6.9

fairly significant
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
9,089 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.

2017 GMC Terrain engine problems

engine problem

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2017 GMC Terrain Owner Comments (Page 2 of 3)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #24

Jan 312023

Terrain

  • miles

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

In 10 degree weather after warming the car up and driving 15 miles began noticing exhaust smell but wasn't sure it was my car. No warning lights. Arrived at destination parking lot and car began to run rough and stall out and only then did engine light and oil pressure light come on. Strong exhaust/gas smell. Stranded in frigid weather with passenger in a wheelchair. Had car towed to dealer- pvc port plugged causing oil pressure to blow out rear main seal losing all oil causing damage to the engine and components. Warning lights did not come on until damage was done. Discovered it was a known issue with this engine and class action lawsuit has been filed. Was fortunate we were not on the road when this happened.

- Hemlock, MI, USA

problem #23

Jan 312023

Terrain

  • miles
In 10 degree weather after warming the car up and driving 15 miles began noticing exhaust smell but wasn't sure it was my car. No warning lights. Arrived at destination parking lot and car began to run rough and stall out and only then did engine light and oil pressure light come on. Strong exhaust/gas smell. Stranded in frigid weather with passenger in a wheelchair. Had car towed to dealer- pvc port plugged causing oil pressure to blow out rear main seal losing all oil causing damage to the engine and components. Warning lights did not come on until damage was done. Discovered it was a known issue with this engine and class action lawsuit has been filed. Was fortunate we were not on the road when this happened.

- Hemlock, MI, USA

problem #22

Jan 272023

Terrain

  • 79,000 miles
The contact owns a 2017 GMC Terrain. The contact stated while driving 5 MPH and merging into traffic, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to an independent mechanic and was informed that the timing chain had fractured, and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 79,000.

- Monroeville, PA, USA

problem #21

Jan 112023

Terrain

  • miles

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

Vehicle has 37,000 on it and the timing belt/chain is bad causing value problems.

- Temple, GA, USA

problem #20

Dec 222022

Terrain

  • miles
They-€™re a class action law suit going on now, about the pcv orifice on my car. This is what happened with my car the pcv orifice clogged and frozen then causing my rear main seal to break and loose oil. No oil lights come on when the car is low on oil. Also even if you fix the pcv orifice it could still happen again.. which means it could leave me and my young daughter stranded on the side of a road hi way or interstate and I-€™m not comfortable with this and the car dealership needs to get a permanent fix so this doesn-€™t happen repeatedly-€¦ I don-€™t even feel comfortable driving the car anywhere I-€™m afraid I will be left on the side of the road.

- Flintstone , GA, USA

problem #19

Dec 232022

Terrain

  • miles
Car died out of nowhere. Towed to dealership. Upon inspection we were told that the engine needs to be replaced. Had a 3rd party come to investigate and gave a diagnostic report. GM has notices and there are articles outlining the defect/failure of the engine due to excessive oil consumption and issues with PCV and rear main seal.

- Round Lake, IL, USA

problem #18

Dec 242022

Terrain

  • miles

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

On Christmas Eve, I was driving home from the Northpark Mall in Joplin, MO during a record winter storm passing through my area. I was 2 miles from my house when the car went into what I can describe as a "fail-safe" mode and I was able to make it home safely. When the weather cleared up and I felt comfortable going outside again, I checked the oil and nothing was in there. It had leaked the rest of the way home. When I was doing a full inspection, I noticed the PVC Evac system valve was full of water from being frozen. When I called the dealership I originally bought my car from, he laughed and said he had the exact complaint come through for another GMC vehicle. I've looked online for options to fix it, but the solutions I found are costly and time-consuming. I live in an eight-person household and would like to be able to drive my own vehicle again. Thank you.

- Riverton, KS, USA

problem #17

Dec 302022

Terrain

  • miles
The rear main seal is out, which is causing an oil leak. The intake manifold failed because the pvc system has a clog which has caused too much pressure to build up and caused the rear main seal to blow out. (PVC pipe is freezing over in cold temperatures which causes the failure of the main seal to blow out subsequently leading to additional major issues and parts failure. This issue has occurred in an overwhelming amount of vehicles.)

- Macomb Township, MI, USA

problem #16

Dec 312022

Terrain

  • miles
Pulling into work parking lot on Saturday 31Dec2022, my engine died, thinking it was the alternator or the starter, had it towed to a repair shop. Didn-€™t find out until Monday, 2Jan2023, that the engine completely locked up. The rear seal blew out and drained all the oil. I have been reading up on this and apparently this is reoccurring thing in said make and model of 2017. GMC and GM have to put out a recall on these vehicles with this manufacturing error/problem. Now I have to get a new goddamn vehicle because I cannot afford to get the engine replaced, which costs around $7000. End of message.

- Hillsboro, ND, USA

problem #15

Dec 272022

Terrain

  • miles
In very cold weather the 2.4 engines will blow the rear main seal out and cause rapid oil loss causing engine failure. This is the second time it has happened. First time was February 2022 and the dealer said they havent seen this problem before

- Columbia, MO, USA

problem #14

Dec 262022

Terrain

  • miles

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

It was Christmas weekend, the coldest days our area had seen this time of year in decades. Temperatures were around 0 degrees, with wind chills that were -25 below. The check engine light had come on the day before. My husband was literally driving to the mechanic to have it looked at, when the vehicle completely broke down across the street from his destination. Thank God he was approaching an intersection when it died, and not traveling at a higher rate of speed, where he could have been injured, or others on the roadway around him could have been injured. We had the vehicle towed to our GMC dealership where we purchased it just three years prior. Upon inspection from the mechanic, it was determined that the PCV valve was plugged causing pressure on the rear main seal, which then blew out, bending the valve covers, breaking the timing chain, the water pump chain, and damaging the head gasket. The whole bottom of the motor was covered in oil. Absolute catastrophic damage!! I-€™m told the cost to replace these parts to essentially rebuild the engine, would start at approximately $4000. A brand new engine would be about $11,000! This entire situation to me is just unbelievable! A five year old GM vehicle, with just 46,000 miles on it! This should not have happened. In researching, I-€™ve been made aware that this is a common issue with GMC Terrains. In fact there was Technical Service Bulletin made by GM for 2010-2013 models whose PCV valve would clog causing rear main seal blow outs. The holes were so small in diameter, technicians would use a 1/16 drill head to clean it out. This is an obvious manufacturer defect that apparently hasn-€™t been resolved in the newer model Terrains. How has this not been a safety recall yet?? Shame on you GM! This will be the last GMC vehicle I will own!

- Mckean , PA, USA

problem #13

Dec 192022

Terrain

  • miles
timing chain issues resulting in a loss of power of the vehicle while driving. The vehicle stalls out and shuts off. Or it will go into power saving mode and slow down to only 20mph. It did this to me one a MAJOR HIGHWAY and I almost was in an accident. Way to many issues with gmc owners and the timing chain on their vehicles

- Conestoga, PA, USA

problem #12

Jan 302022

Terrain

  • miles
Driving home from work and was about 4 miles away from home when the "service stabilitrak' and "reduced engine power" lights came on. Safely drove home, parked vehicle on road to shovel driveway (snow storm). When I went to start it to move it into driveway "oil pressure" light came on. After moving it off street noticed oil on road where vehicle was sitting. Had towed to dealer where I get my oil changed (which was done about 3 weeks prior) they stated rear main seal went causing oil to drain from engine which also ruined my valves and threw out the timing. GM says they'll pay 25% of total $6200 bill. Although GM has yet to return a call regarding the case I opened with them on this asking for a larger percentage.

- Brooklyn, CT, USA

problem #11

Jan 272022

Terrain

  • miles
The rear main seal broke. Causing oil to leave the reservoir and empty the engine. This was due to a frozen pvc from cold temperatures. My vehicles engine light came on and I pulled over immediately noticing there was no oil. but there was never an indication of low oil. My vehicle is serviced with every 5k miles for oil. 109,000 miles on a 2017 terrain. Blew the rear main seal and caused other damage as well. This is a manufacturers faulty equipment.

- Bonfield, IL, USA

problem #10

Feb 062022

Terrain

  • miles
The Rear Main Seal broke, thus causing major oil leak. I have been doing my investigations and there are many out there like myself. This is NOT an easy fix and is very expensive! I suggest if anyone else has the same issue please report it.

- Hammond, IN, USA

problem #9

Feb 042022

Terrain

  • miles
Available for inspection upon request. The rear main seal is out, which is causing an oil leak. The intake manifold failed because the pcv system has a clog which has caused too much pressure to build up and caused the rear main seal to blow out. There were no dash lights. My car was completely out of oil from the issue and I had no indicators. This issue has been check and confirmed by a GMC mechanic.

- Kansas City, MO, USA

problem #8

Jan 202022

Terrain

  • miles
PC/rear main seal blew

- Bonfield, IL, USA

problem #7

Jan 212022

Terrain

  • miles
The rear main seal blew out due to crackcase pressure build up.

- Elwood, IL, USA

problem #6

Jan 212022

Terrain

  • miles
The rear main seal broke. Causing oil to leave the reservoir and empty the engine. This was due to a frozen pvc from cold temperatures. My vehicles engine light came on and I pulled over immediately noticing there was no oil. but there was never an indication of low oil. My vehicle is ervex with gmc every 5k miles for oil. Only 74,000 miles on a 2017 terrain. This is a manufacturers faulty equipment.

- Channahon, IL, USA

problem #5

Jan 202022

Terrain

  • 66,000 miles
The contact owns a 2017 GMC Terrain. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the "Low Oil Pressure - Shut Engine Off" message was displayed. The contact was able to pull into his driveway and parked the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the rear main seal had failed, and the failure was related to GM Technical Service Bulletin: 14882. The dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist because the VIN was not included in the Technical Service Bulletin. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA for assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 66,000.

- North Reading, MA, USA

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