2004 GMC Sierra 3500 problems
NHTSA has received 29 complaints about the 2004 GMC Sierra 3500, and 48% of them involve brakes. After that come electrical system (17%) and fuel system (14%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 29 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 48% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 0 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 87,000 miles 27 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 | 2 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 4 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 4 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 5 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 4 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 4 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 27 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 87,000 miles. For brakes specifically, the median reported mileage is about 86,000 miles (14 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a fire.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 11th most-complained-about out of 15 model years of the GMC Sierra 3500 with enough data (14 complaints in that window).
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.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 GMC sierra dormax diesel (na). The contact stated that the fuel injectors produce white smoke. Ocassionally, the vehicle becomes difficult to start. The contact serviced the injectors every 10,000 miles, but the failure is persistent. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they kept replacing the injectors, but to no avail. The failure mileage was 30,000.
Tl*- the contact states that sometime in august of 2006, fuel injected number 8 failed in her vehicle. On december 4th the electrical system failed to work involving injected number 8. On december 11th, injected number six on contact diesel engine truck failed while driving 55 MPH. The contact states that he has spent over $1,000 of dollars repairing his truck and would like to know, if the manufacturer has confirm that there is a problem with the fuel injectors.
Reference a GMC 2004 sierra 3500 4 wheel drive pick up truck, 6.6l diesel engine with 6 speed manual transmission. The molded rubber around the driveline center support carrier bearing (part # 12472424) dry rotted causing driveline vibration that, in turn caused the transfer case to fail. The vibration was slight and not constant, not indicating a major problem. The part in question is a non-serviceable part, preventive maintenance did not and would not prevent this failure.
Speedometer erratically shows incorrect speed while driving. Sometimes displaying 120MPH or 0MPH. Very dangerous and should be a mandatory recall checked with dealer and would cost $800.00 to replace bad instrument cluster. Only has 73,000 miles.
Brakes failed due to a sudden brake line failure. There had been no prior fluid leaks. The rear metal brake line under the bed rusted at a clamp in front of the fuel tank. As I have looked further into this I have several friends that have had this problem and several shops said that they saw this often with these vehicles all failing in the same area.