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2011 GMC Sierra 2500 Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 63 complaints with NHTSA about the 2011 GMC Sierra 2500, most often about the air bags (32% of complaints, typically around 62,000 miles). It is 12th of 27 Sierra 2500 model years by number of complaints and has 4 recalls.
Most common 2011 GMC Sierra 2500 problems
Air bags
20 complaints · 32%Half of these problems showed up before 62,000 miles.
The dash is cracked around the passenger side airbag which could be a safety concern during airbag deployment with sharp pieces of broken dash being propelled towards occupants.
To avoid a head on collision I had to move to the right of my lane and I hit a mountain head on and neither the driver or passengers airbag deployed. The vehicle over turned on its left driver side after skidding along pavement for a few yards it finally came to a stop. There were no passengers. I was the driver and…
Body and structure
11 complaints · 18%Half of these problems showed up before 51,500 miles. Parts named most often: body.
My dashboard cracked by the passenger side airbag about a year ago and now it is cracking above the gauge panel. It cracked the first time when I got in it and started home from work.the second crack above the gauge panel I had just noticed a week ago.
The dash is cracked around the passenger side airbag which could be a safety concern during airbag deployment with sharp pieces of broken dash being propelled towards occupants.
Electrical
9 complaints · 14%Half of these problems showed up before 10,000 miles. Parts named most often: ignition, cybersecurity.
Vehicle exhibited "low coolant" warning in dic after gm DEF recall was performed. "low coolant" warning returned after multiple repairs to the coolant system from servicing dealer. Failure of coolant system resulted in a failure of the head gasket and water intrusion into the #7 cylinder. Vehicle is 12 months old and…
Fuse for left turn trailer burns out repeatedly. No warning or indication it is out until someone pulls me over or tells me when stopped or I check. I have three different trails and all are involved. The fuse will at times, be blown without trailer attached. Dealer can't find issue (intermittent problem). Never know…
Other or unspecified
8 complaints · 13%The vehicles dashboard is beginning to crack in multiple locations. This truck has less than 30,000 miles on it and it's only used as a leisure vehicle. One of the areas of major concern is, the crack that leads directly to the airbag. If the airbag were to deploy, I believe that shards of plastic would be thrown all…
Engine
6 complaints · 10%Half of these problems showed up before 137,000 miles.
My 2011 GMC duramax displays codes (p0676), (p2493), (p122d0 and (p140a) related to the EGR and throttle body. I located special warranty work #14353. I am told by gm customer care that my particular VIN is not included in the duramax diesel warranty issue. I located the following: 02/03/17nhtsa id: 10090458 tsb id…
Def light came on and the display saying service exhaust fuel system and refer to manual. That gave me nothing. The codes that came up is p2209 and p20b9. So the heater in the DEF tank is broken and the nox reading is wrong or has gone out. Then my speed was reduced to max 55 MPH. Dealer said it would be $1500 to fix…
Wheels and tires
6 complaints · 10%Half of these problems showed up before 57,000 miles. Parts named most often: tread/belt.
Three oe (3) goodyear wrangler tires, lt265/60 r20 have become defective, all in the same fashion with sidewall problems, two with bulging, one with an at speed blowout at the sidewall. First one, 1/22/16 while driving but stopped due to heavy traffic and another motorist pointed out the bulge. Installed spare, at…
All four wheels have developed cracks over the course of my six year ownership of the vehicle. I have spoken with the service director at simpson GMC of buena park, ca, numerous technicians at simpson GMC, service managers at america's tire of victorville, hesperia, and fullerton, ca and have hired an outside engineer…
Transmission
6 complaints · 10%Parts named most often: automatic transmission.
Vehicle was exhibiting harsh shifting; upshifts/downshifts. Pulling into driveway from rural highway vehicle downshifted and passenger was thrown forward and almost hit the dash with her head, felt like it was shifting into park. Had vehicle towed to dealership. Vehicle would not shift into any gear for mechanic.…
The contact owns a 2011 GMC Sierra 2500. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the vehicle remained in the park and failed to shift into drive. The steering wheel was locked preventing the gear shifter from going into gear. The traction control warning light was flashing. The vehicle was taken to the…
Steering
3 complaints · 5%The contact owns a 2011 GMC Sierra 2500. The contact was driving at approximately 35 MPH while making a right turn, when the steering wheel seized and suddenly functioned as normal. The failure had occurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was taken to a local dealership: medved chevrolet buick GMC 1506 s wilcox st…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2011 GMC Sierra 2500 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 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 25, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed to 40 VIN owners on may 11, 2021. A second owner notification letter was mailed to all other owners on january 24, 2022. 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'
Full defect summary
General motors, llc (gm) is recalling certain 2014 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, chevrolet silverado 2500, silverado 3500, suburban, tahoe, gmc sierra 2500, sierra 3500, yukon, and yukon xl vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of al, ca, fl, ga, hi, la, ms, sc, tx, pr, as, gu, the mp, and vi or "zone a." additionally gm is recalling certain 2011-2014 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, chevrolet silverado 2500, silverado 3500, suburban, tahoe, gmc sierra 2500, sierra 3500, yukon, yukon xl and 2011-2013 cadillac escalade ext, chevrolet avalanche, silverado 1500, and gmc sierra 1500 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of az, ar, de, dc, il, in, ks, ky, md, mo, ne, nv, nj, nm, nc, oh, ok, pa, tn, va, and wv or "zone b." additionally, gm is recalling certain 2010-2014 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, chevrolet silverado 2500, silverado 3500, sub
Equipment
Risk: In the event of a fire, if the fire extinguisher does not function properly, it can increase the risk of injury.
Fix: Gm will notify owners, instructing them to contact kidde to get a replacement fire extinguisher, free of charge. The recall began june 11, 2018. Owners may contact chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, gmc customer service at 1-800-462-8782, and isuzu customer service at 1-866-441-9638. Gm's number for this recall is 18146.
Full defect summary
General motors llc (gm) is recalling certain 2009-2014 chevrolet silverado hd and gmc sierra hd, 2009 gmc topkick 5000, 6000, 7000 and 8000 series and isuzu f series, and 2009-2018 chevrolet express, and gmc savana vehicles, equipped with certain plastic-handle fire extinguishers or push button 'pindicator' fire extinguishers. These extinguishers may become clogged, preventing the extinguisher from discharging as expected or requiring excessive force to activate the extinguisher. Additionally, in certain models, the nozzle may detach from the valve assembly with enough force that it could cause injury and also render the product inoperable. For a full list of the affected fire extinguisher models visit: https://static.NHTSA.gov/odi/rcl/2017/rmisc-17e062-5427.pdf
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.
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 2011 GMC Sierra 2500
- What are the most common problems with the 2011 GMC Sierra 2500?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: air bags (20 complaints, typically around 62,000 miles); body and structure (11 complaints, typically around 51,500 miles); electrical (9 complaints, typically around 10,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2011 GMC Sierra 2500 have?
- 4 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 2011 a bad year for the GMC Sierra 2500?
- It is 12th of 27 Sierra 2500 model years by number of complaints, with 63 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.