2003 GMC SIERRA 2500 Complaints

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 GMC SIERRA 2500 HD. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE INSTRUMENT PANEL FAILED AND PREVENTED HIM FROM KNOWING HOW FAST HE IS TRAVELING, OR ANY OTHER PERTINENT INFORMATION. THE DEALER STATED THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL FOR THE FAILURE. THE VIN AND RECALL NUMBER WERE UNKNOWN. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 90,000.

AT AROUND 102K MILES, SPEEDOMETER NEEDLE QUIT RETURNING TO ZERO WHEN THE VEHICLE STOPS MOVING. NEEDLE MAY COME TO REST AT ANY POINT ON THE DIAL WHEN VEHICLE IS STOPPED, AND THE REST POINT MAY OR MAY NOT CHANGE WHILE THE VEHICLE IS UNDERWAY, MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO ESTIMATE SPEED (E.G., NEEDLE MAY INITIALLY INDICATE 30 MPH AT REST, BUT ACTUAL SPEED UNDERWAY ISN'T NECESSARILY 30 MPH LESS THAN INDICATED BECAUSE THE REST POINT MAY HAVE CHANGED). AND WHEN THE DIAL ZEROS AT 120 MPH, THE TRUCK EFFECTIVELY HAS NO SPEEDOMETER AT ALL RATHER THAN JUST AN INACCURATE ONE. I RECEIVED A LETTER FROM GM WARNING OF POTENTIAL INSTRUMENT FAILURES AND OFFERING FREE REPAIR ON VEHICLES WITH LESS THAN 70K MILES; AN EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE WITH GM CONFIRMED THAT THEY WOULD NOT REPAIR MINE FOR FREE OR AT REDUCED COST. INTERNET DISCUSSIONS AND ADS FOR INSTRUMENT REPAIRS REVEAL THIS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM ON A RANGE OF '03-'06 GM VEHICLES. THE GM DEALER I CALLED WILL FIX THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER FOR $500 -- ROUGHLY 3 TIMES WHAT REPAIR SERVICES ADVERTISING ON THE INTERNET CHARGE TO REPLACE ALL THE DEFECTIVE STEPPER MOTORS IN THE CLUSTER. THIS PROBLEM IS CERTAINLY SAFETY-RELATED (THINK OF MISJUDGING SPEED IN A ROLLOVER-PRONE VEHICLE GOING INTO A SHARP CURVE), AND TO THE DEGREE THAT IS VIRTUALLY INEVITABLE ON CERTAIN VEHICLES, GM SHOULD ISSUE A RECALL RATHER THAN A LIMITED "SECRET WARRANTY". *TR

THE SPEEDOMETER AND TACHOMETER WORKS SOMETIMES BUT OTHER TIMES IT DOES NOT WORK. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AS THE SPEED IS UNKNOWN. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER BUT I WAS TOLD THAT IT IS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY. *TR

TRANSFER CASE BURT UP DUE TO FAULTY CLIP DESIGN, SNAP RING WORE INTO CASE, VERY POOR CASE DESIGN. AN AFTERMARKET MANUFACTURER HAS COME UP WITH A BETTER BACK HALF OF THE CASE AND UPGRADED PUMP TO FIX THIS PROBLEM.*CN

FRONT BUMPER ROTTING OFF,UNSAFE AIRBAGS MAY NOT WORK IN THE EVENT OF COLLISION. *TR

I HAVE A COMPLAINT SIMILAR TO COMPLAINT NOS.10083555,10244075 AND 10151690. I OWN A 2003 GMC SERRIA PICKUP WITH 28,000 MILES. I COMPLAINED TO THE DEALER THAT I HAD NO EMERGENCY BRAKE AND NO REAR BRAKES. THE DEALER WANTED ME TO PAY FOR THE REPAIRS. I FELT IT WAS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT. GMC REP CAME AND HE WANTED ME TO PAY HALF. PLEASE ADVISE WHAT THE OUTCOME OF OTHER COMPLAINTS. *TR

COOPER TIRES CAME APART AND CAUSED DAMAGE TO MY TRUCK AND 5TH WHEEL TRAVEL TRAILER. I'M BEING JACKED AROUND BY CRAWFORD COMPANY. DON'T RETURN PHONE CALLS STILL TRYING TO GET TRUCK FIXED. THE BLOW OUT NEARLY TORE THE FRONT BUMPER OFF. TORE OUT THE WHEEL WELL LINER THEN WENT UNDER TRUCK AND DAMAGED MY 5TH WHEEL TRAILER. INCIDENT OCCURRED SAME DAY OF COMPANY RECALL. *TR

I WAS HEADING NORTH BOUND ON I-45 NEAR NORTH AVENUE IN MILWAUKEE, WI WHEN IT BEGAN TO RAIN SLIGHTLY. IT WAS APPROXIMATELY 3:28 AM. I SLOWED DOWN TO 50 THE SPEED LIMIT WAS 55 AND THE I TURNED ON MY FOG LIGHTS TO HELP ME SEE BETTER BY THE TIME I GOT TO CAPITAL DRIVE IT WAS A COMPLETE DOWNPOUR. RAINING VERY HARD. I WAS IN THE VERY INSIDE LANE IE: "THE FASTLANE" I WAS APPROACHING THE HAMPTON AVENUE EXIT AND THERE WAS A SEMI ON MY RIGHT HIS REAR TANDOM AXLES WHERE JUST TO THE RIGHT OF MY PASSENGER SIDE FRONT TIRE AND HE WAS COMING OVER TO MY LANE. I HIT THE BREAKS AND WAS STEERING TO THE RIGHT TO GO TOWARDS THE MIDDLE LANE. MY BRAKES LOCKED UP AND THE ABS BRAKES NEVER TURNED ON. THIS IS A 2003 GMC 2500 HD CREW CAB ALL THE WEIGHT IS IN THE FRONT AN THE CAB. WHEN I HIT THE BRAKES I WAS HEADING FOR THE RIGHT LANE AND THE TRUCK TURNED 90DEG TO THE LEFT AND HIT THE CONCRETE DIVIDER WALL. AT FULL 50 MPH SPEED AND THE PASSENGER REAR CAME AROUND AND HIT THE WALL AS WELL. THE AIR BAG NEVER DEPLOYED. I HIT THE WALL WITH SO MUCH FORCE THAT THE BED OF THE TRUCK EMBEDDED IN THE REAR OF THE CAB. MIND YOU THIS WAS A 3/4 TON TRUCK IT TAKES A LOT OF FORCE TO HAVE THIS HAPPEN. I FEEL THAT IF MY ABS BREAKS HAVE PULSATED 10 TIMES PER SECOND PER WHEEL I WOULD HAVE CAME TO A CONTROLLED STOP ON THE RIGHT SHOULDER OF THE ROAD WITH THE TRAJECTORY I WAS HEADING. THE AIR BAGS NEVER DEPLOYED. GOOD THING I WAS WEARING MY SEAT BELT. THE TIME OF THE CRASH WAS. 3:45 AM. *JB

SPEEDOMETER READS HIGH & LOW NO RELATION TO ACTUAL SPEED. CONSTANT PROBLEM. EXCESSIVE COST TO REPAIR USING HAND HELD GPS FOR NOW. 2003 GMC 2500 SIERRA HD 4X4.

THE SPEEDOMETER, TACHOMETER, AND OTHER GAUGES ON MY 2003 GMC SIERRA 2500HD INSTRUMENT CLUSTER ARE DEFECTIVE. THIS IS A WELL KNOWN UNIVERSAL PROBLEM WITH GM PRODUCTS.