2026 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 engine problems

ENGINE

My 2026 Chevrolet Silverado experienced catastrophic engine failure at approximately 12,000 miles. The vehicle was out of service from June 19, 2026 through August 27, 2026 while the engine was replaced. This is our family vehicle and is regularly used to transport my two young children. I remain concerned about the safety and adequacy of the remedy following such an early catastrophic engine failure. I requested that GM repurchase the vehicle or provide trade assistance so that I could move my family into another vehicle; both requests were denied. I am submitting this complaint so NHTSA has a record of the failure and my concerns regarding the remedy provided.

NHTSA complaint #11761858 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

I am submitting this formal statement regarding a severe, recurring safety hazard involving sudden engine stalling and internal mechanical noise on my 2026 Chevrolet Silverado 1500.The vehicle has experienced multiple sudden engine stalls during low-speed deceleration, specifically while letting off the accelerator pedal to execute low-speed turns into parking lots. When the stall occurs, the engine dies completely, causing an immediate and dangerous loss of power steering and power braking assistance mid-turn. Because the vehicle shuts off completely while still in motion, I am forced to bring the truck to a dead stop, shift the transmission out of Drive and into Park, and completely cycle the ignition system to restart the engine.There is a distinct, audible mechanical ticking sound coming from the engine compartment during operation. Crucially, the vehicle has never illuminated a Check Engine Light, displayed a dashboard warning message, or given any advance electronic indication prior to or during these sudden stalling events.This vehicle's build window falls directly into the scope of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) active Engineering Analysis (EA26005) investigating catastrophic valvetrain and engine failures on GM 6.2L L87 engines. Because this defect causes an unexpected loss of vehicle control with zero diagnostic warnings, it poses an immediate highway safety risk to myself and others.I request a full diagnostic scan for hidden or pending fault codes, a physical inspection of the valvetrain/Dynamic Fuel Management (DFM) system, and an inspection of the engine oil filter for metallic debris indicative of internal bearing degradation.

NHTSA complaint #11762020 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

I am submitting this formal statement regarding a severe, recurring safety hazard involving sudden engine stalling and internal mechanical noise on my 2026 Chevrolet Silverado 1500.The vehicle has experienced multiple sudden engine stalls during low-speed deceleration, specifically while letting off the accelerator pedal to execute low-speed turns into parking lots. When the stall occurs, the engine dies completely, causing an immediate and dangerous loss of power steering and power braking assistance mid-turn. Because the vehicle shuts off completely while still in motion, I am forced to bring the truck to a dead stop, shift the transmission out of Drive and into Park, and completely cycle the ignition system to restart the engine.There is a distinct, audible mechanical ticking sound coming from the engine compartment during operation. Crucially, the vehicle has never illuminated a Check Engine Light, displayed a dashboard warning message, or given any advance electronic indication prior to or during these sudden stalling events.This vehicle's build window falls directly into the scope of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) active Engineering Analysis (EA26005) investigating catastrophic valvetrain and engine failures on GM 6.2L L87 engines. Because this defect causes an unexpected loss of vehicle control with zero diagnostic warnings, it poses an immediate highway safety risk to myself and others.I request a full diagnostic scan for hidden or pending fault codes, a physical inspection of the valvetrain/Dynamic Fuel Management (DFM) system, and an inspection of the engine oil filter for metallic debris indicative of internal bearing degradation.

NHTSA complaint #11762022 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

2026 6.2L engine loud and oil filter is filled with bearing glitter. I know you have recently opened an investigation into 2025 and 2026 GM 6.2L engines also failing. The salesman lied and told me the issues were all fixed. How is a company allowed to lie and put my family at risk with a faulty engine. I am driving and engine that is shedding bearing material for 3 oil changes. This will fail and leave me stranded or create an accident. 1st oil change at 1500, second at 6000, 3rd at 10,500 and oil is full of bearing material. Pics attached

NHTSA complaint #11761599 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

I was driving down a main road going 40-45 mph. I made a left turn into a retail shopping center, went straight for about 100 feet and turned right into the main shopping center street and the truck immediately just shut off. I don’t remember seeing the car go into park, but I do remember it going into more of a neutral state with the engine completely off and the brakes were not locked since the car rolled back a little bit at first. My wife and I were both in awe as to what just happened. Thankfully, we were not on the main road and were able to turn the car back on and it seemed to be fine after that and shifted into drive with no issues. It hasn’t happened since. The car probably had approximately 2000 miles on it at the time.

NHTSA complaint #11761271 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

In Late December 2025, with only 764 miles on my 2026 Chev truck, we were driving south on [XXX] down the interstate in Utah. The engine lost power, service enging light soon came on, and the truck came to a stop in about a mile. There were 5 of us in the truck. Late night, in a strange town. We had to take a UBER to the motel. The truck was towed to Murdock Chevrolet in Woods Cross, Ut. They gave us a lowner car, and they took the engine out, and sent it to GM. GM took the engine apart, and said verably that a crankshaft bearing went bad, and they sent a new one. Within 30 days, I had my truck back. I asked for paperwork on the repairs, and was told GM would not give me anything. All I got was my truck. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint #11761288 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

I purchased the 2026 Chevrolet Silverado with a 6.2L motor "new" from the dealer with 5700 miles on XXX. Roughly a month and 2500 miles later, my family and I were in the vehicle, 750 miles from home, returning from a vacation to [XXX] from the [XXX]/[XXX] area. It was around 8:30 in the morning and we had been on the road since the 6 o'clock hour. We were towing our our 20' fishing boat at the time. We were in the left most lane, passing a semi tractor trailer. I signaled and moved back in the 3rd lane after the pass. We were now the vehicle in front of the semi. At this moment, the engine locked up. The torque converter which had been locked at highway speed came unlocked. The transmission started aggressively downshifting looking for torque, RPMs racing upwards of 6k. We were now on an uphill, towing, with a seized engine in front of a semi. In the next lane right was a family in a newer lincoln navigator going freeway speeds. Aside from the transmission, the engine was silent, the accelerator did nothing. A message pops on the screen. "Shift into Neutral" is says... a fraction of a second later "Restart Engine" or alike. The start button was unresponsive. We're losing speed, the sem i is right on the back of the boat now, the [XXX] navigator was even in the lane with the semi. This is where split second decision making mattered. I glanced to the right most lane, empty. All I could do to get off the interstate was to yank the wheel to the right and at what felt like a 45 degree angle, rip across the three lanes to the only shoulder available. The navigator was obviously caught off guard, as they had been slowly gaining on/passing the semi at the time. The navigator locked up it's brakes, skidding out of control before regaining it. Now it's still. Engine off. Only the noise of the freeway and the navigator driver, still honking profusely and deservedly. My heart was just pounding. Breathe. You're all alive. Thank God. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)

NHTSA complaint #11761139 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

The contact owns a 2026 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, all warning lights illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that after several seconds, the vehicle was restarted and shifted into park(P). The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed; however, the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 300.

NHTSA complaint #11760390 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

I purchased this vehicle brand new and have experienced a recurring issue when coming to a stop. The forward sensors activate indicating I am too close to an object (even though nothing is in front of the vehicle), and the engine stalls. Everything shuts off except the driver information screen, which displays the prompt "Shift to Neutral and Press Start Again." Following this prompt does nothing; I have to shift into park and press the ignition again to restart the vehicle. I have taken the truck to the dealership multiple times. After the first two visits yielded no solution, the maintenance team contacted Chevy engineering, and a hard reset was performed. However, today (8/24), a similar issue occurred. While at a complete stop with a full car length between my truck and the vehicle ahead, the sensor warnings activated. The engine did not stall as it had before, but the issue seemed entirely random.

NHTSA complaint #11759204 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

On or about XXX the engine in my 2026 Chevrolet Silverado quit running so I had it towed to Daniels Long Chevrolet in [XXX] where I had purchased it new on or about XXX. My truck was bought with the 6.2 L V8 engine, and it had approximately 8,627 miles on it when the engine had quit running on XXX. The first oil change on the truck was performed at approximately 5,000 miles at Daniels Long Chevrolet with the prescribed oil. There was no warning when the engine quit running other than the engine running rough and having a loss of power about two blocks from my house. I then had the truck towed to Daniels Long Chevrolet for repairs. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint #11758595 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

The engine began to make a metallic screeching sound and began to loose power. Stopped on side of road and was towed to dealer. Dealer indicated there was metal in the oil filter. Engine was replaced.

NHTSA complaint #11758630 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

I was making a sharp turn going about 6 miles an hour. The vehicle suddenly stalled and shifted to neutral. A message appeared on the dash stating, “Please restart vehicle.” The vehicle restarted without issue and no error codes were displayed.

NHTSA complaint #11756211 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

I just purchased this vehicle on XXX and on XXX, with less than 300 miles on it, we were in a parking garage at the Galleria Mall in [XXX]. While driving slowly uphill in the garage looking for a parking space, the vehicle suddenly went into neutral and the engine shutoff. After verifying all was well, I restarted the truck and continued to drive. It happened two more times with the same situation, low speed going uphill. I have not taken it to a Chevy dealer yet for diagnostic as there were no lights like the check engine light and no codes presented. My onstar app reports that all is well and no issues, so I know it will not be something they can find when they try to pull the codes. I did a search on the internet for this issue and found others with the same problem, no known fix, and in one case the person was able to return the truck and they purchased a different truck from a different manufacturer. That gentleman said he did try to work with GM at the regional level with a service rep. He said something is causing the voltage to drop in lower gears, causing it to invoke a safety feature to stop the vehicle by going into neutral and shutting off the engine. On an incline, with no engine, the brakes become very hard to push and the vehicle could roll back. In a parking garage, that could mean rolling back into a person or another car. When it happens there are in internal codes that do not show up, but are wiped when you re-start. There are threads on Reddit and in Facebook groups that discuss this issue as well for further evidence. My purpose is to get this documented outside of GM, it seems like a niche problem, but one that could be dangerous in the right circumstances. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint #11756006 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

I purchased a 2026 Chevrolet 1500 Duramax Deisel truck. At 9500 miles the truck started making popping and loud grinding noises and would shake while driving it. I barely made it to the dealership on August 6th 2026 I took it to Group 1 Chevrolet where I bought it in Houston,Texas and on August 8th was told that they need to replace the engine and do not have an estimated time for repair.

NHTSA complaint #11755678 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

2026 Chevy Silverado High Country with 13,193 miles 6.2 engine locked up on 7/29/26 and is currently at my dealer waiting on engine replacment. GM has not fixed the 6.2 liter engine failure issue's!

NHTSA complaint #11755470 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

The engine in my 2026 Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 with the 6.2L V8 had a catastrophic failure. While I was driving, the engine suddenly shut off and seized without any warning. The dealer told me they found metal in the engine oil and oil filter and that the engine needs to be replaced. They also informed me the replacement engine is on back order for more than five weeks. The truck is available for inspection. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? My truck lost all power while I was driving, which put me and other drivers at risk because it happened without warning. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Yes. The dealer inspected the truck and confirmed the engine had an internal failure. They found metal in the engine oil and oil filter and said the engine must be replaced. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or others? The truck has been inspected by the dealer. Were there any warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No. There were no warning lights, messages, or other signs of a problem before the engine failed.

NHTSA complaint #11754850 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

The engine (6.2 liter) on my Chevrolet Silverado fail with less than 2335 miles. It was confirmed my the Chevrolet dealership(Hendricks Chevrolet ). No warning lamps appeared in the dash or warning from my onstar maintenance notification.

NHTSA complaint #11752969 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

At approximately 3,000 miles, the engine began making a loud knocking noise that became progressively worse while driving. The truck was diagnosed as needing a complete engine replacement. No warning lights, no check engine light, nothing. For someone inexperienced with vehicles, you could easily be in big trouble on the highway and a potentially life threatening situation. My primary concern is that there was no warning that such a major engine failure was about to occur. An engine that fails with so few miles raises concerns about the possibility of sudden loss of power, loss of acceleration, or engine seizure while driving in traffic, on highways, or while towing. A failure under those conditions could significantly increase the risk of a crash. The vehicle has been out of service while I continue making loan and insurance payments on a brand-new truck that I cannot use. The replacement engine is on national backorder, leaving me without a clear repair timeline. After researching this issue, I found numerous reports from other owners describing similar failures involving the 6.2L V8 engine. Based on the volume of owner complaints, there appears to have been a significant increase in reported engine failures involving 2026 model-year vehicles. This suggests the problem may not be an isolated incident but instead could indicate a broader defect that deserves investigation. As a result of this experience, I no longer feel confident or safe driving this vehicle, even if the engine is replaced. I purchased a brand-new truck expecting long-term reliability and peace of mind, but instead I experienced catastrophic engine failure at only 3,000 miles. I respectfully request that NHTSA investigate these engine failures to determine whether a safety-related defect exists and whether further action is necessary to protect consumers. I have requested a buyback, but GM completely denies it. Such a horrible Expy with manufacture.

NHTSA complaint #11751681 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

A.The engine is stalling while driving. This has happened four different times. Three times while towing, and one time while backing up a small hill. This is a scary situation because three of the four times almost caused an accident. 1.We were driving to Texas, pulling a pontoon boat. While exiting the highway, we were entering into an intersection at a speed of about 10 miles per hour, and the truck shut down. The truck said, “Start the motor and place it into gear.” Or something similar to that. 2.We were in stop-and-go traffic on the highway, and the truck shut down. Once again, I had to restart the motor and shift into gear. 3.We were entering a parking lot from the main road, and the truck shut down. Again, I had to restart the motor and shift into gear. 4.The three times above are during a time when we were towing. The fourth time is when we were backing up a small hill. The rear tires lost traction and spun for a second or two, and then the truck shut down and started to roll forward. Once again, I had to restart the motor and place it into gear.

NHTSA complaint #11751277 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

I have been having issues with my vehicle for the last 1,000 miles or so where it appears to be losing power while accelerating normally, i'm not sure if the issue lies with the engine or powertrain/transmission. I took to dealer last week and they were unable to reproduce. The issues have been getting more frequent and intially were only occuring after the vehicle warmed up, now it has started while vehicle is cold. Feels like the power drops (rpms drop) during a normal acceleration. As of 7/16 I now have a check engine light on, onstar indicates an issue with my engine, transmission, electrical. This is putting myself at safety risk along with others as during my normal drive the engine is losing power and could either leave me stranded or cause an accident.

NHTSA complaint #11750973 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

On Monday, June 29, 2026, I was getting off the New Jersey Garden State Parkway. I was halfway down the exit ramp and the engine and the engine just stopped. I coasted to the bottom of the exit ramp and luckily had just enough shoulder to pull over to get out of traffic. Once stopped, I attempted to start my 2026 Chevy Silverado, but all attempts at starting the engine were fruitless, as the engine would not even turn over when tried. I contacted On Star and a tow truck was sent to tow my truck to Burke, the GM dealer I purchased the truck from. It was confirmed by Burke GM on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, that the truck needed the engine replaced. The truck is currently at Burke GM and I have been there to get belongings out of the truck so yes, I would say it’s safe to assume that it is available for inspection. There were no warning signs of any problem with the motor at all.

NHTSA complaint #11750612 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

On XXX I was driving from [XXX] to my sister's house in [XXX]. I was relocating to [XXX] for a job. I was pulling a U-haul trailer (6x12) that contained significantly less weight than the truck can handle. About halfway there, on back roads, the truck suddenly slowed significantly and the gas pedal was unresponsive. The light in the dashboard read Reduced Acceleration - Drive with caution. Pulled over, turned off truck, opened driver side door, to reset the truck (read this on google). We had to do this a couple times, because it would just go back to that behavior after a bit. We made it to my sister's house to stay the night. In the morning, XXX, I called the local Chevy Service Dept in [XXX] and asked if I could bring it in, I described the problem. During the drive to the shop, the same issue occurred. Upon arriving at the service dept, the Trailer app was giving a warning that the load may be heavier than max. Which cannot be true. The dealer techs said they had never seen anything like it before, but they seemed to know what to look for. They then informed me that they could not loan me a car because I was traveling out of state. I had a deadline, so my only option was to rent a U Haul box truck, unload the back of my truck into it, hitch the trailer I already had to it, and drive to [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint #11750668 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

2026 SILVERADO ENGINE BLOWED UP AT 6,413 MILES. THIS IS THE 6.2 L87 ENGINE..

NHTSA complaint #11748864 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

While driving my truck returning from a camping trip I received the following warnings in the dash: Service ESC, Service traction control, forward collision system unavailable. Check engine light was flashing. I made the assumption that the Check engine light was due to the warnings listed above. I continued to drive the vehicle until I began to feel a very noticeable shudder at idle, at low speeds, and also loss of power at higher speeds. The truck has the 5.3 ecotec engine with DFM. After researching the symptoms, I found that these symptoms are identical to the know lifter problem with that engine. The truck is a 2026 Chevrolet Silverado Trail boss with approx. 3454 miles on it. It's currently at the dealership waiting for them to "diagnose" the problem. I was told that it may just be a "faulty sensor", but after reading other people's experience with this engine I believe that the real problem is a damaged lifter/lifter pin due to the poor design and engineering of the DFM system

NHTSA complaint #11748066 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

The contact owns a 2026 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving 25 MPH and attempting to depress the accelerator pedal, the vehicle lost motive power, the contact attempted to start the vehicle, and the vehicle operated as intended. The check engine warning light was illuminated. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed; however, the diagnostic result was unknown. The dealer cleared the codes, and the vehicle was then taken to another dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the ground strap needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the part was on back order and might take six months for the part to do the repair to be available. The approximate failure mileage was 4,000.

NHTSA complaint #11746770 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

This incident occurred 24, June 2024. Time was approx 1745hrs and temperature was 93 and humid. Was stopped at a stop sign, attempted to make a phone call and reached to temporarily turn off the air conditioner by pushing the on/off button. When I pushed the button, it turned off the vehicle engine completely! When I was startled as to what had just happened, I pushed the air conditioner button a second time; It STARTED the truck's vehicle engine! I repeated this test three times in the presence of my spouse who was also in the truck. We then drove approximately one mile and at a second stop again was able to duplicate the engine turned off/on by pushing the air conditioner on off again! It was if the air conditioner on/off button was the vehicle start stop button. I did not try to duplicate this under roadway speed, fearing if the engine did in fact turn off, simply by pushing the on/off air conditioner button. It would most assuredly result in the complete loss of driver inputs for steering, brakes and control.

NHTSA complaint #11746344 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

Service brake assist warning came on the day before a severe audible engine knock started. Drove to nearest dealer and they immediately diagnosed as a probable engine failure/engine bearing/connecting rod. 6.2 liter engine 9500 miles

NHTSA complaint #11745269 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

Normal driving then heard a knocking and squealing. Was told it was a spun main bearing on the crack shaft.

NHTSA complaint #11743982 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

Defect: Engine failure caused by lifter and camshaft failure at 114 miles (5.2 engine hours). The vehicle is at the dealership undergoing warranty repairs. The service department confirmed a seized lifter, necessitating the replacement of all lifters and the camshaft. The incident occurred at highway speeds on the interstate when the engine suddenly began knocking loudly. Immediately after the knocking started, the check engine light illuminated, followed by consecutive "Service Anti-Collision System" and "Service ESC (Electronic Stability Control)" warning messages.

NHTSA complaint #11743862 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ENGINE

Vehicle purchased new December 2026 and vehicle experienced loss of power and abnormal shifting while driving at only 9000 miles. Engine produced clicking noises and was immediately brought to the closest dealership. Vehicle has been out of service since May 8, 2026, with no repair completion date due to parts availability. Owner continues making payments and insurance payments while without use of the vehicle. Owner has not been given a comparable vehicle which is a huge hardship for the family, especially during farming season. Concern exists regarding ongoing reliability and reports of similar failures involving GM 6.2L engines.

NHTSA complaint #11743758 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.