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2008 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 31 complaints with NHTSA about the 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 3500, most often about the air bags (45% of complaints). It is 14th of 27 Silverado 3500 model years by number of complaints and has 4 recalls.
Most common 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 problems
Air bags
14 complaints · 45%Parts named most often: frontal.
Purchased new 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 3500. Vehicle was involved in head on collision resulting in the vehicle being totaled by insurance company. The air bag did not deploy and onstar which is standard in the vehicle did not respond. We filed a formal complaint with general motors regarding the air bag and onstar…
Dashboard cracked in two places like many other 2007-2011 gm. Concerned of safety issue if airbags were to deploy.plastic from dash could injure or possibly pierce airbag rendering it useless.
Electrical
6 complaints · 19%Half of these problems showed up before 156,500 miles. Parts named most often: integrated trailer brake control, instrument panel.
While driving the service trailer brake system appear on the dic and there is the loss of all trailer brakes function, which deters the vehicles stopping ability. This has happened on several occasions in the last few months, while driving on the interstate, rural highways and city streets. After the vehicle is…
The contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 3500. Upon starting the vehicle, the service trailer brake system warning indicator illuminated and remained illuminated while driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact researched online and found a recall for the chassis electronic module. The contact…
Engine
4 complaints · 13%Parts named most often: exhaust system.
Purchased vehicle and immediately noticed a burning odor within the cab at times. This odor/fumes would burn my eyes, leave me coughing, give me headaches, and make me feel dizzy and sleepy. The problem continues and comes and goes. I have taken to the gm dealer 6 times. On 2 occasions the vehicle was brought in while…
I was driving down the interstate and check engine light came on, digital dash stated "power reduced" + "exhaust filter requires cleaning", and speed dropped to no more than 45mph. = = after a few minutes, operation was back to normal. = = this issue has continued and seems to be getting worse whether pulling a…
Other or unspecified
4 complaints · 13%Dashboard cracked in two places like many other 2007-2011 gm. Concerned of safety issue if airbags were to deploy.plastic from dash could injure or possibly pierce airbag rendering it useless.
Dash has severely cracked. If air bag was to deploy, the hard plastic of the cracked dash could very likely injure occupants within the vehicle. While driving down smooth roadway, we started hearing cracking noises and found the dash cracking.
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2008 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 recalls
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the front passenger or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Gm will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflators, free of charge. The recall began february 11, 2020. Owners may contact chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or gmc customer service at 1-866-522-9559. Gm's number for this recall is n192290990.
Full defect summary
General motors llc (gm) is recalling certain 2007-2008 chevrolet silverado 2500 and 3500 and gmc sierra 2500 and 3500 vehicles equipped with non-desiccated, passenger frontal air bag inflators containing phase stabilized ammonium nitrate (psan) propellant that were used as interim remedy parts for previous takata recalls. These inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling.
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants, potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Gm will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on july 27, 2015. Owners may contact chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or gmc customer service at 1-800-462-8782. Gm's numbers for this recall are 15438 and 15817.
Full defect summary
General motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2007-2008 chevrolet silverado 2500hd and 3500hd trucks manufactured november 28, 2006, to august 29, 2008, and 2007-2008 gmc sierra 2500hd and 3500hd trucks manufactured november 27, 2006, to august 29, 2008. The affected vehicles are equipped with a passenger side frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion which, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture upon its deployment.
Electrical: electrical system
Risk: If the fusible link melts it may come into contact with adjacent components, damage the electrical center cover, the nearby wiring harness conduit and other vehicle components, increasing the risk of a fire.
Fix: Gm will notify owners and dealers will replace the jumper harness with one that includes a 40 amp inline fuse, and provide the owner with supplemental owner manual information, free of charge. The recall began on august 29, 2014. Owners may contact chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or gmc customer service at 1-800-462-8782. Gm's number for this recall is 14260.
Full defect summary
General motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2007-2011 chevrolet silverado hd 2500/3500 trucks manufactured january 18, 2007, to june 22, 2011, and gmc sierra hd 2500/3500 trucks manufactured january 22, 2007, to june 21, 2011, and equipped with an auxiliary battery. Owners may unknowingly draw too much current through the vehicle's trailer harness resulting in the melting of fusible link for the auxiliary battery.
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
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
Non-crash engine compartment fires
Summary
In a letter dated august 27, 2008, general motors corp. (gm) notified NHTSA that it will conduct a safety recall (NHTSA recall number 08v-441) to address a safety relateddefect that can result in engine compartment fire in approximately 850,000 vehicles equipped with a heated windshield washer fluid option.the subject vehicles of this investigation comprise over three-quarters of the recall population. According to gm, a short circuit on the printed circuit board for the windshield washer fluid heater module may overheat the control-circuit ground wire. This may cause other electrical features to malfunction, create an odor or cause smoke and in rare cases it may cause a fire.as a remedy, gm
Non-crash engine compartment fires
Summary
In response to an information request letter sent by the office of defects investigation(odi) during preliminary evaluation pe08-010, gm provided odi with 41 allegations of non-crash engine compartment fires including 16 allegations of fires originating with the ignition in the off position.one of the fires was determined to be caused by an arson event.odi has also received 5 reports, 4 of which are of duplicative of reports provided by gm, alleging non-crash engine compartment fires in the subject vehicles.in total, odi is aware of 41 non-crashengine compartment fires in the subject vehicles that are unrelated to arson.eight of the 41 fire allegations also allege property damage as a result
Questions about the 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 3500
- What are the most common problems with the 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 3500?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: air bags (14 complaints); electrical (6 complaints, typically around 156,500 miles); engine (4 complaints).
- How many recalls does the 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 have?
- 4 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from January 10, 2020 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2008 a bad year for the Chevrolet Silverado 3500?
- It is 14th of 27 Silverado 3500 model years by number of complaints, with 31 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.