GM Recalls a Million Pickups and SUVs Amid Flurry of Accident Reports

More than a million, actually. A recall of 1,015,918 Silverado and Sierra pickups, plus their full-size SUV cousins, was issued yesterday by folks at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

This recall affects machines from the 2015 model year. They are being summoned to repair centers thanks to electrical and software issues that could play havoc with the power steering system.

General Motors is recalling certain 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Tahoe, and Suburban trucks. From the GMC family, the Sierra 1500 and Yukon/Yukon XL are affected. And, thanks to parts sharing, owners of Cadillac Escalade SUVs from this model year are wrapped up in the same recall.

According to the NHTSA, affected trucks may momentarily lose their electric power steering (EPS) assist, followed by a sudden return of this assist, particularly during low-speed maneuvers such as navigating through a parking lot. The loss and sudden return of EPS assist is said to typically happen within a 1 second period and is caused by an electrical/software issue.

Events that demand high current, such as low speed turns, can cause temporary low voltage conditions. When the system voltage drops below 8.8 volts for more than 1 second — e.g., during low-speed turns — EPS assist is disabled until voltage returns to 9 volts for a minimum of 40 milliseconds, at which point EPS assist returns.

If power steering assist is lost and the vehicle reverts to manual steer, a driver information center message may alert the driver to an EPS problem. Also, other electrical sub-systems may shut down at the same time or just before the event, which the NHTSA filing says could temporarily disable the radio, the A/C, or Stabilitrak.

The automaker says it is aware of 30 accidents and 2 injuries related to the problem.

GM recalled model year 2014 trucks last year for a similar issue. Apparently, stouter negative battery cables and steering system grounds – amongst a few other changes – were made to more recent models of these trucks in an effort to quash the problem. GM also ran numerous tests at GM’s Milford Proving Ground to further understand and quantify the severity of the problem.

The General rolled out its new-for-2019 Sierra and Silverado this year. At the end of Q2 2018, sales of the trucks rose 1.7 percent and 10.7 percent respectively compared to the same time last year, about 60,000 units adrift of the F-150 which sold just over 450,000 copies in the first half of this year. Thanks to the lack of monthly sales data from GM, we won’t know more recent numbers until the end of this month.

The company plans to notify owners, with dealers ordered to update the EPS module software, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners of affected rides are encouraged to contact Cadillac at 1-800-458-8006, Chevy at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC at 1-800-462-8782.

Dealers will perform a reflash of the EPS module software. GM’s number for this recall is 18289.