general problems of the 2001 Chevrolet Suburban

15 problems related to electrical system have been reported for the 2001 Chevrolet Suburban. The most recently reported issues are listed below.

1 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 03/16/2017

On March 16, 2017, I was travelling on a mountain highway in northern California in my 2001 Suburban with the driver's seat heater on. I was sitting on a thin seat cushion. Twenty minutes into the 40 minute trip, I turned my seat heater off. Ten or so minutes later, I smelled a horrible rubber/plastic burning smell. When I reached my destination, I lifted my cushion and saw that the seat had a burned hole through the leather and into my seat cushion. It was warm, but I did not see a flame. When I got home in the bay area, I contacted gm, and they opened a case number and told me to take my vehicle to a dealer, and they would investigate. I received a call yesterday from the customer service rep. , and she told me that they would not be covering this as my car was out of warranty, in so many words. I asked what the dealer had found, and she couldn't tell me. I reiterated to her that this is a safety concern for me. My passenger side seat heater is now getting very hot, and I am concerned now about that. Please note, the driver's seat heater is still working if you accidentally hit the button on the door. Today, I found out from the dealer that they were not instructed by gm to look into the seat to see what caused this, only to take pictures, etc. Nobody knows why it happened. How can they deny anything without determining the cause is my thought. Aren't they concerned their seats overheat? should they be warning the public? my seats are in very good condition, even though it is an older vehicle. Interesting to note when we picked the car up from the dealership that the service writer said I shouldn't worry since it is not working now because a wired probably broke (everything is probably or maybe). I corrected him and showed him that it does. He was very surprised to see that it still did. So, the question is why did it overheat. Please advise.

2 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 06/19/2015

Driving on highway at 75mph battery, security and low fuel popped on into message center. Gas gauge, volt meter, and temperature gauge quit working, had to pull off the side of the highway because of it almost got hit. I know numerous people with same issue.

3 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 01/29/2015

Went to start my 2001 chevy Suburban and it wouldn't start. I listened for the fuel pump to engage and it wasn't working. I checked the relay and noticed it was melted on one corner. I have researched this online and found several complaints about the same problem. Also noticed that gm has done nothing to fix this issue. I have been a gm fan all my life and would like to continue being one. Please recall this on going problem gm.

4 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 06/12/2012

My vehicle's "service engine soon" light continues to light up even after having the code erased. Many other owners of Chevrolet Suburbans have the same issue. Obd code p0332 states the knock sensor has low voltage. The problem many people have is when water or moisture gets into the engine compartment water begins to pool over the sensor and seep into the sensors. The lacking of water seal in this pooling area damages the sensors. The vehicle thus cannot pass it's bi-yearly smog test and also creates a false sense of vehicle reliability. If other issues come up other than the bad sensors the driver would never know.

5 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 07/13/2011

The contact owns a 2001 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the lights on the instrument panel stopped illuminating. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The dealer stated that the instrument panel needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 115,000 and the current mileage was 145,000.

6 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 06/12/2011

The contact owns a 2001 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that he noticed smoke emitting from under the hood and after opening the driver side door, he realized that the driver heated seat had caught on fire. The fire department was contacted who filed a report. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offered any assistance and file a report. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 190,000.

7 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 10/01/2010

First incident: veh. Would crank but not start. Turned out to be fuel delivery fuse. Replaced, and ran fine for several weeks. Second incident: driving at approx. 55 mph, vehicle lost power, started sputtering as if out of gas although it was 1/4 full. Unable to exceed 25 mph due to little/no power. Was towed to autoparts store, cleared codes, veh ran fine for about 2 days, then lost power. Towed home. Looked up info on internet, found recalls for fuel pump. Called local chevy dealership, inquired about recall, was told that recall was only on half-ton Suburbans and since mine is 3/4 ton, it was not covered by recall. I replaced fuel module myself and discovered the covering of the wires inside the fuel module assembly had melted, allowing the bare wires to rub against each other, shorting out the fuel delivery system (which likely caused the blown fuse to begin with). I am very upset that my Suburban is not covered by the recall, even though it is virtually the same system as what is in the the 1/2 ton Suburbans, and the same problem exists (as evidenced by not only my own experience, but many others' experiences as well). I am extremely disturbed that under the right circumstances, fuel vapors, plus spark of bare wires touching, could ignite, causing fire and/or explosion. Possibly with my family of six in the vehicle.

8 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 09/27/2010

Wiper motor fail. 2001 Suburban 6. 0l v8. Wiper motor fail. The wiper motor in my truck always fails. The last time it failed was September 27th 2010 during a heavy rain storm. To make a long story short I almost ran over a pedestrian, and ended up on the sidewalk. (technically that is a crash) the wiper motor just stopped while it was raining. Last year during heavy snow the motor failed again. I had to pull over for an hour until the storm was over. Not to mention numerous other times as well. This motor fails a lot I lost count. The events that lead up to the failed wiper motor are rain , snow, sleet, sometime the motor fails during a sunny day and no moisture in the air or failed just to clean your window. Nothing has been done to correct the wiper motor failure because its too expensive for me; general motors should fix this serious problem before someone get killed.

9 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 05/13/2008

My 2001 chev surban caught on fire in my garage when car was not running. While picking up my daughter from school my abs warning light came on --I returned home within 5 mins and with 10 mins my car was on fire. --dealership that I bought the car from and have had serviced there has my car. I have been trying to deal with them and it has been a complete nightmare. The saftey of my family is at risk if I contiune to drive the car---they dont know if that will happen again or not they say. At first they said it would cost $2,000 to fix the car --replace parts that were damaged from the fire--after I started asking if general motors should be responsible they said they would only charge me $950. 00 since I was a good customer. I explained to them there must be a defect in the car---my car is in excellent condition---2001 70,000 miles and has been serviced every 3,000 miles. They said they have never seen this before. Then they said general motors will pay to have the parts replaced that were damaged and put in a new abs module, and that I should be okay. I cant risk the safty of my family and my house to park the car in the garage and contuine to drive it. . I would appreicate any help or advise that you might have for me.

10 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 02/01/2008

The contact owns a 2001 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that while traveling various speeds, the vehicle stalled. The contact also mentioned that the ignition was abnormally loose. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was not available.

11 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 11/12/2005

We noticed that the driver's side mirror of my wife's 2001 tahoe appeared to have a melted place on the bottom of the plastic housing. There was a green/yellow circle in the center of the mirror where it appeared to have gotten to hot. I removed the mirror which was connected by four wires. Two wires went to the heating element and the other two controlled the automatic dimming feature. On the inside of the dimming feature wires there appeared to be black residue. You could clearly see that the molded plastic on the back of the mirror had melted along the outside edge (digital pictures available if needed). I called the dealer and ordered a mirror that only had the heated feature without the dimming effect. I installed this on the logic that I could leave the defective wires disabled. So far everything seems to be working just fine. The price of the replacement was $35. 00 (heater only) and if I had ordered the dimming feature with it ($267. 00) "which I think is ridiculous". Even though I was out the expense and time spent fixing the mirror my hope is that you can research this and possibly keep someone else's vehicle from the potential of burning up or worse yet burning up in there garage and catching there house on fire.

12 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 02/11/2005

Heated power mirrors with dimming feature has a liquid inside that has turned dirty brown restricting sight rearward. The power switch adjusting the rearview mirrors inop. Cd player inop. Sunroof inop. Sunroof gets stuck inside its rails in open position. Unable to open or close. Engine leaves polls of oil inside my garage approx 1qt. Pr 1000 miles. Just had a catastrophic transmission failure with a very close call accident, loosing 3rd and 4th gear requiring complete rebuild of transmission, drive axle leaking oil. And of course all this happens just out of warranty. This car today costs $ 50,000. - with this trim package. Has only 81000 on odometer. Gm this is not good enough, shape up or ship out. This is my 3rd lemon from gm. Do they not make cars that'll last past warranties any more??.

13 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 10/03/2003

We have a 2001 Chevrolet Suburban. Starting in September 2003, when the gas level got to 1/2, the gas gauge would drop to empty and the low fuel light would go on, then the light would go off and the gas gauge would go back to 1/2. This happened intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealership October 20, 2003. They said they tested, inspected and returned the vehicle to me on October 22, 2003. They said they could not find anything wrong and could not get it to fail again. On October 26, 2003, the same thing happened only the vehicle "shut down" without warning. It could not be re-started and the vehicle had to be towed to a dealership, there they" replaced pcmb fuse blown and fuel system circuit had a short to ground, found wires at module burned. They replaced fuel module, fuel pump relay and fuses". On January 12, 2004, the vehicle again "shut-down" without any warning. It restarted in about 20 minutes. I took the vehicle to the dealership and they have been driving it for about four weeks, but can find nothing wrong with it and it has not shut down again. They have not done anything to fix it as the problem is "intermittent" and the problem of shutting down could not be replicated. They can find no specific cause. The dealership wants me to pick up the vehicle tomorrow, February 12, 2004. There is no advance warning when the vehicle shuts down causing loss of power to brakes, steering and all other components. This is a potentially disastrous problem, a very serious safety issue and could be life threatening.

14 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 03/20/2003

We own a 2001 Chevrolet Suburban. Beginning about three weeks ago the engine would shut off without warning. This has happened many times. The vehicle has been in the dealers shop nearly constantly for three weeks and they can find no specific cause or a cure for the problem.

15 Electrical System problem

Failure Date: 05/17/2001

While driving or idling the electrical system shut down intermittently and caused the vehicle to stall. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the dealer replaced the electrical system, but the problem recurred. The dealer still was unable to determine the cause of the problem. The rear floor plastic plate had broken, the left rear window motor was inoperative up and down, the driver's side seat was coming apart by the door, seat track had broken, the right front seat belt shoulder strap sometimes tightened up, there was noise in the rear end had a harmonic vibration, the right second window would not go down, the passenger side seat belt in the front locked up right front retractor locked, the rear passenger side door squeaks really bad, the molding for the rubber coming off, and passenger side front light had come out.



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