2008 GMC CANYON Complaints

"TIRE PRESSURE MONITOR"(TPM). THE TPM IS ALWAYS ILLUMINATING ON MY DASH. I CHECK MY TIRES PLUS THE SPARE EVERY MONTH AND NOTHING SEEMS TO BE WRONG WITH THE INFLATION. I STILL HAVE THE FACTORY RIMS, WITH THE SAME TIRE SIZE ACCORDING TO MANUFACTURER BUT NEWER WITH NO UPGRADES. NO DAMAGE TO RIMS OR TIRES EVER.

"REAR BRAKE LIGHTS" LIGHTS WERE NOT WORKING WHEN I APPLIED PRESSURE TO THE BRAKE PEDAL. I WAS GOING TO WORK AND A DRIVER NEXT TO ME INFORMED ME THAT BOTH MY BRAKE LIGHTS ARE NOT WORKING AS I WAS AT A RED LIGHT. I WAS DRIVING ON A CITY STREET. THE RESULT WAS I REPLACED BOTH REAR BRAKE BULBS AFTER SPENDING 2 HOURS OF IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM THINKING IT WAS MORE COMPLICATED. I ALWAYS CHECK ALL MY LIGHTS EACH MONTH MAKING SURE I AM IN COMPLIANCE!

"CRUISE CONTROL" WENT OUT AND I CANNOT FIND OUT WHERE THE PROBLEM IS. THE FUSES ARE EXCELLENT. WHILE I WAS DRIVING I HAD THE CRUISE CONTROL ON, THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN FOR NO REASON THE GREEN ILLUMINATION ON THE DASH THAT LET'S ME KNOW IT'S ON, WAS OFF. I TRIED TO ENGAGE THE CRUISE CONTROL AGAIN BUT THAT DID NOT WORK. THE GREEN ILLUMINATION ON THE DASH DOES NOT COME ON ANYMORE EVEN AS I ATTEMPT TO ENGAGE THE CRUISE CONTROL. I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY AT THE TIME THIS HAPPENED.

"ENGINE LIGHT" ILLUMINATES WHILE DRIVING. DURING THE FIRST 20 MINUTES OF DRIVING THIS LIGHT APPEARS AND STAYS ON. THEN 15 MINUTES LATER AS I CONTINUE TO DRIVE WITH NO STOPPING OR TURNING OFF THE ENGINE, THE LIGHT GOES OFF.

1. "THEFT DETERRENT" ILLUMINATES AND TRUCK WILL NOT START. HAVE TO WAIT 10 MINUTES WITH KEY IN THE "ACC" POSITION AND THEN IT STARTS. HAPPENS OFTEN AT LEAST 2 TIMES A WEEK. ALSO, WHILE I AM DRIVING THE "THEFT DETERRENT" ILLUMINATES AT LEAST 4 TIMES A WEEK WHILE HIGHWAY DRIVING BUT LUCKILY THE TRUCK DOES NOT STALL OR STOP.

PURCHASED VEHICLE NEW WITH 417 MILES. FROM THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS A TICKING NOISE AT START-UP, WHICH GRADUALLY WORSENED TO A LOUD KNOCKING AND VEHICLE SHIMMY FOR SEVERAL SECONDS, SOMETIMES REQUIRING MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS TO START. ORIGINALLY, IT WAS ONLY ON COLD START-UP. MULTIPLE VISITS TO THE DEALER RESULTED IN INCORRECT DIAGNOSES OR NO DIAGNOSIS. FINALLY, AT 18,071 MILES, THE PROBLEM WAS DIAGNOSED AS LOOSE TIMING CHAIN AND WORN GEARS. ALL WERE REPLACED BY THE DEALER UNDER WARRANTY. PROBLEM WAS SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED BUT NOT SOLVED. IT THEN BEGAN TO AGAIN WORSEN THROUGH MULTIPLE TRIPS TO THE DEALERSHIP, UNTIL 43,384 MILES, WHEN IT WAS ONCE MORE DIAGNOSED AS THE TIMING HAVING JUMPED OR THE CHAINS HAVING STRETCHED. WE DECLINED TO HAVE THE DEALER REPLACE EVERYTHING WITH US PAYING FOR IT, AND HAD OUR OWN MECHANIC DO THE WORK. OUR MECHANIC BELIEVES THERE IS SOME SORT OF TIMING CHAIN DEFECT IN DESIGN OR COMPOSITION, WHICH KEEPS CAUSING/ALLOWING THE CHAINS TO STRETCH.

PASSLOCK SYSTEM THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS AND NOW GETTING WORSE AND IS INTERMITTENT, WHEN I INSERT AND TURN THE KEY SOMETHING HAPPENS MAKING THE THEFT SYSTEM ACTIVATE AND KEEPS THE VEHICLE FROM STARTING FOR EXACTLY 10 MINUTES. RECENTLY I TURNED THE TRUCK OFF TO SAVE GAS WHILE I WAS IN CONSTRUCTION TRAFFIC AT A STAND STILL WITH A CONCRETE BARRIER ON BOTH SIDES AND THE TRUCK WOULD NOT START AND THE POLICE WERE GOING TO HAVE ME TOWED, LUCKILY AT STARTED AT 10 MINUTES BEFORE THE TOW TRUCK CAME. IN MY OPINION THIS CAN BE UNSAFE IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS IF THE VEHICLE IS NEEDED FOR ANY TYPE OF EMERGENCY. BELOW I AM PASTING SOMETHING FROM THE WEB, BUT IT IS BASICALLY THE PROBLEM THAT I AND PEOPLE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY ARE HAVING. "THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ARE BEING LED IN CIRCLES BY ANY VEHICLE WITH A PASSLOCK II SYSTEM AND IT IS AN UNSAFE PROBLEM WITH THESE CARS THAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED. IT PREVENTS VEHICLES FROM RESTARTING IN POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS AREAS WHILE THE VEHICLE RESETS AND CAN PERMANENTLY DISABLE THE CAR IF NOT ADDRESSED. THE PROBLEM LIES IN A DESIGN OVERSIGHT AND CUTTING A MATERIAL COST BY PUTTING IN A CHEAP COMPONENT THAT ANY BASIC CHEMIST COULD TELL YOU WOULD GO BAD WITHIN A YEAR OR TWO. CHANGE YOUR IGNITION SWITCH CONTACT FROM NICKEL TO GOLD PLATED CONNECTORS AND OXIDATION WILL NOT CAUSE FAULTY READINGS TO TRICK YOUR VEHICLES INTO THINKING THAT THEY ARE BEING STOLEN AND SHUTTING OFF THE FUEL PUMPS. REMUNERATION FOR INDIVIDUALS IMPACTED BY THIS FINANCIAL BURDEN FOR THE PURCHASE OF YOUR VEHICLES IS ALSO A REQUEST AS THIS PROBLEM IS A GOLD MINE FOR CAR MECHANICS, BOTH GM CERTIFIED AND FREELANCE, TO TROUBLESHOOT NUMEROUS SYSTEMS BEFORE IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM PROPER."

VEHICLE SETS AN "AC OFF" FAULT MESSAGE FREQUENTLY. WHEN THIS OCCURS, THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE GOES TO ZERO AND THE AC DOES NOT WORK. THE TRUCK IS NOT OVERHEATING AND NO OTHER FAULTS ARE SET. NO TROUBLE CODES ARE FOUND DURING SCAN. AFTER SOME TIME (20-50 MILES OF TRAVEL), THE FAULT DISAPPEARS AND THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE AND AC BEGIN WORKING AGAIN. THERE ARE LITERALLY 1,000'S OF MESSAGES ON DISCUSSION BOARDS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM ON NUMEROUS WEBSITES ON DIFFERENT GM VEHICLES. PEOPLE HAVE CHANGED ONE, SOME, OR ALL COMPONENTS OF THEIR COOLING SYSTEM TO NO AVAIL. THE PROBLEM SOMETIMES GOES AWAY FOR A FEW HOURS OR A FEW MONTHS, BUT ALWAYS SEEMS TO RETURN. I HAD MY VEHICLE TO THE GM DEALERSHIP IN MAY 2016 AND THE CONDITION WAS UNABLE TO BE DUPLICATED AT THAT TIME. I PAID THE DEALERSHIP TO DO A COMPLETE SERVICING AND INSPECTION OF THE ENTIRE VEHICLE, WHICH INCLUDED THE COOLING SYSTEM. NO ANOMALIES WERE FOUND BY THE DEALERSHIP. SINCE THE PROBLEM CONTINUED, I REPLACED THE COOLANT TEMPERATURE SENSOR HOPING IT WAS A JUST A BAD SENSOR/CONNECTOR PROBLEM. THIS HAS NOT CHANGED THE CONDITION IN ANY WAY. MY CONCERN IS THAT THIS IS POSSIBLY AN ISSUE RELATED TO THE ACTUAL PLACEMENT OF THE TEMPERATURE SENSOR. I'LL EXPLAIN WITH THE FOLLOWING SCENARIO: ONCE THE ENGINE COMES UP TO OPERATING TEMP, THE THERMOSTAT OPENS, AND WHEN THE COOLANT BEGINS TO CIRCULATE, THE TEMP SENSOR IS LEFT EXPOSED, THE TEMP GAUGE TANKS, AND THE SYSTEM KICKS INTO A SAFE MODE. WHILE THIS IS A GREAT SYSTEM SAFE RESPONSE, I AM PREVENTED ME FROM SEEING A REAL OVERHEAT CONDITION. I PERSONALLY LIVE AND WORK IN THE MOJAVE DESERT. IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE TEMPERATURES ARE COMMONLY ABOVE 100 DEG F, A PROPERLY OPERATING VEHICLE COOLING SYSTEM CAN MEAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH. I CAN'T BE ENTIRELY SURE IF MY COOLANT SYSTEM REALLY HAS A PROBLEM OR IS JUST GIVING FALSE INDICATIONS AT THIS POINT.

THE PASS LOCK SYSTEM IS FAULTY...UNRELIABLE AND DANGEROUS MANY TIMES I GET STRANDED BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WON'T START DUE TO THE THEFT DETERRENT SYSTEM IS ACTIVATED FOR NO APPARENT REASON

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 GMC CANYON. WHEN SHIFTING INTO DRIVE OR REVERSE, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED WITHOUT WARNING. THE DEFECT WAS A RECURRING ISSUE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT NOT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE FUEL INJECTORS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 140,000. UPDATED 03/11/16*LJ *TR