2002 GMC Sierra 3500 problems
NHTSA has received 29 complaints about the 2002 GMC Sierra 3500, and 34% of them involve brakes. After that come fuel system (24%) and suspension (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 29 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 35% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 3 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 1 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 101,000 miles 22 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 3 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 3 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 1 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 3 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 4 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 5 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 22 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 101,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 3 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 1 injury reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2002 ranks 13th most-complained-about out of 15 model years of the GMC Sierra 3500 with enough data (12 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Airbags did not deploy when vehicle went off road and rashed; on-star did not function either manually or upon impact.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 GMC sierra 3500. While driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle began to smoke and lose power abnormally. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the fuel filter was replaced. The failure recurred in less than one year. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer and the contact was advised that there were three defective fuel injectors that would need replacing.
The parking brake was on and the vehicle was parked on a slight incline and without warning the vehicle rolled down the street and crashed into a tree. Vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that the brake pads needed to be replaced on the parking brakes due to wear and tear.
Slowing down to a red traffic light and brake pedal went to the floor. Tried to pump brake pedal to get more pressure but did not work. Drove off onto shoulder and got it slowed down . Drive very slow with hazard lights on to get it back to my house. I was only about a mile away. Got home and looked underneath to find brake fluid all over left rear wheels, fuel tank, left rear shock and drive axle. Continued to look at all brake lines and all of them were corroded bad.
While driving down a very busy street, the engine died. I lost all my power steering and brake. I was very lucky that I was not on a very busy highway. I had it towed to hedrick's chevrolet in clovis ca. It took 2 days for them to check it out. They said when they went to bring it in to the shop it started up and they could not find anything wrong with it. I picked the truck up and the next day it did the same thing again.