2016 GMC Canyon Electrical System
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
The contact owns a 2016 GMC Canyon. The contact stated that after arriving to his destination, he became aware that the ignition switch would not release the key. After restarting the vehicle and then turning the vehicle off, the contact was able to remove the key, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 50,000.
The malfunction is: no power, no crank, no electricity at all, can not use key fob to lock/unlock, radio does not work, dash does not work, literally 0 lights 0 power when key is in ignition to and turning to start or when key is not in ignition. The positive battery terminal also overheats to extreme temps which caused my dad a 3rd degree burn since positive terminals should never be hot. Dates of malfunction that have left me stranded 7/16, 8/3, 8/5, 8/11, 8/12, 8/28. I have video evidence of the malfunction on each of those dates. The way we got it to fix is by banging on the battery. on 8/12 I brought the truck to the dealership because I banged on the battery I got error codes- Engine Power Reduced, and Stabilitrak Offline. The engine was shaking very badly, I have video. hey have the truck for a week, get it to trigger the same incident and determine its a bad battery cell that could only be detected when the malfunction was happening. They replaced the battery. On 8/28 the same malfunction happens except nothing is fixing it, not banging on the battery, not waiting 24+ hours. Prior to me buying the truck on June 28th the previous owner has an invoice in the glove box dated May 25th to try to fix the same issues. I bought this from the dealership not the previous owner. The vehicle still sits at the dealership trying to diagnose the issue.
The key does not always release from the ignition after parking the truck. I have to shift into Drive and back into Park multiple times or wait up to a minute to remove the key. Took it to the dealership, but at that time, it was only happening once a week or so, and they could not reproduce the problem. 3 years later and it still happens and it's getting much worse. Happens at least once a day. I have seen this problem pop-up on many forums, and while it is not a safety issue, it is a quality issue that should be addressed by GMC.
When I put my GMC Canyon into park, the key will not release from the ignition. This does not happen every time, but it is a recurring problem. I first had the issue back on April 6, 2018 and the dealer "fixed" the issue. Three weeks later, April 27, 2018, I had the same issue. This time the dealer replaced the "shift control assembly". The truck was still under warranty so there was no financial burden on me. Then on September 2, 2020 the same issue happened and the shift control assembly had to be replaced again. This time the truck was not under warranty and it cost me $688.72. Now August 2022 the key is not releasing from the ignition once again. This is the 4th time for the same issue. I believe GMC needs to recall this part and come up with a fix that will work.
The contact owns a 2016 GMC Canyon. The contact stated that while the gear shifter was in park(P), the contact was unable to be removed from the ignition. The contact was able to remove the key after several attempts. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the ignition switch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 55,223.
WHEN I'M DRIVING MY TRUCK MY WARNING LIGHTS COME ON LIKE POWER STEERING ISN'T WORKING ( WHICH IT DOES STILL WORK), ABS LIGHT COMES ON, BRAKE LIGHT COMES ON, AND TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT COMES ON. THE TRUCK RUNS FINE LIKE THERE NO ISSUES. WE EVEN REPLACED THE BATTERY AND IT STILL DOES IT. GMC LOOKED AT IT AND SAID IT WAS FINE WHICH I DOUBT.
MY INFOTAINMENT CONSOLE 'IS FREAKING OUT'. MODEL 84042934 WILL RANDOMLY CHANGE SCREENS, MOVE ICONS, CONNECT AND DISCONNECT THE APPLE CAR PLAY, SWITCH FM, AM, BT INPUT, CHANGE MENU POSITIONS, AND OTHER RANDOM (AND DISTRACTING) ACTIONS. NOBODY CAN USE THE RADIO, BLUETOOTH OR HANDS FREE PHONE INTERFACE. THE USB INTERFACE IS WORSE THAN THE WIRELESS CONNECTION. THE PROBLEM HAPPENS REGULARLY AFTER THE ENGINE REACHES OPERATING TEMPS. IT HAPPENS MORE WITH IPHONE THAN ANDROID. THIS ISSUE HAS BECOME PROGRESSIVELY WORSE OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS. IT WILL HAPPEN IN MOTION OR AT REST AS LONG AS THE ENGINE IS RUNNING. WE HAVE HAD THE UNIT TESTED (OF COURSE THERE IS NO TROUBLE FOUND EVEN WHILE IT WAS ACTING UP) IN TWO DIFFERENT AREAS IN THE USA (FL AND TX). WE HAVE CHANGED THE PRIMARY BATTERY ON THE TRUCK BELIEVING IT WAS CAUSED BY IRREGULAR VOLTAGE FROM A 3.5 YEAR OLD BATTERY. RESEARCH IMPLIED GMC KNOWS ABOUT THE RE-ISSUANCE OF 2015.5 INFOTAINMENT UNITS INSTALLED IN 2016 MODEL YEAR TRUCKS BUT WILL ONLY OFFER $500 INCENTIVE TOWARDS A REPLACEMENT VEHICLE, THEY WILL NOT REPLACE THE RADIO HEAD UNIT THAT IS CAUSING RECKLESS DISTRACTIONS WHILE DRIVING. THE PROBLEM HAS BECOME SO PRONOUNCED THAT THE TRUCK IS NOT DRIVE-ABLE WITH THE RADIO ON AND THUS CANNOT USE THE HANDS-FREE FEATURE (WHICH IS MANDATORY IN SEVERAL STATES IN THE USA.
WHILE DRIVING, THE INSTRUMENT PANEL SHUT DOWN AND THEN REBOOTED AS IF I WAS STARTING THE VEHICLE EVEN THOUGH THE ENGINE NEVER SHUT OFF.
RODENTS ARE EATING THE WIRING IN MY NEW TRUCK. I'VE DRIVEN A NISSAN TRUCK FOR 18 YEARS WITH ZERO ISSUES WITH RODENTS. I PURCHASED THE NEW CANYON IN JULY OF 2016, AND WITHIN 6 MONTHS, ENTIRE WIRING HARNESSES WITH 7 WIRES ARE CHEWED COMPLETELY THROUGH. THE DEALER REFUSES TO COVER DAMAGE UNDER WARRANTY.
REAR WINDOW DEFROSTER ON PASSENGER SIDE OF SLIDING REAR WINDOWS DOES NOT WORK. MANY COMPLAINTS ONLINE OF SAME PROBLEM.
I HAVE A FRIEND WHO HAS A 2016 GMC CANYON WHERE THE RADIO/ONSTAR/REAR VIEW CAMERA ETC CUTS OUT AFTER A SHORT OPERATION TIME -- MY FRIEND HAS TAKEN IT TO THE DEALER WITH NO RESULTS. MY FIEND IS ELDERLY AND DOES NOT HAVE A COMPUTER THAT IS WHY I AM DOING THIS FOR HIM. THE BACK-UP CAMERA DOES NOT OPERATE WHEN THE RADIO/ONSTAR/CAMERA CUTS OUT. THE OPERATION OF THE VEHICLE IS STATIONARY, IN MOTION, ON A CITY STREET OR A HIGHWAY, TURNING
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Quick Summary
The 2016 GMC Canyon has 11 Electrical System complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.