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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
108,390 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2009 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 electrical problems

electrical problem

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2009 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 Owner Comments

problem #18

Jan 022022

Silverado 3500

  • 195,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Silverado 2500. The contact stated while driving 30 mph, when an unknown warning light was illuminated. The contact called an independent mechanic who informed the wiring harness was melted and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V407000 (Electrical System), however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 195,000.

- Dansville, NY, USA

problem #17

Oct 062014

Silverado 3500

  • 70,000 miles
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Silverado. The contact stated that while driving at 65 mph, the door ajar warning chimed before the power doors locked and unlocked independently, the gauges fluctuated and the instrument panel illuminated. In addition, the vehicle failed to accelerate when the accelerator pedal was depressed. The failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed but the cause of the failure was not determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #16

Apr 142015

Silverado 3500 8-cyl

  • 72,000 miles
Wife drove truck to the store it was raining hard this day. Came out and truck was dead. Jumped the truck and took it home.looked at the battery. Still had factory battery. Replaced the battery. Next morning the truck was dead. Jumped the new battery truck started. Turned truck off /could hear something running in the fuel tank. Found out that there were problems with the fuel module above the spare tire. Called the dealership for the third time. Creg smith auto group. Galion Ohio 44833. Could not get the service manager on the phone. Left him a voice mail. Never returned my call. Next day called for service manager. They could not find him in the building. Told a man on the other end of the phone everything that was going on. Something was draining my battery and something was running.24/7. man told me he would call me back. Never did. Left for dealership with the truck. Truck stopped on me in middle of the road had it towed home. Never made it to the dealership. I am very upset with everything now. I turned the key and the truck stuck on was still trying to start after I turned key off.. was afraid of the fuel system and electrical system together..one spark could blow me up. Now truck will not start at all. Please help me. I was told by dealer that I had to come to a dealer.all parts had to be reprogrammed for the truck. I have no money ! only owe 2,400 and truck is paid off please help me.

- Mansfield , OH, USA

problem #15

Jan 182015

Silverado 3500

  • 930,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Locks started locking/unlocking. Gear indicator was going from drive to park. Heat came on by itself and fan went from high to low. Speedometer went from 70mph to 55 mph with loss of engine power. Headlights were flashing on and off. After pulling off I-75 and getting to a safe stopping area the truck would not start after turning the engine off. The engine compartment felt extremely hot: Especially the battery. After 10 minutes, the truck was able to start and continue the rest of the trip. After doing some internet research, this problem is well documented on various Chevy forums and car message boards. Replacing the mega fuse and battery cables appears to solve the majority of the issues as it did in my case. The defective mega fuse and battery cables caused the excessive voltage through the cables, causing extreme heat which resulted in scorch marks on the terminal ends of the battery cables and the insulation of the cables changing color as well as the above issues. I am very grateful that an electrical fire didn't happen which I believe could have easily been the case.

- Fruitport , MI, USA

problem #14

Jan 162015

Silverado 3500 4WD 8-cyl

  • 131,000 miles
I was driving in heavy traffic and used my left turn signal all of the lights is the truck started flashing and the doors unlocked and locked them selves. Then two miles later still in heavy traffic I flashed my lights at a truck to let him know he could safely enter my lane at which point the truck cut completely off going 35 mph in heavy traffic. This is very unsafe and I am lucky that no one was following to close.

- Shiloh , GA, USA

problem #13

Oct 132014

Silverado 3500 4WD 8-cyl

  • 73,500 miles
Went out to truck to move it and noticed wipers up on windshield, tried to start it and only check engine light came on, looked under hood to find an electrical burning smell coming from fuse box. Disassembled fuse box to find it was melted and found evidence of combustion, wiring harness connector X2 pin N5 was melted and connector X5 pins G1 H1,2,3,4 K 4,5,6 and J 2,3,4 had melted this is all the damage that I found.

- Columbia Station, OH, USA

problem #12

Aug 152012

Silverado 3500 8-cyl

  • 75,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Key comes out of the ignition while truck is running.

- Picture Rocks, PA, USA

problem #11

Apr 172014

Silverado 3500 8-cyl

  • 62,000 miles
Several times while driving at various speeds the stability control warning light would flash, the door locks would cycle and the gauges would stop working. After a few seconds the warning light would go off and the truck would return to normal. I took the vehicle to the dealer and I was informed that both battery cables had high resistance and needed to be replaced. It is ridiculous that battery cables need to be replaced at 62000 miles. The service adviser made a comment that this was a common problem but it usually happens while the vehicle is still under warranty.

- Bellevue, NE, USA

problem #10

May 012014

Silverado 3500 8-cyl

  • 63,000 miles
Used the truck and parked the truck with no problems. Then the truck sat for 1day and had heavy rain storms come through the area. Then went to use the truck and when I went to start it up the truck would not turn over dead and had a strong smell plastic burning with the cargo light staying on.check the circuit board under the hood and found that some of the fuses had melted.no other problem with the truck until now.

- Islip Terrace, NY, USA

problem #9

Nov 162013

Silverado 3500 8-cyl

  • 27,860 miles
Driving on I10 heading to houston, the entire truck completely shut down, and then turned back on, this again happened 02/2014....the whole truck shut down, thank god the wheels did not lock up or we would have been killed both times. It is at the dealers...freedom Chevy san antonio tx....something is bad on the truck...like playing with a light switch...the dash, every instrument shut off both times, now I am worried that it will happen again, and I can not afford another truck. I thought that the 1st time was just a fluke, but when it did it again, I know now something is not right and is very dangerous for me and my little girl...please reply if a human really reads this.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #8

Jul 182012

Silverado 3500 8-cyl

  • 100,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

After hearing about the recalls on Chevrolet cars about the ignition I had to tell you that the same thing happened to my truck. There was a sudden jarring & the truck shut down & would not start back up.

- Princeton, TX, USA

problem #7

Mar 042013

Silverado 3500 8-cyl

  • 78,565 miles
While driving along highway I noticed the speedometer needle was on zero. Upon farther investigation I found all instrument panel lights were off and directional and hazard flashers would not operate. I stopped, recycled master switch off than on, lights worked properly. Event occurred again six days later. ## VIN failed ##

- Midlothian, TX, USA

problem #6

Aug 152012

Silverado 3500

  • 56,000 miles
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Silverado. The contact stated that the vehicle would not start. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who advised that they needed to replace the wiring harness. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that someone would returned his call later. The failure and the current mileage was 56,000.

- Franklin , MA, USA

problem #5

Feb 082012

Silverado 3500 6-cyl

  • miles
This has been on going from day one my truck has 30900 miles on it and almost 3 years old head lights flicker or dim out for no reason along with the dash lights dealer said it was nothing they could do it was just that type of voltage regulator.

- West Monroe, LA, USA

problem #4

Nov 022011

Silverado 3500 6-cyl

  • miles
At 46,487 miles had to spend $415.75 to correct engine light coming on. Now door chime comes on at random times when key is not in ignition.

- Franklin, TN, USA

problem #3

Oct 122010

Silverado 3500 4WD 8-cyl

  • 6,100 miles
2009 Chevrolet Silverado truck had a fire in the dash board on the passenger side while the truck was parked and in the off position. The fire was on the top section of the dash over the passenger airbag area.

- Cambridge, MA, USA

problem #2

Jan 152010

Silverado 3500

  • 1,000 miles
Engine just shuts down. No power. Have to pull over and wait 5 minutes or so and then it will restart. No pattern. Has happened traveling on hwy.

- Folsom, LA, USA

problem #1

Sep 252009

Silverado 3500

  • 9,997 miles
On March 10, 2009 we purchased a brand new 2009 Chevrolet Silverado from nu car Chevrolet in new castle, Delaware. On September 25, 2009, while on vacation in ocean city, md, the vehicle caught on fire with us and our two young children (ages 2 and 5) inside, strapped in their car seats. We were able to pull them from their car seats (terrified) and get a fire extinguisher from the restaurant were we were parked to extinguish the fire. We had the vehicle towed back to nu car Chevrolet on September 26, 2009 and it has remained with them ever since. The dealership and General Motors determined the cause to be a defective wiring harness and has admitted fault (there was no after market wiring in the vehicle and no previous accidents). As of today, February 5, they have been unable to repair the issue and are now going back and forth with us trying to get us to pay more money for a new vehicle since they can't find a 2009 replacement model. We are refusing to pay any additional money and stated that we will accept a replacement vehicle with same features at no cost or we want a full refund of our vehicle purchase.

- Wilmington, DE, USA

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