2011 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Air Bags (37) · Fuel/Propulsion System (8) · Power Train (6)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Chevrolet Silverado 2500 model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
57 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (4)
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2021-02-05 · campaign 21V050000 · 2,641,272 vehicles
Defect: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2007-2011 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, Yukon XL, and 2009-2011 Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, GMC Sierra 2500 and Sierra 3500 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 22, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on March 1, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. G
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2021-02-05 · campaign 21V054000 · 1,778,128 vehicles
Defect: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2014 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 2500, Sierra 3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of AL, CA, FL, GA, HI, LA, MS, SC, TX, PR, AS, GU, the MP, and VI or "Zone A." Additionally GM is recalling certain 2011-2014 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 2500, Sierra
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 25, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed to 40 VIN owners on May 11, 2021. A second owner notification letter was mailed to all other owners on January 24, 2022. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-8
Equipment 2018-04-26 · campaign 18V267000 · 6,154 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2009-2014 Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD, 2009 GMC Topkick 5000, 6000, 7000 and 8000 Series and Isuzu F Series, and 2009-2018 Chevrolet Express, and GMC Savana vehicles, equipped with certain Plastic-Handle Fire Extinguishers or Push Button 'Pindicator' Fire Extinguishers. These extinguishers may become clogged, preventing the extinguisher from discharging as expected or requiring excessive force to activate the extinguisher. Additionally,
Risk: In the event of a fire, if the fire extinguisher does not function properly, it can increase the risk of injury.
Fix: GM will notify owners, instructing them to contact Kidde to get a replacement fire extinguisher, free of charge. The recall began June 11, 2018. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782, and Isuzu customer service at 1-866-441-9638. GM's number for this recall is 18146.
Electrical System 2014-07-02 · campaign 14V407000 · 9,371 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2007-2011 Chevrolet Silverado HD 2500/3500 trucks manufactured January 18, 2007, to June 22, 2011, and GMC Sierra HD 2500/3500 trucks manufactured January 22, 2007, to June 21, 2011, and equipped with an auxiliary battery. Owners may unknowingly draw too much current through the vehicle's trailer harness resulting in the melting of fusible link for the auxiliary battery.
Risk: If the fusible link melts it may come into contact with adjacent components, damage the electrical center cover, the nearby wiring harness conduit and other vehicle components, increasing the risk of a fire.
Fix: GM will notify owners and dealers will replace the jumper harness with one that includes a 40 amp inline fuse, and provide the owner with supplemental Owner Manual information, free of charge. The recall began on August 29, 2014. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 14260.
Service bulletins (1,569)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-04 · PIP4902W · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email gds2 session logs into technical assistance.
Unknown Or Other 2026-05-04 · PIT6247B · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates direction to find information at www.gmupfitter.com for police and special service vehicles.
Unknown Or Other 2026-04-01 · PIT3271Q · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates information about how to determine if a wheel and tires size change is available.
Unknown Or Other 2026-03-09 · PIP6104 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates the steps on how to save a gds2 session log and upload to a technical assistance case in cx connect.
Unknown Or Other 2026-03-09 · PIP4902V · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email gds2 session logs into technical assistance.
Unknown Or Other 2026-02-16 · PIT4506J · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician that some owners of heavy duty trucks and utilities may ask if they can lower their tire pressures. tire pressures being set to the "tire and loading label" will ensure the safe handling and ride characteristics of the
Showing the 6 most recent of 1,569 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2025-05-08 · Unknown Or Other“as mentioned by many customers the dash on the vehicles crack and gm refuses to pay for repairs. now there is a airbag recall that needs to be completed and i am told by dealer that the dash will crack more and get worse during the repair and they are not responsible for the damage. this is unacceptable and unsafe as it is costing me and consumer…”
2025-01-06 · Fuel/Propulsion System“engine suddenly stopped running while driving and could not be restarted. it was towed to a local diesel repair shop. diagnostics showed a catastrophic failure of the high pressure fuel pump which polluted the complete fuel system with metal.…”
2024-07-25 · Air Bags“the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet silverado 2500. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 21v050000 (air bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. the contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the dealer was made aware of the issue and confi…”
2024-07-12 · Structure · 110,000 mi“the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet silverado 2500. the contact stated while performing a routine inspection of the vehicle, the contact became aware that the entire subframe was severely rusted. the dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 110,000.…”
2024-06-11 · Engine And Engine Cooling:exhaust System:emission Control:urea Injection System (Def)“reduction tank makes truck only go 55 when the tank is full causing truck to not go flow of traffic there is a recall 11001 but gm dealer will not repair and knew about this and still sold the truck without tell customer about this…”
2024-01-01 · Fuel System, Diesel:delivery“with all the known issues involving the failing cp4 fuel pumps out in the field, why hasn't there been a nationwide recall on this issue? we're being proactive in getting our lml repaired to save our engine. we want our costs reimbursed. this isn't a "small" matter. it's freakin' huge. …”
2023-09-02 · Power Train“the transmission control module (tcm) began acting erratic. at times the transmission will not shift but several times it has gone into park( with no warning) when slowing down causing the wheels to lock and the truck skids to a stop. i was nearly in 2 accidents when this happened. both time i was hauling a load and caused the traffic behind me …”
2023-08-21 · Vehicle Speed Control“it is a transmission control module wear a lobster transmission into a garin. will not let you speed up or speed down and it is unsafe and gm is making us pay for the bill. the contact stated transmission control module all across the country on back order, you cannot get a dealer to get you one within six months gm should have to do something abou…”
2023-04-27 · Power Train“the vehicle started to shift on its own mostly between the upper gears even though terrain or load had not changed. at slower speeds the vehicle started to automatically shift into park and lock up the wheels. this caused a very serious risk of injury to me and the people behind me when it would lock up. after stopping the vehicle sometimes does …”
2023-04-08 · Electrical System“gm is aware of a known failure in their transmission control modules. my part number is 24256670. my truck has 87,000 miles on it and not drivable due to this failed electronic component. there are thousands of people just like me experiencing this issue. check engine light illuminates once unit gets hot. multiple codes will display at this t…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.