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2009 Cadillac Escalade Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 58 complaints with NHTSA about the 2009 Cadillac Escalade, most often about the air bags (41% of complaints, typically around 104,500 miles). It is 12th of 27 Escalade model years by number of complaints and has 5 recalls.
Most common 2009 Cadillac Escalade problems
Air bags
24 complaints · 41%Half of these problems showed up before 104,500 miles.
Takata recall. My wife drives this vehicle daily with our two children. The airbag light has randomly come on and off for the past 2 years. Now it is permittedly on, with the 'service airbag' also on the information center. As a safety issue we fill this needs to be addressed immediately, which I'm sure has been…
I have three separate situations with my 2009 Cadillac Escalade platinum. The upper dash closer to the window is cracked on both the driver and passenger side. Also the Cadillac Escalade woodgrain sign located on the passenger side dashboard is cracked as well. Is this a defect? My vehicle is typically stored in the…
Electrical
14 complaints · 24%Half of these problems showed up before 97,000 miles.
The contact owns a 2009 Cadillac Escalade. While the cruise control was activated, it would suddenly fail when the contact activated another electrical device in the vehicle. The failure recurred to the point that the cruise control no longer operated at all. Also, while driving over a speed hump or any other bump in…
The contact owns a 2009 Cadillac Escalade. The contact stated that the service stability traction control and service stability rack warning indicators kept randomly illuminating. Also, the brake lights remained illuminated. The contact had to turn the vehicle off and back on to reset the computer system; however, the…
Engine
10 complaints · 17%Half of these problems showed up before 158,500 miles. Parts named most often: engine.
The contact owns a 2009 Cadillac Escalade. While driving 20 MPH, the transmission seized and the vehicle jerked. In addition, while the vehicle was in the park position, the rpms accelerated rapidly without warning and the vehicle accelerated rapidly. The vehicle was taken to auto zone where it was diagnosed that the…
The contact owns a 2009 Cadillac Escalade. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the battery was drained. The contact called aaa, who had installed the battery incorrectly. The battery was replaced. While driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle started to shake. The vehicle lost motive power with…
Lights
4 complaints · 7%Parts named most often: brake lights.
The contact owns a 2009 Cadillac Escalade. The contact stated that the service stability traction control and service stability rack warning indicators kept randomly illuminating. Also, the brake lights remained illuminated. The contact had to turn the vehicle off and back on to reset the computer system; however, the…
Transmission
4 complaints · 7%Car shut off on me twice while driving. The car has a loud squeaking, squealing, rough noise. When that happens my rpms lock up and won't take it out of gear. Transmission slips at various speeds, it is said to believe at an up/down shift and a down/up shift. Suspension and other parts under vehicle are leaking.
The contact owns a 2009 Cadillac Escalade. While driving 20 MPH, the transmission seized and the vehicle jerked. In addition, while the vehicle was in the park position, the rpms accelerated rapidly without warning and the vehicle accelerated rapidly. The vehicle was taken to auto zone where it was diagnosed that the…
Steering
4 complaints · 7%The contact owns a 2009 Cadillac Escalade. While driving at an unknown speed and also while in park, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact had to apply force to the steering wheel in order to steer the vehicle. The "service steering" message displayed across the message board. The vehicle was taken…
The contact owns a 2009 Cadillac Escalade. While driving approximately 40 MPH on an off ramp, the power steering suddenly failed and the steering wheel seized momentarily. The driver lost control of the vehicle and drove down an embankment. Moments later, the failure was corrected and the steering wheel operated…
Other or unspecified
4 complaints · 7%Body and structure
3 complaints · 5%Parts named most often: body, frame and members.
The contact owns a 2009 Cadillac Escalade. The contact stated that the door handles on both rear doors fractured after a failed attempt to open the doors. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 55,000. The…
I have three separate situations with my 2009 Cadillac Escalade platinum. The upper dash closer to the window is cracked on both the driver and passenger side. Also the Cadillac Escalade woodgrain sign located on the passenger side dashboard is cracked as well. Is this a defect? My vehicle is typically stored in the…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2009 Cadillac Escalade recalls
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Gm will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on february 23, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on september 20, 2021. Owners may contact chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, and gmc customer service at 1-800-462-8782. Gm's number for this recall is n212328780.
Full defect summary
General motors, llc (gm) is recalling certain 2009 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, escalade ext, chevrolet avalanche, silverado 1500, silverado 2500, silverado 3500, suburban, tahoe, gmc sierra 1500, sierra 2500, sierra 3500, yukon, and yukon xl vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of arizona, arkansas, delaware, district of columbia, illinois, indiana, kansas, kentucky, maryland, missouri, nebraska, nevada, new jersey, new mexico, north carolina, ohio, oklahoma, pennsylvania, tennessee, virginia, and west virginia or "zone b." additionally, gm is recalling certain 2007-2008 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, and escalade ext, chevrolet avalanche, silverado 1500, suburban, tahoe, gmc sierra 1500, yukon, and yukon xl vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of alaska, colorado, connecticut, idaho, iowa, maine, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, mo
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Gm will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on february 22, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on march 1, 2021. Owners may contact chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; and gmc customer service at 1-800-462-8782. Gm's number for this recall is n212328760.
Full defect summary
General motors, llc (gm) is recalling certain 2007-2011 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, escalade ext, chevrolet avalanche, silverado 1500, suburban, tahoe, gmc sierra 1500, yukon, yukon xl, and 2009-2011 chevrolet silverado 2500, silverado 3500, gmc sierra 2500 and sierra 3500 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of alabama, california, florida, georgia, hawaii, louisiana, mississippi, south carolina, texas, puerto rico, american samoa, guam, the northern mariana islands (saipan), and the u.s. Virgin islands or "zone a." additionally, gm is recalling certain 2007-2008 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, escalade ext, chevrolet avalanche, silverado 1500, suburban, tahoe, gmc sierra 1500, yukon, yukon xl vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of arizona, arkansas, delaware, district of columbia, illinois, indiana, kansas, kentucky, maryland, missou
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Gm will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on february 24, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on may 11, 2021. Owners may contact cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; and gmc customer service at 1-800-462-8782. Gm's number for this recall is n212328790.
Full defect summary
General motors, llc (gm) is recalling certain 2013 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, and escalade ext, chevrolet avalanche, silverado 1500, silverado 2500/3500, suburban, tahoe, gmc sierra 1500, sierra 2500/3500, yukon, and yukon xl vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of alabama, california, florida, georgia, hawaii, louisiana, mississippi, south carolina, texas, puerto rico, american samoa, guam, the northern mariana islands (saipan), and the u.s. Virgin islands or "zone a." additionally, gm is recalling certain 2010 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, and escalade ext, chevrolet avalanche, silverado 1500, silverado 2500/3500, suburban, tahoe, gmc sierra 1500, sierra 2500/3500, yukon, and yukon xl vehicles originally sold, or ever registered in the states of arizona, arkansas, delaware, district of columbia, illinois, indiana, kansas, kentucky, maryland, missouri, ne
Electrical: electrical system
Risk: It is possible for the heated washer module to ignite and a fire may occur.
Fix: Dealers will permanently disable and remove the heated washer fluid module. An updated page for the owner manual will be provided and inserted in the owner manual to document that the feature has been permanently disabled and removed from the vehicle. The safety recall began on june 11, 2010. Owners may contact buick at 1-866-608-8080, cadillac at 1-866-982-2339, chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438, saturn at 1-800-972-8876, gmc at 1-866-996-9463 and hummer at 1-800-732-5493 or at the owner center at www.gmownercenter.com.
Full defect summary
Gm is recalling certain model year 2006-2009 buick, lucerne; cadillac dts; hummer h2; model year 2008-2009 buick enclave; cadillac cts; model year 2007-2009 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, escalade ext; chevrolet avalanche, silverado, suburban, tahoe; gmc acadia, sierra, yukon, yukon xl; saturn outlook; and model year 2009 chevrolet traverse vehicles equipped with a heated washer fluid system (hwfs). A recall was implemented in 2008 to add a fuse to the control circuit harness to address the potential consequences of a printed circuit board (pcb) electrical short. However, there have been new reports of thermal incidents on hwfs modules after this improvement was installed. These incidents resulted from a new failure mode attributed to the device's thermal protection feature. The significance varies from minor distortion to considerable melting of the plastic around the hwfs fluid chamb
Fuel system: fuel system, gasoline
Risk: Water in the module could cause a short or open circuit, illumination of the service engine soon lamp, setting of diagnostic trouble codes or the engine may be hard to start, may not start or may stall increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will install a new fuel system control module free of charge. The recall began on may 18, 2009. Owners may contact cadillac at 1-866-982-2339, chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438 and gmc at 1-866-996-9463 or at www.gmownercenter.com.
Full defect summary
Gm is recalling 27,188 my 2009 cadillac escalade, escalade hybrid, escalade esv, and escalade ext; chevrolet avalanche, suburban, tahoe, tahoe hybrid, and colorado; and gmc yukon, yukon hybrid, yukon xl, and canyon vehicles. The fuel system control modules may have a condition in which an adhesive separation of the room temperature vulcanizing (rtv) seal between the seal and the housing may allow water to seep into the module.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Desiccated air bag inflator rupture
Summary
From 2000 through 2017, takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("psan") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004l. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 blomquist report at www.NHTSA.gov/sites/NHTSA.gov/files/documents/expert_report-hrblomquist.pdf.consequently, all frontal inflators using propellant 2004 that do not contain a "desiccant" (a substa
Questions about the 2009 Cadillac Escalade
- What are the most common problems with the 2009 Cadillac Escalade?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: air bags (24 complaints, typically around 104,500 miles); electrical (14 complaints, typically around 97,000 miles); engine (10 complaints, typically around 158,500 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2009 Cadillac Escalade have?
- 5 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from February 5, 2021 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2009 a bad year for the Cadillac Escalade?
- It is 12th of 27 Escalade model years by number of complaints, with 58 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.