NHTSA ODI Complaints 10511690

Original text and source

Original text

THIS BASIC INCIDENT HAS OCCURRED APPROXIMATELY TEN TIMES. THE 4WD CONTROL MODULE MALFUNCTIONS AT RANDOM. THE VEHICLE MESSAGE CENTER WILL DISPLAY "SERVICE 4WD," AND A CLICKING SOUND CAN BE HEARD AS THE LIGHTS ON THE TRANSFER CASE CONTROL PANEL SWITCH ON AND OFF, SWITCHING THE VEHICLE IN AND OUT OF GEAR. SEVERAL TIMES THIS HAS HAPPENED IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE TRUCK SHIFTED INTO 4LO AT MODERATE SPEED. ONCE, THE VEHICLE STALLED IN AN INTERSECTION WITH THE ABRUPT SHIFT. I AM CONVINCED THAT THIS IS A SYSTEMATIC ISSUE WITH GM 4WD TRUCKS, BUT IT IS IN NO WAY BEING ADDRESSED. IT IS AN EXTREME SAFETY HAZARD WHEN A 5400 LB. VEHICLE SUDDENLY SHIFTS INTO LOW RANGE OR NEUTRAL WITHOUT ADVANCE WARNING. A SIMPLE INTERNET SEARCH SHOWS THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO MANY OTHER GM VEHICLE OWNERS. THE ONLY REMEDY SEEMS TO BE REMOVING THE RELAY TO CUT POWER TO THE MODULE, THUS RENDERING THIS "MIGHTY" 4X4 A 2WD SLED. THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD OF THE HIGHEST ORDER! I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH NEGATIVE THINGS ABOUT THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM OF THIS VEHICLE IN PARTICULAR AND THE BUILD QUALITY IN GENERAL. IT DESTROYS TIRES, IT IS A PLEASANT SURPRISE WHEN SOMETHING WORKS AS IT SHOULD, AND I HAD TO REPLACE THE "HEAVY DUTY" TRANSMISSION AT 120K WHEN THE POWER BANDS CATASTROPHICALLY FAILED. FOR SHAME, GENERAL MOTORS! I WILL NEVER AGAIN PURCHASE ANOTHER OF YOUR SHODDY VEHICLES. *TR

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Source

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints — Owner complaint filed with a government agency
Reporter type: Owner
Source reference: 10511690
Country / market: US
Language: en
Document version: Version 1 (1 held)
Note on the source: US federal government dataset. Complaints are unverified consumer reports, not confirmed defects.

Dates

Incident date: 2012-12-04
Received by source: 2013-05-13
Added to the source's file: Unknown: not returned by the source API
Issued / published: Unknown: not returned by the source API
First observed: 2026-10-05 03:45 UTC (initial bulk load)
This version fetched: 2026-10-05 03:45 UTC