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GMC Sierra Denali check engine light comes on

19 of the 250 owner complaints about the GMC Sierra Denali describe check engine light, most of them for the 2019 model year.

owner complaints
19
worst model year
2019
typical mileage
26,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.

By model year

  • 2020
    2
  • 2019
    7
  • 2018
    1
  • 2017
    3
  • 2016
    2
  • 2015
    1
  • 2011
    1
  • 2009
    1
  • 2006
    1

Often reported together

ABS 3

Trouble codes mentioned

P205B 1

What owners say

Filed Sep 11, 2026 · Engine · 25,000 miles · NC

The contact owned a 2020 GMC Sierra Denali. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, there was an abnormal knocking sound coming from the engine compartment. The check engine warning light was intermittently illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer; however, the cause of the failure was not yet determined. The dealer advised the contact to purchase a new vehicle because the engine would eventually need to be replaced. The contact stated that at approximately 3,000 miles, there was an abnormal odor oil burning odor coming from the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil and approximately 5 quarts needed to be added between scheduled oil changes. The failure mileage was approximately 25,000.

Filed Mar 11, 2026 · Body, Engine · 107,000 miles · MT

The contact owns a 2018 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, and while the vehicle was parked, the running boards unexpectedly lowered. Additionally, there was oil leaking from the vehicle, and the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with camshaft failure. The contact was informed that the camshaft needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 107,000.

Filed Mar 9, 2026 · Transmission · 103,000 miles · KS

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra Denali. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle jerked, failed to accelerate, and stalled. The vehicle was unable to shift into third gear. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was drivable and was taken to the dealer. The vehicle was diagnosed with a wiring harness failure on the transmission. The vehicle was repaired based on the diagnostic test but failed to fix the vehicle. The vehicle was parked at the residence and was undrivable. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000.

Filed Nov 10, 2025 · Engine · 105,000 miles · WI

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra Denali. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was shuddering and vibrating. The contact pulled over and opened the hood with the engine running. The contact stated that there was an abnormal ticking sound coming from the engine. The vehicle was driven to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the fuel injectors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the vehicle was still running rough. The contact was advised by the mechanic that the fuel injectors needed to be reprogrammed, and the vehicle was taken to a dealer. The dealer reprogrammed the fuel injectors, but the vehicle was still running rough. The dealer had not opened the engine up to diagnose the failure; however, the dealer thought that there might be a failure with connecting rods. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact researched online and related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 25V274000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000.

Filed Nov 23, 2021 · Engine · 20,000 miles · ID

The contact's father owns a 2020 GMC Sierra Denali 3500. The contact stated that while his father was driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed with a cylinder #1 misfire. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was then taken to Wackerli Auto Center (1363 N Holmes Ave, Idaho Falls, ID 83401) on numerous occasions and diagnosed with a faulty sensor. The dealer replaced the sensor; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Filed Feb 14, 2020 · Electrical, Engine · 26,000 miles · TN

Engine light keeps coming on take it to the dealer I guess they reset it and now this is the 3rd time it's now back on, back up camera goes out from time to time,

Filed Feb 3, 2020 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 2,000 miles · IA

After using app to start the vehicle, I sat in the driver seat depressed the brake and pushed the start button. Immediately a warning popped up saying ESC needed service, service trailer brake, speed limited to 62mph. Additional lights illuminated including brake, traction control, ABS, and cel. Since the dash indicated that the speed was reduced I thought it would be safe to drive, however at the first turn I realized my brakes were nearly gone and I went through the intersection. The brakes appeared to have lost the boost and were extremely hard to depress making it difficult to stop the vehicle. I limped the truck home and notified the dealer. The next day I tried starting the truck and the brakes returned with no dash messages although the cel was still illuminated. There is a recall for a similar issue but it looks like my VIN is not apart of it.

Filed Jan 25, 2020 · Electrical, Steering · 970 miles · TX

On january 23rd I started the gmc via the gmc phone app and when I got in the truck pushed brake and start button and that's will gauges went crazy saying brake malfunction .steering ,speed reduced to 62 MPH and brake pedal went to floor with little to no brakes and stopped the truck turned it off and on twice before all codes cleared except now the check engine light is on . Brakes appeared to work fine after te second time of turning the truck off and on .970 miles on it!

Filed Jan 24, 2020 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 9,793 miles · OH

After starting vehicle using the mygmc app, I received the following warnings: 1. Service trailer brake system 2. Steering assist is reduced drive with care 3. Service ESC 4. Brake system failure 62 MPH top speed 5. Check engine light. Vehicle was stationary and I did not drive afterwards. Truck was in for service last week to complete recent recalls and replace a leaky rear window. When I pick the truck up, I noticed the lane keep assist, lane departure warning, intellibeam headlight, forward collision alert, and other functions associated with the window mounted camera system were inoperable. I have an appointment already scheduled for that and will add this for the dealer to investigate. Truck was taken to dealer for recall on 1/7/2020 and I got it back on 1/18/2020 because of the window replacement.

Filed Jan 8, 2020 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 1,403 miles · SC

I started my vehicle on january 7th 2020 at about 4:00pm to return home from work I received multiple warning lights and the check engine light went on. The warns read "break system failure 62 MPH too speed", "service ESC", "steering assist is reduced drive with care", "service trailer break system". The vehicle would not break properly I would estimate the breaking capacity at 30% from normal. I turned off the vehicle and restarted it about 5 minutes later, all warnings were gone but the check engine light was still luminated, the vehicles performance was reduced and breaking was at about 80% of the normal capacity. I have made an appointment with the dealer for imidiate service I slowly and carefully drove the vehicle home. The vehicle has approximately 1403 miles on it.

Related recalls

No recalls on record for this model year.

Questions about the GMC Sierra Denali check engine light

Why does the check engine light come on in the GMC Sierra Denali?

Owners who report it most often also describe multiple warning lights, abs light or abs activating and misfire or rough idle, and the codes they mention most are P205B.

Which GMC Sierra Denali years have check engine light problems?

The model years with the most reports are 2019 (7 complaints), 2017 (3 complaints) and 2016 (2 complaints).

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