2019 GMC Sierra 1500 Engine
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
On November 25th, 2025 I had my wife, kids and baby grandson in my truck driving approx 50 mph when the trailer brake light appeared on my dash. I thought that was strange since I was not pulling a trailer. Shortly after my truck felt like it was going to stall and complete loss of power. I pulled into a turn lane and coasted into a gas station parking lot. I put the truck into park and turned the motor off and then restarted it. The truck was running extremely poor and sounded like it had rocks loose in the motor. I had it towed into an automotive repair facility I have always used and they told me my engine was gone and had to be replaced. I had been told by an oil change company a few weeks before that this engine was under a recall. I checked into it but this model year was not included. I did further research and founded out that this model year was under review. Something needs to be done as I was lucky this was not a busy highway or this could have ended worse.
While traveling in high-speed traffic, the vehicle experienced a sudden and catastrophic mechanical engine failure without any prior warning lamps, messages, or symptoms. The failure manifest as a loud, rhythmic ticking and knocking noise immediately followed by a sudden loss of propulsion and severe engine shuddering. Safety Risk: The loss of power occurred in active traffic, creating an immediate crash hazard. Because the engine could no longer maintain speed, I experienced multiple near-miss collisions while attempting to navigate the vehicle to safety. This "limp mode" state placed myself and other motorists at extreme risk of a rear-end or side-impact collision. Component & Inspection: The failed component is the engine (6.2L L87 V8), specifically believed to be a failed lifter or bearing within the Dynamic Fuel Management system. The vehicle and its engine are currently available for inspection. Confirmation: The problem has been confirmed by a certified dealership service center. Diagnostic codes include P0300 (Random Misfire) and P0016. The dealership identified the symptoms as consistent with internal mechanical failure.
We were driving down a farm to market road at about 50 mph pulling an empty cattle trailer when we had a severe power loss, lots of dash lights and warnings. I noticed white smoke coming from the tail pipe. We limped it back to the house and unhooked the trailer and idled it into the Chevrolet dealership in Portland TX. The dealership just called and they said the #5 cylinder failed, there is metal in the oil and it will need an engine replacement at a cost of over $11,000.00. The truck is a 2019 and has just over 54,000 miles on it. No engine should fail at 54,000 miles and no company should sell one that does. Pulling a loaded trailer at highway speeds with a total engine failure could easily cause death to passengers and livestock. 12122025
FOR THE LAST YEAR i BURN BETWEEN 2 - 3 QUARTS OF OILL BETWEEN OIL CHANGES. DEALER KEEPS TELLING ME THIS OS NORMAL. I KNOW IT IS NOT NORMAL AND I'M AFRAID OF ENGING FAILURE WHILE ENGINEERING RECALL IS IN PROCESS
Main bearing failure
GM installed a 2023 6.2L engine in my 2019 GMC. The engine locked up while I was driving it. It had about 54,000 miles on it. There is a recall on the vehicles with the 6.2 GM engines that were made between 2021 and 2024. However since they installed it in my 2019 they are telling me they won't warrant it because the recall just list the vehicle year and not the motor year. This is not right.
Truck cut out going across the road almost got hit due to the vehicle stalling then about a mile down the road the check engine light came on parked it took it to my mechanic and after the incident it was throwing a cylinder misfire code. Cylinder one when the mechanic got in there was completely shot and I had to have a new motor. No warning no lights could have potentially caused a major accident.
Same issue as the 2021-2024 model. I was driving home from work , it lost all power mid turn , traction control , ABS & engine light are on. It’s now ticking and knocking Here’s a list from the shop on what’s wrong with it. Estimated total to fix it is 12k [Other]: camshaft, all lifters, all lifter guides, cam retainer plate, cam sprocket bolt/valve, 4 pushrods, 3 rockers arms, balancer bolt, head gaskets, head bolts, valve cover gaskets, exhaust manifold gaskets, exhaust seals, exhaust manifold bolts x 10, intake gaskets, high pressure fuel lines, water pump gaskets, oil pump passage seals and suction seal, a/c belt, drive belt, a/c condenser line seals, 3 bond silicone, coolant, earl and filter Speak with your service advisor for more information on this recommended service.
Check engine light came on for the first time. Engine started knocking, had loss in power, took it to the closest shop. Initial report was lifter failure, after taking apart the engine for lifter replacement they deduced the bad lifters also were accompanied by camshaft damage, and bad heads. Overall resulting in engine replacement being required. Again, first time the check engine light has come on.
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the shoulder of the road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with metal shavings in the oil pan and engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to an unknown recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but no assistance was provided. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the safety failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.
The passenger side lifters in my truck failed while at idle/5mph speed causing catastrophic engine failure. 2019 6.2L V8 from GM. From my own independent research, and the research/survey of others online, this appears to be a very common problem as a result of known defective parts that were installed on GM engines.
Engine failure. Lifters failed causing internal engine damage. No previous warning. 160000 miles. Repair cost is $5000
Around June 2025 under normal driving my truck displayed engine oil low which I promptly checked the oil to find that it was in range. The light later went off but I still brought it to the dealership to which they could find no issues. From there over the next month or so the truck developed a low end popping sound on start up and at my next oil change at the dealership in August of 25 I asked them to listen to see if they heard it and could recommend a course of action. They reported not hearing anything. On October 19th I had my family in the truck with me and during normal acceleration the engine had a loud pop sound and lost power. Every warning light came on and I pulled over promptly when safe. I had it towed to the dealership and their initial diagnosis was a failure on cylinder 4 with a suspected failure of either the cam shaft or lifter. Given the poor design of the lifter I didn’t want to go back with the OEM lifter so I had it towed to an aftermarket shop. It is there now and they are in the process of tearing down the engine. After watching a video on YouTube I fear my truck is part of the connecting rod bearing failure under PE25-001. My understanding is there is an official investigation into the trucks outside the initial recall. I wanted to submit this for your review as the truck only had 74,000 miles. Freeman GMC in Grapevine, Tx has performed all the maintenance and should have documentation.
Informant system tells me that the engine oil is low every time right at about 1,000 miles after I change the oil. There have been times where the engine has hesitated to accelerate shortly after receiving the message. I've taken truck to be serviced with no oil leaks found. I purchased this truck with 21,000 miles on it, and it's been doing this ever since I've had it.
While driving my Sierra AT4, my engine shut off with no previous indication of a problem. The dash simply said to restart the vehicle. Unable to do so, I coasted the vehicle into a parking lot. Once it was diagnosed to be a defective engine, I replaced it with a new GM long block assembly paid out of pocket as the vehicle had 210,000 miles on it and was well out of warranty coverage. The first replacement engine lasted 15,000 miles before developing a spun bearing in the engine. GM did cover replacement of the engine assembly. The 2nd replacement engine was installed 12/2022 and lasted until 2/2025. Same engine seizure problem as the original due to the bearing failures that plague this engine series. Engines have always run 0-w20 Mobil1 synthetic as recommended by GM. Vehicle is currently waiting for GM to make a decision to cover it or not.
2019 GMC Sierra that was not on recall list for engine, had same exact issue as the recalled engines. We were driving, light came on and it wouldnt work properly. We immediately took it for diagnoses and it was same reason as the recalls, however our engine wasnt on the list. We just had to pay 14K cash for our truck engine and repair. We purchased 5/24 with 78K miles and it stopped at 94K miles. We didnt have the truck for 5 months because of the motor recalls were backed up. GMC refusing to reimburse us even tho there is still issues with that motor
The starter started dragging about a year ago and on November 12 the 2019 GMC truck would not start. We had it towed to Harper GMC in Minden, La. They told us the motor was locked up. This vehicle has a little over 40,000 miles on it. Has always been parked in a carport out of the weather and still looks brand new. I see where 2021 GMC trucks have a recall on the motor and this is the same problem with our 2019.
I was driving down [XXX] near Harrisburg PA in an active construction zone when the truck shut off, the dash blinked a few things very rapidly then went black. I was barely able to coast to an area large enough to get my truck out of the highway traffic. I was stranded on the side of the highway for 4 hrs and due to the construction hardly able to get out of the truck safely as it was around a bend. I’ve had to have the truck towed to a few mechanics to learn that it has suffered a catastrophic engine failure as all cylinders have lost compression. It made no noise at all. There was no signs this was going to happen, just driving normally then a complete engine failure resulting in no compression in all 8 cylinders with no noise. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Sudden lost of power while driving. I was driving on the i95 and out of nowhere the vehicle shut off in the middle of the highway. It was a scary moment because I could of been in serious accident. All the engine signs were displayed on the dashboard.
Defective out cool oil return line on v8 6.2L engine. Causing the truck to lose oil immediately due to being under pressure. Caused complete engine failure and required a new engine. That took 4-5 months to complete. Located in park city Utah a cold weather location. Not part of the 2019 recall for the same failure that gmc did in Canada and Alaska for a defective cool oil return line. When I called gmc to talk about it they referenced my vin and said it had no open issues and that they couldn’t talk about it.
At approximately 61,500 miles, the engine malfunctioned while cruising on a 4-lane highway at 45 MPH. The problem was diagnosed by an independent mechanic as a crankshaft rod bearing failure. This failure happened despite all recommended maintenance being performed with specified parts. This failure caused a safety concern as the vehicle was in motion at the time of the failure, increasing the potential for a collision due to the vehicle becoming disabled on a highway. The engine was replaced at a cost of approximately $13,500 parts and labor. Vehicle was out of service for two months due to a waiting list on replacement L87 engines.
My engine has a loud knocking/ticking noise. I have had one mechanic look at it. He has me taking my truck to a dealership this week. He believes the known issue with GMC's 6.2 engine is taking place in the engine in my 2019. From a verbal conversation with the dealership, they believe the same. I was advised to complete this form ASAP.
Pulled up to a stop sign, the engine shutoff and would not restart. Had the vehicle towed to the dealership. Received a call that the engine will need to be replaced. The code is a P0016. Same code as the other 6.2 L87 GM motors, but is not currently under the recall. They found no metal in the oil pan and the engine only has compression on cylinders 2 & 8. Make no mechanical sense. Before this, I had no engine lights, I had no oil burning, I had no smell of oil and the truck ran fine. No loss of power or any other issues.
Just had my 2019 GMC sierra 1500 Denali engine fail. My truck has 75k miles oil changed regularly no codes, issues or dash lights. Recently had it at GMC I Folsom California for a rear window replacement. Full inspection with no issues and nothing found wrong. Sunday 12/7 with my girlfriend and son in the truck about to get on the freeway felt a weird shift as I got on the freeway on-ramp. As I went to accelerate I had my traction control lights come on, lost power, and flashing check engine lights limped the truck off the side of the freeway and exited to a gas station. My truck wasn’t leaking anything and oil pressure was good but it sounds like popcorn was being made in my engine when it was on. Had my truck towed to Folsom GMC and yesterday 12/8 got a call I need a new engine. Called GM corporate to talk to them and opened a claim. GMC dealership got an initial help with 15% of the bill telling me I would need to pay $13,315. Talked to the service advisor and they put in a request for help from GM. Today at 9:00 a.m. they offered 50% coverage and I was able to get a little more but it still has me paying $7,500 and it will be 2-3 weeks to get the repair done. The dealership also will be getting me a loaner vehicle. This dealership has not been great but with this they are trying and doing a lot. However 75k on a truck that does not haul or have heavy use and is 7 years old with no prior issues is crazy. I was told cylinder 8 showed a misfire. Once they opened it up there was damage to the pushrods, valves and lifters with significant metal throughout the motor. I’m still waiting for corporate GMC to get back to me and hoping they will help or offer more money off as this is still a very large bill for a single father of 2 around the holidays. I bought the truck used with about 32k on it in 2022 and have had no mechanical issues or codes related to the motor or transmission.
Engine problems (Oil, crankshaft, loss of propulsion) similar to that of recalls in 2021-2024 models.
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The 2019 GMC Sierra 1500 has 166 Engine complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.