2019 Sierra 6.2L AT4 died, dealership has no clue!

sheamus · June 30, 2022

On Sunday (5 days ago) my truck just died while my wife was driving about 80km/hr after picking up the kids. She coasted to the side of the and called me. I thought it was going to be something silly like batter in key going dead, sealtbelt, or something like that. But I got there and pushing the start button just made the truck turn off. Pushing it when it was off, just make the accessories come on. All electronics seemed fine. There was no warning lights or anything prior. The truck had 55,000k on it, so I called roadside assistance and had it towed to the dealership.

The dealership has had it since Sunday, and still have no idea what is wrong with it. They have phoned me twice to ask me more questions about it. They replaced the starter, fuseblock, and battery... which made no sense to me. It has never had trouble starting, and all electronics were fine, and there was never a voltage warning. The fuseblock maybe... I would have thought with all the electronics on that truck, it would basically self diagnose itself. The funny thing is that the myGMC app is reporting the vehicle with no warnings or alerts, other than one tire which needs air.

The truck has always been a little flaky, I have had the ABS just randomly stop working a few times during cold weather when I got it, but a firmware flash fixed that. Once a weak I will get a warning on the infotainment system that the SD card has been removed when it hasn't. Sometimes when the infotainment system starts up the GMC logo display while it loads is garbled. I have had the 'timer' on the dash console freeze up the entire dash console. But this is my first GM/Chev I have owned, so I am not sure if that is just par for the course with them, or if it is linked to the issue I am having now.

Looks like I am going into the long weekend with no vehicle. Dealership won't do loaners due to COVID and vehicle shortages. Though I am expecting a call back from the manager, and I am going to discuss my options. The group owns 5 dealerships, they can find me something, and bill it back to GMC. This isn't the dealership I bought the vehicle from, as I have moved since buying it, but they should still step up, I mean they are just going to bill GMC for everything.

Anyway, enough whining, has anyone had something like this happen to them? What was the cause?

Phantom 4D · June 30, 2022

Don't know if it will help. My Ford F-350 gasser service truck had similar issue. Went out one morning and it wouldn't start. Messed around under the hood, got it started. Later that afternoon on route to another job, it quit. Dropped it in neutral and pulled to the shoulder. Dealer couldn't fix it, sent it to a truck shop. Two weeks later, they found an intermittent short deep inside the main harness. Not warranted but it was a company owned truck.

Keep us posted.

sheamus · June 30, 2022

Just picked up a loaner. Now they think they are going to have to pull the motor and get a gm tech involved. They said the motor seems ceased... none of it makes any sense. Probably find out more on Tuesday.

sheamus · July 6, 2022

Just an update... that is not an update. Dealership is still trying things. I have call with them tommorrow. I am trying to be patient, as it isn't the dealerships fault... but I am starting to wonder what my rights with GMC are? e.g., at the 30 day mark can I demand that they replace the vehicle? I love my truck, but I want to be able to trust it...

Has anyone dealt with a situation where GM/Chev took a really long time to diagnose the problem?

Edited July 6, 2022 by sheamus

jaxcam02 · July 7, 2022

Gm will not have to replace your vehicle no matter how long they have it. Outside of hiring a lawyer for a lemon law case, your only real options are to keep checking in on the dealership for updates and wait for them to fix it or negotiate with gm and the dealer on a trade in agreement.

sheamus · July 7, 2022

Thanks, that is what I figured.

BIGDOGx · July 7, 2022

Crazy and just proves how dealerships have almost no one who can diagnose today. Throwing thousand dollar items " fuse blocks" at it and having no success is something my know nothing a@@ could do, but dealerships should really have at least one guy on staff that knows his a@@ from his elbow! I don't understand how they could take a week to see if the engine is seized, wouldn't most mechanics be able to tell if that was the case in a few simple steps?

John813 · July 7, 2022

At the ford dealer I used to go to they had a handful of techs retire/switch dealers and the new techs were absolutely useless.

A common issue like the IWE line going bad on my F-150(warranty) was something they couldn't figure out.

Wasn't until I traded it in when the dealer fixed it, as it probably tried to engage 4x4 during a test drive and sounded like a tin can rattling on a wheel spoke

BIGDOGx · July 7, 2022

1 hour ago, John813 said:

At the ford dealer I used to go to they had a handful of techs retire/switch dealers and the new techs were absolutely useless.

A common issue like the IWE line going bad on my F-150(warranty) was something they couldn't figure out.

Wasn't until I traded it in when the dealer fixed it, as it probably tried to engage 4x4 during a test drive and sounded like a tin can rattling on a wheel spoke

It really is an issue i believe with most dealerships today, i would say at best most dealers might have 1 possible 2 guys they can trust to diagnose and the rest are mostly low paid oil changers.

seamus2154 · July 8, 2022

No loaner because of COVID???? Are you kidding me?? That is a ridiculous excuse.

cwtech · July 8, 2022

An acquaintance was provided a rental car by his Ford dealer since they had no loaner, and his truck was in the repair shop for an extended time under warranty. ....(This was a few years ago when Ford came out with the aluminum F-150's.)

He drove the rental for several weeks and one day he was pulled over by the cops and arrested for driving a stolen car! .....Ford or the dealership never paid the rental company, so the car was reported stolen.

Long story short, under threats of lawsuits, he was acquitted of charges and rental fees were paid by Ford or the dealer.

sheamus · July 8, 2022

They finally gave me a their shuttle car to use until they can get me a rental (from Enterprise), Enterprise didn't have anything until this coming week. @cwtech that is a crazy story... I'll be sure there is a valid invoice in the rental car when I get it.

I believe the vehicle is just sitting there this week because they didn't have a time slot for it (basically they were booked solid for two weeks when I brought it in). Because I have got all my service done there since moving here, they found a couple small spots to work on it, but that is it. So next week they have a full day booked for it, so we should see some action then.

It sucks, but it isn't the dealers fault that they were booked solid. I am in a small town and this is a small dealership. The dealership I used to live by had an unbelievable service department. This dealership is friendly, but smaller and not as well run.

I am enjoying mileage in this tin can I can driving now... but that is about it.

Edited July 8, 2022 by sheamus

jlong1984 · July 8, 2022

4 hours ago, sheamus said:

It sucks, but it isn't the dealers fault that they were booked solid. I am in a small town and this is a small dealership.

If they couldn't figure out that the engine was seized up nearly right away, it is their fault. That's just sheer incompetence on behalf of the techs working on your vehicle.

sheamus · July 29, 2022

So just yesterday they let me know that it threw a rod. I said how did it take that long to figure it out. They said that for warranty work they are forced to follow GMC's troubleshooting steps, and have to get approval before everything new they attempt it.

They said parts are on order. I said if the motor imploded, I don't want it fixed it should atleast be a new motor. They said again they have to do what GMC tells them.

I have phoned GMC Canada and a supervisor is supposed to be phoning me back today. I'll fight for a new truck (which seems unlikely), then a new motor plus extended warranty. How is a vehicle disassembled and re-assembled in a dealership supposed to be the same as one put together in a factory is my argument. For an $80k I need to be able to trust the vehicle.

The is what I saw when I walked into the dealership today...

Edited July 29, 2022 by sheamus