2016 GMC YUKON XL Power Train Problems

The car started to have issues shifting when driving- automatic transmission. It would jolt or shudder to try to shift. I was at a light intersection attempting to turn left to go on the on ramp of a highway, it attempted to shift as I sped up from a stop and it got stuck and started making a sound as if you were to press the brake and gas at the same time, similar to that, a car was coming in my direction at the same time and it finally clicked into gear. Absolutely terrified me, my father in law came and switched me vehicles and took mine to the dealership where it stayed for 3 days and they diagnosed it saying it needed a new transmission, quoting us at $11,000. Obviously we can’t afford that. We had all the filters and lines of the transmission cleaned. And now it’s just gotten worse and worse. That was the first time it happened. Now it’ll shudder like that any time it’s switching gears at any speed. Another time since then, it got stuck in the same situation after pulling out of my kids school driveway, it got stuck and wouldn’t click, when it finally did it started shaking uncontrollably in the street and thankfully I live two streets over and made it to my street before it just shut off on its own. I coasted it right into the front of our house and then it would not come back on, at this time we searched the internet over and over to find try to find an easy fix. We let it sit before it came back on. This is our family vehicle. I’ve seen that many many people have this exact issue with this exact same year and model. Its not coincidental and It’s extremely unsafe. Especially with kids in these vehicles. I’m terrified one day when it gets stuck or shuts off we will get hit.

Faulty Transmission at 90,000

I bought 2016 Yukon XL 9/2020. At 74k miles (2022), the transmission was replaced by warranty. Now (2025), at 126k miles, the transmission needs replaced again. This can’t be normal.

The transmission is going out and it started with a shudder. The change for the transmission filter and oil was only a temporary fix. It also shifts hard or there is a delay in the shift.

The transmission quit working and we were almost in an accident. This is a known issue on the interweb and I think GM needs to step in and help!

When accelerating from a stop, the engines revs up to really high RPM's before shifting hard into 2nd gear, and again while shifting hard into 3rd gear. This started in the last week. The engine/trans currently have ~133,000 miles. Accelerating slowly, not exceeding 1,500-1,700 RPM will reduce this occurence, but it takes significantly longer to get up to speed, which is a problem when entering 55 MPH traffic. We've had to pull off the road to avoid causing an accident while merging with traffic since the transmission seems like it won't shift, causing me to have to let off the accelerator to try and allow the transmission to shift so I can continue accelerating.

Transmission constantly jerks taking off under normal operating conditions from a stop, has a hard time staying into gear (hunts for gear) while cruising at highway speeds.slips/slams into gear when attempting to pass.

Code P0711 appeared during a scan after noticing some roughness during acceleration. Code shows transmission temperature sensor failure which is a known issue and recall for this vehicle model.

Merging onto highway and my car would not get up any speed . Was almost crushed by a tractor trailer. If I hadn’t had a long merge lane I could have been killed . Apparently my transmission failed. This is certainly a safety issue . Your car should not just quit! .called dealer and they said the problem is known but gmc is not doing anything about it! Please help 75,000 $ car should last !

The contact owns a 2016 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated that on numerous occasions while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated and jerked. The contact stated that the vehicle lunged forward. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times and diagnosed that there was a defect with the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 134,000.

Mileage: 134,000

Without warning my 2016 Yukon Denali jerked so forcefully into drive it felt like we were hit from behind. It went into gear and sped into intersection and stalled. We were almost hit. This is a huge problem with2016 GMC's and they are aware of it. It is the 8 speed transmissions that are causing this. They refuse to help get it fixed. I think they should be forced to! I will be out thousands if I can even find a shop that can get that transmission., They are back ordered because so many failures.

At 90500 miles my Yukon xl started shuddering and the transmission started failing and I have never used it to pull anything so this was very dissatisfying for a 75k vehicle

2016 Yukon Denali Xl 4wd Shifts hard from 1st -2nd Shifts hard from 2nd -1st Random delay in accelerating from stopped (this is my main concern as i have 2 disabled child that almost gives them whiplash) 45-55 sometime feels like i am driving over. Rumble strips 45-55 has loss of power when attempting to pass a vehicle Local GMC dealer charged 300$ to change fluid to high performance & it still has same problems

Automatic 8 speed transmission shudder issues. Slipping, Jerking, clunking, delay, loss of power. Local GMC "replaced fluid as in latest service bulletin"

WE WERE ON OUR WAY BACK FROM PITTSBURG, PA TO MARYLAND AND THE TRANSMISSION STARTED SLIPPING WHEN WE STOPPED IN KENT ISLAND AT CHICK FIL A. THE VEHICLE STOPPED MOVING COMPLETELY AND WOULD NOT MOVE FORWARD AS WE WERE TURNING INTO THE DRIVE THRU. WE HAD TO HAVE THE VEHICLE TOWED TO A GMC DEALERSHIP IN EASTON, MD. UPON THEIR EVALUATION OF THE VEHICLE, WE WERE TOLD THAT THE TORQUE CONVERTER CAME APART AND DAMAGED THE TRANSMISSION. WHEN I ASKED HOW AND WHY THE TORQUE CONVERTER CAME APART, THEY STATED THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO TAKE THE ENTIRE ENGINE APART TO FIGURE THAT OUT. WE WERE TOLD BY THE GMC DEALERSHIP THAT OUR 2016 GMC YUKON XL NOW NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION. WE PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE IN DECEMBER 2015 (BRAND NEW). BECAUSE OUR POWER TRAIN WARRANTY EXPIRED AT 60,000 MILES, IT WAS NOT COVERED. THE NEW TRANSMISSION COSTS US $5300+. WE WERE SHOCKED THAT THIS TOOK PLACE, AS THIS WAS PURCHASED NEW AND WE HAVE KEPT UP ON ALL THE MAINTENANCE. IT IS VERY DISTURBING TO HAVE PURCHASED A NEW TRANSMISSION FOR A VEHICLE THAT IS ONLY 4 YEARS OLD. IN DOING SOME RESEARCH, THIS SEEMS TO BE AN ONGOING ISSUE FOR GMC. A RECALL SHOULD BE ISSUED AND A REFUND SHOULD BE ISSUED TO THOSE WHO HAVE PAID OUT OF POCKET FOR THIS EXPENSE. I DO THANK THE GMC DEALERSHIP IN EASTON, MD FOR QUICKLY REPAIRING OUR VEHICLE, ESPECIALLY SINCE WE HAD AN UPCOMING TRIP. LADONNA WAS WONDERFUL AND I COMMEND HER AND THE ENTIRE DEALERSHIP FOR HANDLING THINGS SWIFTLY.

Mileage: 91,000

INSTRUCTED GMC DEALER TO PERFORM 90,000 MILE TRANSMISSION MAINTENANCE (AS PER GMC MANUAL: "CHANGE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID, IF EQUIPPED. IF FILTER IS SERVICEABLE, CHANGE FILTER"). GMC DEALER DECIDED TO PERFORM TRANSMISSION FLUSH INSTEAD WHICH DOES NOT INCLUDE A FILTER CHANGE. WITHIN SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, TRANSMISSION STARTED TO SHUDDER WHEN IN 3RD AND 4TH GEAR. DEALER INSISTS THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SERVICE THEY PERFORMED AND TOLD ME THERE IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THE TORQUE CONVERTERS. DEALER STATED ON THE PHONE "WE DO 2 OR 3 OF THESE A WEEK... OFTEN ON VEHICLES WITH ONLY 20,000 MILES". A QUICK SEARCH ON THE WEB FOR GM 6L80 TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS WILL SHOW ALL OF THE OWNERS WITH SIMILAR TORQUE CONVERTER ISSUES. DEALER GAVE ROUGH ESTIMATE OF $1700 TO REPLACE TORQUE CONVERTER. *TR

Mileage: 90,000

VEHICLE SHUDDERS WHEN SHIFTING IN LOWER GEARS. POSSIBLE TORQUE CONVERTER OR OTHER TRANSMISSION PROBLEM. *TR

Mileage: 65,000

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 GMC YUKON XL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE COMING TO A STOP, THE VEHICLE SHUDDERED WHILE THE TRANSMISSION SLIPPED FROM FIRST TO SECOND GEAR. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO DELLEN CHEVY BUICK GMC (2527 W MAIN ST, GREENFIELD, IN 46140) TO BE DIAGNOSED. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE TRANSMISSION TEMPERATURE SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE RECURRED 3 TIMES. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 55,000.*DT*JB

Mileage: 55,000

LED BRAKE LIGHTS DON'T WORK CAR SHAKES AND TRANSMISSION SHUDDERS WHILE DRIVING 35-45MPH

Mileage: 85,000

TRANSMISSION SHUDDERING AND HARD, CLUNKY SHIFTING

Mileage: 33,361

I HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH THE TRANSMISSION AND POWER OF THE CAR FOR OVER TWO YEARS. I HAVE CONTACTED GMC AND HAVE FOLLOWED EVERYTHING THAT GMC HAVE REQUESTED FOR ME TO DO WITH A VEHICLE. I HAVE TAKEN THE CAR TO FOUR DIFFERENT DEALERSHIPS, HAVE HAD EVERYTHING DONE WITH IT FROM FLUSHING IT THREE TO FOUR TIMES AND HAVE HAD TORQUE CONVERTER REPLACED THE CONTROL VALVE BODY REPLACE. RECALL FOR THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS ALSO DONE. AFTER EVERYTHING THE CAR IS IN WORST CONDITION AT THE MOMENT.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 GMC YUKON XL. WHILE DRIVING AT LOW OR HIGH SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE SHOOK VIOLENTLY AS IF IT WOULD FALL APART. ALSO, THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO CAPPELLINO BUICK GMC (5411 TRANSIT RD, BUFFALO, NY 14221) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A TORQUE CONVERTER SHUDDER FAILURE AND A TRANSMISSION FLUSH WAS COMPLETED. THE DEALER ADVISED THE CONTACT TO DRIVE FOR 200 MILES TO CORRECT THE FAILURE; HOWEVER, THE FAILURE CONTINUED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE DEALER WHERE ANOTHER TRANSMISSION FLUSH WAS COMPLETED. THE CONTACT WAS ALSO INFORMED THAT THE SHEET METAL ON THE CROSS-MEMBER WAS CAUSING THE VIBRATION. THE CROSS MEMBER WAS REPAIRED. AFTER THE REPAIRS, THE CABIN OF THE VEHICLE WAS UNCOMFORTABLE WITH UNEVEN PRESSURE AND A HIGH VELOCITY VIBRATION. THE SAME DEALER AND WEST HERR CHEVROLET OF WILLIAMSVILLE (8040 TRANSIT RD, WILLIAMSVILLE, NY 14221) PERFORMED SEVERAL TRANSMISSION FLUSHES. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE AND A CLAIM WAS FILED. THE CONTACT WAS COMPENSATED FOR THE FAILURE; HOWEVER, THE FAILURE CONTINUED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS CURRENTLY AT THE WEST HERR DEALER AS THE VEHICLE WAS STALLING, THE RPMS INCREASED, AND THE TRACTION AND CHECK ENGINE WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 42,241.

Mileage: 42,241

TRANSMISSION HAS NOT SHIFTED CORRECTLY. SHUDDERING OCCURS OR SHIFTS ARE NOT SMOOTH

Mileage: 55,000

THE TRANSMISSION WENT OUT, THE ENGINE IS MAKING A NOISE AND A SERVICE CENTER SAID LOTS OF GM'S VEHICLES ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM THE POWER STEERING SYSTEM ALSO STOP WORKING AND I HAVE TO REPLACE IT

Mileage: 189,000

VEHICLE BEGAN HESITATING DURING ACCELERATION. PROBLEM OCCURRED INTERMITTENTLY AT FIRST BUT NOW OCCURS EACH TIME THE VEHICLE IS DRIVEN. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON OCCASIONALLY. THIS JERKING CAUSES SAFETY ISSUES WHEN TRYING TO INCREASE SPEED. MANY COMPLAINTS ARE ON LINE FROM OTHER OWNERS WITH SAME ISSUE

Mileage: 60,000

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 GMC YUKON XL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED AND THE VEHICLE SHUDDERED WHEN SHIFTING GEARS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO STATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION, TRANSMISSION FLUID, AND WIRING HARNESS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED; HOWEVER, PARTS NUMBER: 700, 711, 2429, 7371, AND 87571 WERE ON BACKORDER. THE CONTACT CALLED TED BRITT CHEVROLET (46990 HARRY BYRD HWY, STERLING, VA 20164, (703) 955-3610), BUT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND STATED THAT THEY WOULD ATTEMPT TO LOCATE THE PARTS; HOWEVER, NO FURTHER ASSISTANCE WAS PROVIDED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS A LEMON. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 65,350.

Mileage: 65,350

EXCESSIVE VIBRATION/BUFFETING DRONE ISSUES (AT ALL SPEEDS OF THE VEHICLE) HAVE CAUSED SEVERE HEALTH ISSUES AND SAFETY HAZARDS FROM DRIVING THE VEHICLE. WITHIN THE FIRST 8,000 MILES OF OWNING THE CAR, THE CAR HAS NOW BEEN IN SERVICE FOR 40 DAYS AS GM TRIES AND REMEDY THE PROBLEM, BUT THERE DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE A FIX. SO FAR, DIAGNOSTIC TESTS INDICATED THAT THERE WAS A FAULTY BEARING IN THE REAR DIFFERENTIAL THAT LED TO SIGNIFICANT ABNORMAL WEAR THROUGHOUT THE DIFFERENTIAL AND THE DIFFERENTIAL NEEDED TO BE REBUILT. WHEN REBUILDING, THEY DISCOVERED THAT THE DISASSEMBLED DIFFERENTIAL HAD HEAVILY SCORED BEARINGS AND METAL SHAVING THROUGHOUT EVERY BEARING. RING GEAR AND PINION HAD IRREGULAR WEAR CAUSING A DRONE IN THE VEHICLE. RACE SURFACES WEAR GROUND AND SCARRED BAD.THE REBUILT DIFFERENTIAL DID NOT FIX THE ISSUE AND NOW AFTER HAVING FOUR NEW TIRES AND ROAD BALANCING, THE PROBLEMS DIDN'T DIMINISH BUT WERE EXACERBATED. AFTER REBUILDING THE DIFFERENTIAL AGAIN, GM HAS NOW DETERMINED THAT THE REAR AXLE MAY NEED TO BE REPLACED AND ENGINEERS ARE LOOKING INTO THE PROBLEM FURTHER. THE STEERING WHEEL SHAKES AND THE CAR HAS A TERRIBLE VIBRATION THAT WORSENS EVERY TIME GM ATTEMPTS TO SERVICE THE VEHICLE. THIS SEEMS TO BE A WELL-DOCUMENTED PROBLEM THAT GM HAS AVOIDED FIXING. WE ADVISE OTHER CONSUMERS TO BE AWARE OF THE SERIOUS SAFETY PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE POOR MANUFACTURING OF THE VEHICLE AND INABILITY OF GM TO REMEDY THE PROBLEM.

Mileage: 8,000

I LEASED A 2016 YUKON DENALI XL ON 9/15/15. IT HAS TWO MAJOR PROBLEMS. 1. BUFFETING/PRESSURE NOISE - A NOISE AS IF A WINDOW IS CRACKED, EXCEPT IT'S NOT CRACKED. THIS OCCURS AT SPEEDS FROM 24MPH AND UP AND CAUSES EARS TO POP AND IS NOTICEABLE TO VIRTUALLY EVERY PASSENGER I HAVE HAD. 2. WHOLE-TRUCK VIBRATION - OCCURS BETWEEN 70-80MPH IN ENTIRE VEHICLE. WHEEL REPLACEMENTS, TIRE REPLACEMENTS, ROAD-FORCE BALANCING, DRIVESHAFT REPLACEMENT, DRIVESHAFT "BALANCING", ETC....NOTHING HAS FIXED IT. I HAVE DRIVEN 13 2016 YUKON, YUKON XL, TAHOE AND SUBURBANS. EVERY SINGLE ONE HAS THE BUFFETING ISSUES. ALL BUT ONE HAS THE VIBRATION ISSUES. GM HAS ISSUED A PI STATING THAT THE ROOF BOWS MAY HAVE COME DISCONNECTED AND THEY NEED TO BE REATTACHED. THE ISSUE HERE IS THAT REATTACHING THEM DOESN'T FIX THE BUFFETING ISSUE. I HAVE A DATE-STAMPED LOG OF EVERY DEALER VISIT, CONVERSATION, EMAIL, ETC. AND AM GLAD TO SHARE IT. THESE ISSUES ARE RIDICULOUS TO OCCUR IN ANY CAR MUCH LESS A 75K FLAGSHIP CAR THAT PULLS IN 3-7K IN PROFIT FOR GM/DEALERS PER VEHICLE.

Mileage: 7

ON 11/13/15, "SERVICE 4WD SYSTEM" MESSAGE APPEARED ON THE SCREEN RENDERING THE VEHICLE UNSAFE TO DRIVE. THIS ISSUE OCCURRED LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER PURCHASE (297 MILES ON THE ODOMETER AT THE TIME THAT THE ISSUE OCCURRED). SPECIFIC ISSUE: WHEN THE TRANSFER CASE WAS SET TO "AUTO" IT AUTOMATICALLY SWITCHED TO THE "4WDLO" SETTING, WHICH CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO LOCK-UP SPECIFICALLY WHEN TURNING OR IN REVERSE GEAR. I HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT THE TRANSFER CASE CONTROL MODULE SOFTWARE NEEDED TO BE UPDATED / REFLASHED AND THAT THE ENCODER MOTOR / ACTUATOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE DEALER CONTACTED GM AND WAS NOTIFIED THAT THE ENCODER MOTOR / ACTUATOR WAS ON NATIONAL BACKORDER. THE DEALER RECEIVED AND INSTALLED THE PART ON 12/8/15 (25 DAYS AFTER THE ISSUE OCCURRED). I FORMALLY SUBMITTED A COMPLAINT TO GM ON 11/20/15 (REF # 8-1674527570) SO THEY ARE AWARE OF THE ISSUE.

Mileage: 297