I was driving home on the evening of September 12th 2026 and when I exited the interstate and came to a stop at the traffic signal my vehicle died and I had to have it towed. There was no way to flat tow because we couldn’t get it into neutral without the vehicle’s engine running. Once the vehicle’s engine died it would not restart. Had this happened while still on the interstate causing my vehicle to be disabled in the lane of travel it could have been deadly since it was 10 p.m. in the evening and dark outside. Anyhow had the vehicle towed to the dealership for diagnosis and the engine spun #7 rod bearing which ruined the entire engine at just 15,182 miles.
2026 GMC Sierra 1500: engine knocking or ticking
14 of the 150 complaints about the 2026 GMC Sierra 1500 describe engine knocking or ticking.
- owner complaints
- 14
- of this car's complaints
- 9%
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? 3 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below
Engine knocking or ticking by model year
What owners say
Truck was sold to me and the dealership said the truck did not have the defect and the oil was changed to a thicker oil as a precaution. 4,000 miles later the engine failed, was diagnosed as catastrophic engine failure due to the known recall, and was replaced, new engine is now making the same rod knocking noise.
2026 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali 6.2L , with 3550 miles; started ticking at 45 MPH and another mile to get home started knocking, had truck for less than a month; no warning lights. I had it towed to the dealer. They said it needed a new engine, no time frame for repair.
2026 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali 6.2L , with 3550 miles; started ticking and another mile to get home started knocking, had truck for less than a month, had it towed to the dealer they said will get a new engine, they can't even five me a time frame for the new engine replacement.
My 2026 GMC AT4X 6.2 liter engine had a lifter fail for #5 cylinder due to a faulty designed crankshaft bearing causing a knocking with the engine running. It required the engine to be replaced by GMC at only 7100 miles. The dealership admitted it was a defective/incorrectly manufactured part that caused the failure. I wanted to report this since GMC had said this issue had been corrected on the 2026 model year engine, but I have been reading that this issue is still occurring in the new vehicles and at a very low mileage instance. Mine failed at only a little over 7,000 miles.
Was driving the vehicle and started making a loud knocking noise and had a loss of power.
Rattling, knocking sound from the 6.2 ltr motor. Dealer verified engine failure, needs to be replace. Engine failed with only 4770 miles. Never made it to the first oil change.
This truck has the GM L87 6.2L engine that is currently on recall for 2021- 2024 model years, but recently the federal safety agency is looking into post engine replacement failures and 2025-26 model year issues. My engine at 7,000 miles failed for rod bearings. Same issues reported years ago and 100k engines ago. GM has not fixed the problem, its still happening.
Vehicle: 2026 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4 (3.0L LZ0 Duramax Diesel) Current Mileage: ~16,500 miles Check Engine Light Status: NO Check Engine Light active Description of Incident & Symptoms: •Interstate Incident: While driving at highway speeds, a severe drivetrain vibration occurred (felt like a rear wheel weight flew off). •Dashboard Warnings: Within 5 minutes, intermittent "Traction Control" and "Forward Collision Warning" alerts appeared on the dash, accompanied by a sudden drop in engine power. •Engine Noise & Idle: Once safely pulled over, the engine exhibited a loud mechanical knock and a very rough, unstable idle. •Extended Crank: After shutting the engine off and waiting a few minutes, restarting the truck took roughly twice as long as normal (long crank/delayed start)
The contact owns a 2026 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormally loud and rough knocking sound coming from the engine block. The oil pressure decreased to zero, and the engine seized. There was no warning light illuminated before or after the failure. The vehicle was towed to a dealer, where it was diagnosed with a blown engine. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 5,018.
The engine started having knocking and I took it to the dealership and now I have been waiting 45 days with no engine replacement in site after they told me the engine failed completely. It had 3,900 miles on the engine!
Engine Failure at 18,000. Knocking noise started immediately followed by vehicle going into low power mode. Dangerous to drive in traffic in low power mode. No other warning lamps or indications that something was wrong. Dealer inspected and found a bearing went out in the engine.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2026 GMC Sierra 1500 knocking
Is engine knocking or ticking a common problem on the 2026 GMC Sierra 1500?
14 of 150 owner complaints about the 2026 GMC Sierra 1500 (9%) mention engine knocking or ticking. The model year with the most reports is 2021.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2026 GMC Sierra 1500?
There are 0 recalls and 3 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2026 GMC Sierra 1500
Engine failure 53Check engine light 16Loss of power 15Stalling 8Won't start 8Won't shift 6Hesitation 5
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