Transmission/Shifting Won't work 2021 Yukon XL Denali

[mannyp02]

I purchased my vehicle in late March and have had no issues until today (including a 5 hr, each way, trip to the beach). This afternoon on my way home, I had cut my vehicle off for just a minute and then started it back up. Upon starting, I received a text from the diagnostics alert system telling me to "Service the engine and transmission system". Since the vehicle appeared to start normally, I attempted to go into Drive. The vehicle jerked as if shifting into gear but when I pressed the gas nothing happened. I noticed the D didn't light up to indicate it was in drive and the dashboard wasn't displaying D for drive, it wasn't displaying anything, not even P. When I tried to shift into D again, alert came up saying "Conditions not correct for shifting" as if I wasn't depressing the brake pedal. Attempting to shift into any gear, neutral or even pressing the parking brake did nothing or gave me the same alert regarding incorrect conditions. Everything else on the vehicle seemed to function fine. After having no luck for 30 minutes, I disconnected the battery in hopes that it might reset something (OnStar was no assistance). I don't know if it was the battery trick or not but I eventually was able to get the vehicle to register a shift and make it home. I moved the vehicle a few times once home and it functioned fine twice before the same issue occurred again. I haven't d/c the battery yet to see if that works again but I'm going to try it in the morning so that I can hopefully drive it to my dealership for service.

Has anyone else experienced the same issue?

 

[Fireman591]

I purchased my vehicle in late March and have had no issues until today (including a 5 hr, each way, trip to the beach). This afternoon on my way home, I had cut my vehicle off for just a minute and then started it back up. Upon starting, I received a text from the diagnostics alert system telling me to "Service the engine and transmission system". Since the vehicle appeared to start normally, I attempted to go into Drive. The vehicle jerked as if shifting into gear but when I pressed the gas nothing happened. I noticed the D didn't light up to indicate it was in drive and the dashboard wasn't displaying D for drive, it wasn't displaying anything, not even P. When I tried to shift into D again, alert came up saying "Conditions not correct for shifting" as if I wasn't depressing the brake pedal. Attempting to shift into any gear, neutral or even pressing the parking brake did nothing or gave me the same alert regarding incorrect conditions. Everything else on the vehicle seemed to function fine. After having no luck for 30 minutes, I disconnected the battery in hopes that it might reset something (OnStar was no assistance). I don't know if it was the battery trick or not but I eventually was able to get the vehicle to register a shift and make it home. I moved the vehicle a few times once home and it functioned fine twice before the same issue occurred again. I haven't d/c the battery yet to see if that works again but I'm going to try it in the morning so that I can hopefully drive it to my dealership for service.

Has anyone else experienced the same issue?

Sorry to hear about this. Just another problem for this train wreck of a model With all the problems with these 2021s GM is going to give the Edsel a run for it's money LOL

 

[robgreg75]

Sorry to hear about this. Just another problem for this train wreck of a model With all the problems with these 2021s GM is going to give the Edsel a run for it's money LOL

Curios on this one since Ford and GM use the same 10 speed assembled in the co-owned factory.

 

[mannyp02]

Curios on this one since Ford and GM use the same 10 speed assembled in the co-owned factory.

Took me an hour and a half this morning to get my Yukon to shift into gear. No clue what I did (if anything) to make it occur. I d/c the battery again but that didn't seem to work, it was about an hour after I reconnected it that it finally shifted. I had already called Roadside Assistance to tow it to a dealership when I decided to try one more time and it actually worked. Got it to the dealership and left it running while I spoke to them about the issue assuming that it would maintain ability to shift; got back in to move it and couldn't shift out of park (again it didn't even appear to be in Park, no illumination on the shift button and it wasn't shown in the dashboard as being engaged). Tech said he had never seen it before but they'd let me know what they found out although they don't expect to get to it for a few days. I'll update once I find out more.

 

[100cars]

Interested to see what happens with this.

 

[mannyp02]

They finally told me last week that they believe the issue is the ECM (engine control module). It supposedly took several days to determine what it could be as they told me GM hadn't seen this particular issue before. They ordered the part but it has not yet come in so I do not know for sure if this in fact fixes it. I wasn't able to make it to the dealership where I purchased my vehicle, it's being serviced by a closer GMC dealership. Probably a good thing since the place I purchased from has been less than helpful throughout, safe to say I won't be purchasing from them again in the future that's for sure.

 

[B520044]

Mine has just recently started to shake/shudder (more than usual) pretty strongly at slow speeds. Especially during start stop/slow traffic. It's like the transmission cant figure out which gear to be in and grinds. The Yukon shakes as though your driving over rumble strips. Above 40 mpg its ok.

 

[Micahsd]

Mine has just recently started to shake/shudder (more than usual) pretty strongly at slow speeds. Especially during start stop/slow traffic. It's like the transmission cant figure out which gear to be in and grinds. The Yukon shakes as though your driving over rumble strips. Above 40 mpg its ok.

I've noticed that too on my '21 Tahoe...seems like when it's around 1,300-1,500 RPM and going up a slight incline around as you stated, 30-40 MPH. I've got 2,500 miles on mine and it was built in March '21.

 

[thompsoj22]

YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't even want to know what you paid for these vehicles. We buy American vehicles because we like them, The manufacturer should like Americans who buy their vehicles, As opposed to beating them into submission and losing another customer to the Japanese competition car/truck! GMC should be rolling out the red carpet for all of you!

 

[mannyp02]

Curios on this one since Ford and GM use the same 10 speed assembled in the co-owned factory.

Interested to see what happens with this.

Took a week and a half to get the ECM in but the dealership got it replaced on Friday. So far, so good, it has appeared to fix the issue. I've put quite a few miles on it since then with no repeat of the issue *knock on wood. While it is frustrating to have experienced this severe of an issue early on in ownership, I'm hopeful that no other issues arise and this was simply an aberration. Aside from this problem, I love the vehicle. I do have some minor gripes (particularly with some features that are considered upgrades and not standard features, even on the Denali trim) but overall my family has been very happy with it.

 

[mannyp02]

Annnddd......I spoke too soon. Just a few hours after posting my message saying it was fixed, I have now experienced the same issue. Major problem is we just took this vehicle on our vacation and are now 10 hrs from home. I was able to get it to go into gear in order to get it back to our rental property but it was too late in the evening to get it to a GMC dealership. I'll be taking it first thing in the AM, assuming the car will shift into gear, so I'll update once I know more. I also have recognized a new symptom to the problem. If I try remote start and it doesn't work (lights flash but engine does not start) that is an indication that when I crank it, it will not be in gear (doesn't show P illuminated) and it will not accept a gear change. Today I simply turned it on and off multiple times and eventually after about 15 minutes of this, it finally worked. Beyond frustrated at this point.

 

[Micahsd]

Annnddd......I spoke too soon. Just a few hours after posting my message saying it was fixed, I have now experienced the same issue. Major problem is we just took this vehicle on our vacation and are now 10 hrs from home. I was able to get it to go into gear in order to get it back to our rental property but it was too late in the evening to get it to a GMC dealership. I'll be taking it first thing in the AM, assuming the car will shift into gear, so I'll update once I know more. I also have recognized a new symptom to the problem. If I try remote start and it doesn't work (lights flash but engine does not start) that is an indication that when I crank it, it will not be in gear (doesn't show P illuminated) and it will not accept a gear change. Today I simply turned it on and off multiple times and eventually after about 15 minutes of this, it finally worked. Beyond frustrated at this point.

That sucks…good luck!

 

[mannyp02]

To update everyone, my vehicle is still at the dealership in FL. They are replacing the TCM again (I've since verified that was what the first dealer replaced, not the ECM) and several other parts in the transmission system although I haven't gotten a list of those parts yet, I've only spoken to them over the phone. At this point, I've decided I do not want this particular vehicle back and will likely be pursuing lemon law under my state's criteria. I've owned the vehicle for 119 days and it's been at the dealership for repairs 35 of those days or roughly 30% of the time I've owned it. The dealership I purchased from has still been fairly useless, only offering to make an "aggressive" offer for my vehicle to facilitate a trade in. No thanks, why would I willingly lose thousands of dollars over an issue that is not my fault? I've begun communicating directly with GMC and I was escalated fairly quickly to a specialist to work on my case. She has sent my case up to her superiors requesting a buy back of my vehicle. I don't know the specifics of what that would include (if just the vehicle sales price, the dealer fees etc., will it be adjusted for mileage?), I decided to hold my questions until I know how they plan to respond. If they deny the request then I will begin the process of a lemon law claim. Needless to say I am very frustrated at this point.

 

[Quark]

These vehicles aren't right though some have driven them 645 miles without a problem.

I think you should get a lawyer and GM should pay their fees.

 

[Micahsd]

To update everyone, my vehicle is still at the dealership in FL. They are replacing the TCM again (I've since verified that was what the first dealer replaced, not the ECM) and several other parts in the transmission system although I haven't gotten a list of those parts yet, I've only spoken to them over the phone. At this point, I've decided I do not want this particular vehicle back and will likely be pursuing lemon law under my state's criteria. I've owned the vehicle for 119 days and it's been at the dealership for repairs 35 of those days or roughly 30% of the time I've owned it. The dealership I purchased from has still been fairly useless, only offering to make an "aggressive" offer for my vehicle to facilitate a trade in. No thanks, why would I willingly lose thousands of dollars over an issue that is not my fault? I've begun communicating directly with GMC and I was escalated fairly quickly to a specialist to work on my case. She has sent my case up to her superiors requesting a buy back of my vehicle. I don't know the specifics of what that would include (if just the vehicle sales price, the dealer fees etc., will it be adjusted for mileage?), I decided to hold my questions until I know how they plan to respond. If they deny the request then I will begin the process of a lemon law claim. Needless to say I am very frustrated at this point.

Hopefully they make it right. Nobody should have to suffer making payments on a new vehicle that sits in the shop.

Mine was built in March and I purchased it in April so hopefully I don’t run into that issue. I’m up to 3,100 miles without any issues so far but with everyone taking about lifters and some other odd issues like yours I don’t have a good feeling about it long term.

 

[Quark]

Hopefully they make it right. Nobody should have to suffer making payments on a new vehicle that sits in the shop.

Mine was built in March and I purchased it in April so hopefully I don’t run into that issue. I’m up to 3,100 miles without any issues so far but with everyone taking about lifters and some other odd issues like yours I don’t have a good feeling about it long term.

Making it right should include compensation for pain and suffering for selling a known problematic product.

 

[Rennsport]

Well Mannyp02, now I have the same problem. 8k miles on a 2021 Tahoe Z71. I was driving about 35mph on a short drive on a flat street just cruising and the first thing that happened was my radio sound dropped to a low level for about 15secs and then came back to normal level, then I press the gas a little to get through an intersection and the Tahoe did a little shack/vibration and then nothing...no response on the gas, so I had to coast over to the side of the road (I was very lucky to have enough momentum to get through the busy street interception!). It would not start back up, so I had to have it towed (and had terrible road side service, ugh). The dealer was not even able to know what the problem was as the modules are so dead they can't even get a reading to know what went wrong. So they ordered a new Engine Control Module and they have no service bulletin on or have ever seen this problem yet. IN OTHER WORDS....we can add this to the growing list of problems with the new 2021 design! I LOVE the new look/ride, but my 2003 Tahoe and 2011 Suburban had NO issues and now it is a NEW tahoe that leaves me stranded. Between the lifter/rod issues and the 11 recalls (yep 11!) I have spend more time at the dealer with this Tahoe than my other cars combined. I will be sadly selling it the moment I can (but I need to find another more reliable towing with some off-road SUV, any suggestions? Maybe it will hang in there for the new 2023 Toyota Sequoia TRD PRO or ?. I will NOT buy a Jeep as they are now owned by FIAT and have lots of problems, even more now. Maybe ford will redo the Expedition...Ford are you listening? This is another huge opportunity like the Bronco taking over some Jeep territory, how about redoing the Expedition to a more special trim towards a Raptor like large SUV that can tow? Pretty please?).

 

[Micahsd]

Well Mannyp02, now I have the same problem. 8k miles on a 2021 Tahoe Z71. I was driving about 35mph on a short drive on a flat street just cruising and the first thing that happened was my radio sound dropped to a low level for about 15secs and then came back to normal level, then I press the gas a little to get through an intersection and the Tahoe did a little shack/vibration and then nothing...no response on the gas, so I had to coast over to the side of the road (I was very lucky to have enough momentum to get through the busy street interception!). It would not start back up, so I had to have it towed (and had terrible road side service, ugh). The dealer was not even able to know what the problem was as the modules are so dead they can't even get a reading to know what went wrong. So they ordered a new Engine Control Module and they have no service bulletin on or have ever seen this problem yet. IN OTHER WORDS....we can add this to the growing list of problems with the new 2021 design! I LOVE the new look/ride, but my 2003 Tahoe and 2011 Suburban had NO issues and now it is a NEW tahoe that leaves me stranded. Between the lifter/rod issues and the 11 recalls (yep 11!) I have spend more time at the dealer with this Tahoe than my other cars combined. I will be sadly selling it the moment I can (but I need to find another more reliable towing with some off-road SUV, any suggestions? Maybe it will hang in there for the new 2023 Toyota Sequoia TRD PRO or ?. I will NOT buy a Jeep as they are now owned by FIAT and have lots of problems, even more now. Maybe ford will redo the Expedition...Ford are you listening? This is another huge opportunity like the Bronco taking over some Jeep territory, how about redoing the Expedition to a more special trim towards a Raptor like large SUV that can tow? Pretty please?).

Just curious…what is the build date on yours?

 

[mannyp02]

Just curious…what is the build date on yours?

Do you know where this is located? I looked on the driver side where the VIN and GVWR, etc is located but didn't see it.

 

[Micahsd]

Do you know where this is located? I looked on the driver side where the VIN and GVWR, etc is located but didn't see it.

That’s right where it’s at on that decal inside the driver’s door where the VIN is. There should be a small date code such as 03/21 for March 2021.