2016 GMC Sierra 1500: sudden loss of power

Filed Nov 1, 2026 · Transmission · NH

Loss of power, shuddering, hesitation upon attempt to accelerate. 8-speed automatic transmission failure, known to GMC at the time of purchase (2017). GM Service Bulletin 39370 dated April 2016.

Filed Jun 30, 2026 · IL

I noticed a "ticking" noise a few years ago, it wasn't that bad and while taking my truck to the dealer for an oil change I ask about it and the representative told me that in this models that was normal. Since it wasn't that bad and the truck didn't show any problems at that time, I just decide to let it be. This weekend I took my family out of state for a fun trip, and while going in the highway around 55-65 miles per hour, the truck suddenly lose power, it felt like it the truck "sits" the cars behind me had to dodge me and I lost control of the truck and had to steer to the right getting out of the highway and almost go into a ditch, thankfully nothing scaleted to a big and disastrous accident. The engine light started to flash. And suddenly stopped, I turn off the truck checked back for my family and after a few minutes, I started the truck again, the truck started right away and but I noticed the "ticking" got a little louder, talking to my neighbor about this he told me he had the same issue and hes motor went bad and they said it was a bad AFM system causing this, I started searching on line for it and see there been the same issues with the AFM with other drivers, and seen that the have the same issues Im confident that it is an AFM problem. Truck is been running and is my daily work car and I notice is loosing power, I contacted the dealer but haven't had any answer yet. I cant take it to a mechanic shop because they would charge me in between 2,500 to 5k to fixed, money that I dont have, while in the call with one shop he told me about this place to put a claim and notify about how dangerous this can be if in a highway.

Filed Mar 29, 2025 · Engine · MN

My truck uses excessive oil .i bought my truck on [XXX] and we decided to take it to pipestone camping for the weekend in August of 2023 . I still had roughly 3000miles before my next service . We left on a Saturday night to go home around 12:30 am . it was a 4 hr drive and about 3:00am my oil light came on . Before we left i checked the oil and it was full I stopped at the nearest gas station which was 10 miles and it took 2 and1/2 quarts to hit the full mark then went to Arkansas with the truck, just had it serviced prior and checked myself before we left and it was good . We drove there and back I checked at every gas fillup. The light never came on but when I checked the next day it was 2 1/2 quarts low this was this past January of 2025 it’s gotta be blowing past the rings or something with the pcv system ,but this is far from routine and could destroy the motor or at the least severely diminish the longevity of my truck and [XXX] knows of all safety concerns anywhere from engine seizing up all of a sudden driving down the interstate at speed and losing power to everything. Degrading the oil like that is not good for any internal parts . Now every time I start it the lifters tic and it only has 84263 miles .This is a very expensive truck . I take care of my vehicles to make them last and I can’t afford another pickup in this price range which was 38,000 in 23 . I know I can’t be the only one complaining about this issue . I’ve had it serviced by a outlet of the dealership I bought from it only been serviced 2 times that I know of since I bought and well before the service it’s been drastically low on oil with well over half the miles left before the next service . To me that’s insane . I have a ford fusion I’ve never added oil since I bought it and it has twice the millage . Gm needs to take responsibility for this and get these autos fixed before there is a fatality because of the faulty cheep parts they put in these trucks INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C.

Filed Feb 25, 2025 · Engine, Steering · 137,000 miles · IL

The contact owns a 2016 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and making a sharp turn, the steering wheel seized, the vehicle lost motive power, stalled, and shut off. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed and the contact was informed that the ECM was losing power and that further testing was needed to diagnose the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 137,000.

Filed Nov 17, 2024 · Body, Electrical · FL

Paint bubbling on roof. When turning on key, the radio makes a loud buzzing sound. On 11/16/2024, when leaving a traffic light, the truck began surging and shuddering. Tachometer was revving up and down like the transmission was slipping with loss of power while trying to take off and accelerate. While attempting to return home, loud booming noise was coming in from under floorboard. I was unsure if I would make it home before the transmission totally failed. People were passing around me because I was unable to acceleration fast enough because of the shuddering and loss of power. No previous signs of any powertrain issues or failures before. It happened for the 1st time today, and my truck is no longer safe to drive. GM has known about this transmission issue for years on several different models and has failed to broadly rectify the mechanical problem on all affected vehicles. Instead, GM has allowed the vehicle owners to continue to drive a vehicle with a known problem while it waited for a failure. This put me and my family at risk because I am driving around in a vehicle with a known transmission problem not knowing when it would fail or where I could be located when it failed. GM needs to pay for all repairs on all vehicles with this transmission failure because GM has known about this problem for years before someone gets hurt or killed. GM knew about the shuddering problem from the beginning, and they fixed the problem by tuning the transmission which then caused the total transmission failures over time which vehicles owners are not dealing with. Metal shavings are being located in the pan when inspected. GM should be held responsible for the cost of these transmission repairs. I would have never purchased the GMC Sierra 1500 if I have known GM was installing defective transmissions in new vehicles. That is shady, reckless, and unsafe. GM, pay to fix these problems.

Filed Oct 17, 2023 · Steering · CA

Lost power steering at low speed, radio, ac and power to screen shuts off. Once the wheel is turned to the middle the power comes back on. Ive fixed this issue already last year and now again its happened a year later, they say now at 65,000 it is a rack and pinion when last year they said it was the battery.

Filed Aug 13, 2023 · Brakes · CA · crash

While parking in San Francisco after driving for about 100 miles, the brakes felt they had lost all power, the pedal was pressed down to the floor and caused the braking distance to increase drastically. There was a fence post to the left of my truck. So I was going to go forward a little then back up and straighten out to pull forward and finish parking. Going slow 3-5MPH I pressed the brake and the truck kept going forward, I felt a shake from the brake pedal and then no pressure, straight to the floor, then the brake pedal didn’t return up. i kept pressing/pumping the brake pedal but still felt like there was no power at all. When you released the brake pedal the pedal would not return to the top like normal. So the truck would not stop, it felt like forever, but when the truck did stop it had just come to rest on the fence post left of me, causing a small dent on the, rear passenger, driver side door. This was really scary because I was parking on a ocean pier and I though I was going to go into the fence in front of me and then into the water. I know now that that was most likely not going to happen because of the low speed I was going at but non the less SUPER SCARY. So now I have a dent on my truck and I am also scared to drive the truck because the brakes might not work when I need them too.

Filed Apr 17, 2023 · Steering · CT

Dash flashed Steering assist reduced while I was driving and then I lost all power steering nearly crashing the vehicle. Upon bringing vehicle to a stop I turned off vehicle exited and looked under hood for anything obvious. Upon restarting the vehicle warning was gone and power steering returned. I was advised by GM that a recall for this problem is available for previous year but not mine. I am afraid to drive vehicle, worried the problem will occur again.

Filed Jun 11, 2021 · Electrical, Steering · MD

1. Loss of Power Steering - Engine shuts down - Dashboard flickers (sometimes it turns back on) 2. Loss of Power Steering & Engine shuts off while in motion - EXTREMELY DANGEROUS (Usually happens at slower speeds when turning the steering wheel) 3. Dealer has not been able to confirm the problem 4. The dealer won't look at problems unless "it" happens in their hands because the diagnostic does not show this problem. 5. No warning before this happens. No way to force the problem to happen....it just happens usually when turning wheel at slow speeds. 6. THIS IS SO DANGEROUS.... 7. The 2015 Sierra has a recall for this problem, Mine is a 2016 8. PLEASE HELP - VERY DANGEROUS

Filed Jan 21, 2019 · Brakes · 32,862 miles · TN

At low speeds the vacuum pump gets weak and does not provide the needed vacuum to the brake booster. Resulting in loss of power brakes. While parking I backed up and then pulled forward to straighten up. As I changed direction a pedestrian walked out in front of me and nearly hit them. I had to stand on the pedal with both feet. If my wife would have been driving the truck she would have ran the pedestrian over. The dealer can not replicate the problem and they are not going to replace the booster under warranty. Although gm does have a technical service bulletin in place about this exact issue. Tsb # pit5361c. This is a major safety concern!!!! And gm does not care!

Filed Jan 15, 2019 · Brakes · 46,000 miles · MO

Lost power brakes when depressing them as I was backing into a parking spot. I had to press repeatedly to get pressure back in the brakes. Luckily stopping in time. It happened again later this evening when I was rolling to a stop at a light. The brakes again lost power and I had to press them repeatedly stop the truck before hitting the car in front of me.

Filed Dec 19, 2018 · Brakes · 34,375 miles · NY

I have experienced loss of power brake boost on numerous occasions, several times while backing my boat trailer down the boat ramp, and several occasions backing up at slow speeds and going forward at slow speeds (usually less than 5 MPH). The brake pedal becomes very hard to depress, and truck feels like it's not going to stop unless I apply extreme pressure. It has been intermittent. I asked my local gmc dealer about the issue this past fall, and was told they couldn't do anything until it failed and could be replicated. I didn't experience it again for several months, but this week it has occurred at least three times. I called dealer to make an appointment, which they did, but they again told me that unless they can replicate it, they won't be able to fix it. I have researched this site and have found a number of instances with both gmc sierra's and chevrolet silverado's experiencing the exact same problem.