reset and start working until it happened again, which could be five minutes later or 20 minutes later. It would cut out at any given time. I am the second owner of this vehicle and once this problem started happening I looked into it and found out that there was a recall on this, and the recall had been satisfied in 2021 but the problem obviously was not fixed. Tried calling several dealerships with no luck and was forced to get it fixed at my regular shop at a cost of $3023.07. I have receipts for the repair. This is clearly an issue that was never resolved.

Filed Oct 9, 2019 · Transmission · 48,000 miles · AR

Vehicle stalls then jerks forward when accelerating and decelerating. Jerking causes brief loss of control as vehicle lurches forward while transmission attempts to catch up. This occurs at any moment while driving (uphill, downhill, turning, city streets and highways) seems to occur most when speeds are under 60 MPH. Causes very unsafe conditions and check engine light goes on and off. Occurred today and has occurred almost everyday since I've owned the vehicle. (2 years)

Filed Jun 19, 2019 · Transmission · 25,000 miles · KY

Vehicle has a bad shudder where it is causing drivability issues. This occurs mainly when driving up an incline when at about 1200 RPM. Truck will sometimes jerk and shake and has poor throttle response causing dangerous driving conditions. This has happened several times over the coarse of about 3 months with the last instance occurring today.

Filed Apr 7, 2019 · Steering · 69,000 miles · CA

Power steering fails. Alarms steering failure, stability errors and that steering may be difficult. This is the exact same error and the recall 16v054000. Gmc claims that my vehicle is not one of the effected vehicle. Well ii obviously is and gmc is trying to minimize the total number of recalls. The dealer wants a huge amount of money to troubleshoot and possibly repair issue, but they also claim no recall so no help from gmc. The happens at both freeway speed and crawling in traffic. Steering wheels jerks then alarms go off. My wife will no longer drive this vehicle as she cannot turn the wheel when this happens and she almost crashed. I have also almost crash when this happened and I was caught by surprise and almost did not make a turn and hit the curb. Alarms will reset if I stop and turn off the vehicle then restart. But that's not really possible at freeway speeds or in local traffic. Gmc is hiding the fact that the recall 16v054000 is larger than they claimed. This safety issue needs to be addressed asap before someone is injured or killed because of a known issue the gmc will not own. This has happened at least 5 times now and after contacting gmc they claimed its not there problem and I need to pay to have the truck repaired. First happened december 2018 when gmc was contacted and has not happened 5 more times. The last time on march 31, 2019 it happened twice in less than 1/2 hour. So the issue is getting worse. Please let gmc know they missed a few trucks with their recall dates.

Filed Mar 5, 2017 · Transmission · 100 miles · VA

Between 20 and 40 MPH truck fails to shift to a lower gear and increase speed. This causes the driver to keep pressing on the gas and then vehicle decides to shift to a lower gear and lurches forward, if you're in traffic this is when the vehicle is most dangerous and if the weather is severe (snow or ice) could cause you to loose control of vehicle. I've notified gm through their assistance center and have yet to hear from a gm engineer. The shifting problem is well documented on the web.

Filed Mar 15, 2016 · Engine, Transmission · 500 miles · WI

The truck chugs and hesitates randomly when a down shift is required. Generally this random hesitation is just annoying. At times the vehicle will not downshift for a considerable time. When making maneuvers in and around traffic the trucks poor shifting causes the truck to jerk and not accelerate. When the truck will eventually does down shift the gas pedal must be all the way at the floor and accelerates at full speed. Bulletin pip5342a supposedly addresses the concern but says it is normal. Gm tells the dealer not to attempt to fix. I have had multiple times where this problem has put me at risk for an accident.

Filed Dec 18, 2015 · Transmission · 12,000 miles · DE

Vehicle shifting lags and hesitates then engages abruptly causing unsafe acceleration. Specifically entering an on-ramp. When trying to merge into traffic from a slower ramp speed to join highway speeds the vehicle struggles to find the proper gear. In order to offset this problem the driver needs to depress the accelerator further to help the transmission downshift to a lower gear. However, doing so while the transmission is searching for the proper gear causes the vehicle to suddenly lurch forward with more force and acceleration then is required or safe. I have brought my truck into the dealership twice for this issue and was told that gm states that this is the normal operating conditions of the truck. I feel this is not an adequate response and certainly does nothing to address the safety issue of a transmission that disengages to search for a proper gear and then reengages abruptly causing the driver to make unnecessary and unsafe adjustments to keep the vehicle under control.