Electrical System Problems of GMC Acadia - part 1

After putting car in park and turning engine off, shift to park will appear on dash- car already in park .

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I have had multiple sensor issues with my Acadia since reaching 60000 miles. Currently, there is a thermostat sensor causing hard shifting, no cold air blowing from the ac, stabilitrack, traction control, steering assist reduced and fan running after turning off. I would not report it but I am in a facebook group where multiple people are reporting having the same issue in their Acadia's.

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Failure to be in park alarm when shifter is in park. Must play with shifter back into park to stop alarm bells and notice on dash. Supposedly there was a recall issued however not shown on this site per my VIN #1gkknxls7kz107842. Very irritating, please advise.

Shift to park warning. Vehicle will not power down.

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When I put my car in park I will get a "shift to park" notiication and will have to move my car multiple times to get it to register. There is a recall for this exact problem on other 2017 GMC Acadia but does not fall under my VIN #.

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July 31, 2025 our 2019 GMC Acadia would not shut off in a parking lot, I was 45 minutes from home. A message on display says shift to park. This is a safety concern as the vehicle might not be fully secured in park, the vehicle won't shut off and will drain your battery. There is an ongoing class action lawsuit related to this issue, alleging that gm has been aware of the problem for some time but has not provided a satisfactory fix according to lemon law auto fraud. I called the gm dealer and they quoted me $500 to fix this issue.

When I put my vehicle in park, the message “shift to park” pops up. It has been doing this for well over a year. I have already had to replace a battery once due to this because I didn’t realize it was still on. It does not happen everytime I park but at random times. The more it happens, the longer it takes for it to go off. At this point, I can only hope my car is really in park. I jiggle the shifter, hit the “ +|- “ on the shifter and have to turn the vehicle off and on about five or six times. Eventually it will go off. It took me 20 minutes today for it to go off in 100 degree heat. The vehicle’s ac is not running when trying to get the shifter to go off. It keeps the electronics running but not the ac. I keep waiting to receive a recall on this vehicle because of this issue but still nothing. I have noticed there is a recall for this but not vehicle. I have already replaced one battery due to this issue and do not want to continue to replace batteries and worry if the vehicle is really in park or not.

The fuel pump control module failed, 2021acadia denali first time, 9/22/21 8073 miles, the car was parked at the residence under the car port, when needed, the car would not start. No check engine or other indicators. Car was towed to dealer for repairs under warranty. Second time, 10/6/23 31879 miles, we were driving the car on a rural road, 55 mph speed limit with no shoulders when the car stopped in a curve. Had to flag down cars to keep them from hitting us for an hour till the wrecker loader it on the truck to take back to same dealership for warranty repairs. Third time, 7/29/25 48199 miles, we were again on a rural road 55 mph speed limit when the car stopped with my 71 year old wife alone in the car, again in a curve. This time there was a check engine light. I drove my truck to pick her up and assist her until the wrecker came. This time with luck I was able to restart the car and I followed her to our home where the tow truck picked it up and brought it to the same dealership for the third time for repairs under warranty. All three times the culprit was the fuel pump control module. Each time it was the same code in the ecm. Each time the dealership said they did a full check on the fuel system, pump, etc. And only replaced the fuel pump control module.

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Vehicle's "shift to park" warning is often displayed when vehicle shifter is in park and then the engine is turned off. Often takes several attempts to correct the problem by restarting and turning off the engine or by manipulating the shift lever while in park. These is a current recall for this issue with the same year, make, and model of vehicle. Checking the VIN against the ntsb recall list shows this vehicle is not included in the recall.

Car was parked overnight in my garage and in the morning it would turn over, but not start. Had to have it towed to my GMC dealer, but had great difficulty moving the car out of the garage because the transmission remains in park if the engine is not running. Had this happened on a highway while driving and without a place to safely get off the road ( which has happened to others who have made this same complaint to NHTSA), this could have been an extremely hazardous situation for the occupants of the vehicle. The engine will suddenly shut down, power steering is lost, and power braking will also be lost. This problem was diagnosed as a failed fuel pump module. The failed part was replaced by the dealer (gm part#13554820). The service manager acknowledged that this is a known and common issue and that gm is aware of it but has not issued a voluntary recall. The manager also advised that this part has not been updated and that it may fail again without warning. Please. . . . This is a serious safety issue that needs to be addressed before someone is injured or killed while abandoning a car stalled in traffic that cannot be moved.

Battery saver ignited comes on and and the entire dash flickers and turns off ! this happened in a middle of an intersection and I could move my car. We jumped it and went to the nearest auto zone replaced the battery . It was pulling 89 amps . The next day it popped up again and we replaced the alternator. Upon replacing this there was oil everywhere! and we don’t know where it is coming from . Now shift into part light comes on !.

Car gives “shift to park error” around every 5th time I turn it off. I have to turn the car back on and repark it to be able to actually turn off.

Instrument cluster malfunction. Entire instrument cluster blacking out every 60 seconds, then rebooting nonstop while driving. While this was occurring, none of the advanced driver assistance systems functioned, nor did the speedometer or other gauges. This occurred while on a trip, and meant having to travel a long distance without having emergency braking, collision warnings or the ability to monitor speed. The car was taken to local dealer and they replaced the entire instrument cluster.

Shift to park issue. This 2019 Acadia denali has been serviced twice for a shift to park issue:(it’s a known problem that occurs when Acadia vehicles fail to recognize that the gear shifter is in the park position). The first time was under warranty in 2022 and it has just been serviced again for the same problem. The system is the same as the older gm recall for this problem and the recall should also include this model as well but unfortunately it does not.

About a month ago when I shifted my vehicle into park and shut the vehicle off, "shift to park" appeared on dash display for which I had to restart the vehicle, shift it into another gear and attempt to shutoff the vehicle again. Occasionally this would work but not all the time. Other times when shifting into other gears did not work I had to restart the vehicle, press the shifter button multiple times and then was able to shut the car off with no "shift to park" appearing. On 7/11/25, arrived to work and had to performed the shifting the vehicle into another gear and was able to shut the vehicle off. When I went to leave for lunch, the car would not start at all, check the gm app and it stated "critically low battery". A CO-worker helped jump the battery and I was able to start the vehicle. When I went to leave work for the day, the vehicle would not start again with no notification as to why. My CO-worker jumped the battery again and vehicle started now with all the system lights on dash staying on and warnings displayed. 7/12/25 vehicle struggled to start and all system lights were still on. Later in the day, the vehicle would not start and all overhead, dash, display, taillights would not shut off. We jumped the battery and took the vehicle to our local dealer.

Unknowingly what the actual issue is in this 2016 GMC has major safety risk in electrical major different problems it has caused me safety issue with little one in the car and my family not knowing the issue with not understating it is a safety risk it has shut off 20 times restarting the radio for no reasoning also it sounds like the powertrain is going to stop working unless u put in l shift which I think that is nuts I was on the highway and it just stopped with the key locked in it like what actually f is going on this SUV has had problems since day one.

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The contact owns a 2024 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the infotainment touch screen failed to display pertinent vehicle safety information. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The contact was informed that the manufacturer was aware of the issue and was working on providing a fix. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 1,000.

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Shift to park- recall on 2017-2018 Acadia’s started having issues several months ago- was occasional note constant. I see there has been a recall at one time and it is ac known problem. I am on my 2nd battery!.

Whenever parking the car and trying to stop (shut off) the engine it will randomly say “shift to park” and I cannot shut the vehicle off.

Component: shifter assembly & jumper harness safety concern: can't turn off vehicle - carbon monoxide poisoning, physical safety when parking not at home, as I would have to leave vehicle running. . . Message in dash was present when I brought vehicle to dealer. Dealer also replicated no inspection other than dealer. Part returned to me. Warning message has been coming on for past 60 days or so, progressively getting more frequent I receive a 'shift to park' message in telltale after I have shifted to park. At times, vehicle will not shut off until shifter is manipulated for several minutes. I have concerns that I cannot park vehicle in garage, if I cannot shut it off. Gm is well aware of issue, but has yet to recall them. Dealer actually had replacement shifter in stock for a same day repair. . I was charged $778. 98 for the repair, and gm's customer assistance center response to me simply was to file a complaint with NHTSA. My wife does not feel safe driving, as there is no guarantee vehicle will turn off. Dealer replicated issue when I brought to dealership. Dealer has replaced part and has them. Warning lights only appeared when problem reared itself, initially began about 60 days ago, but is not occurring on approximately 2 of 3 shut downs.

We receive a shift to park message when we try to turn our 2019 GMC Acadia off. The vehicle is already in park, but an alarm bell keeps going off telling us it is not. The vehicle will not allow us to shut off the vehicle properly and results in battery drain and inability to lock the vehicle. We have noticed there is a class action lawsuit and recalls from previous year's models and the 2019 model manufactured in ohio, but ours was manufactured in tennessee. Our year, make, and model isn't listed in the class action lawsuit and/or a recall. This is very frustrating considering the number of similar issues/complaints in regards to this shift to park problem. I feel GMC as the manufacturer should be held liable for a faulty part and they have failed to correct this issue in later models since they were aware of the issue with the 2017-2018 Acadia models built in tennessee.

When putting my GMC Acadia in park and shutting off the push start ignition the alarm goes off saying it’s not in park when it is clearly in park so I have to continuously start the car and try to keep putting it in park and shut ignition off. I googled it and saw there was a recall so took it to dealership but my VIN was not included. I feel my safety is at risk as my battery also went dead stranding me in another city with my young grandkids on February 23rd, and I had a large bill to get a jump as well, I believe due to this same electrical issue! we are waiting on estimate now to get it fixed which is ridiculous as it is the same issue that is covered on many other of the same model vehicles! you should really look into this and maybe other electrical safety concerns costing consumers thousands of dollars on all these GMC vehicles it doesn’t seem fair. Thank you.

I was driving along [xxx] . I stopped at walmart and shopped for about 2 hours. I was leaving walmart and was stopped at a red light at the exit from walmart [xxx] and traction control light comes on and a message came up and stated traction control off and to service stability control and the vehicle loses power right at the light. I checked everything I could and dis connect the battery for about 30 minutes and connected the battery back up vehicle still would not start. After sitting there for 3 hours the vehicle starts up. A week later the same thing happens again. I had to go through all the steps again so after a couple of hours. The vehicle started up. A few days later it happens shin but this time I'm at a stop sign on a busy road. I called road side service for a tow. No one showed up so I went through ll those same steps of disconnecting the battery and hooking it back up after a couple of hours and it stated up. I drove it home and started doing some research and found something saying to change the brake pedal position sensor so I done that and it worked for a few days and started doing the same thing all over again. S week later I drive it to the store and got almost home and the vehicle shut down again and would not start back up. I had it towed to my uncle shop nd he done a diagnostic on it and got about 4 or 5 codes. All of those things are very expensive to purchase. I just ran the VIN to check for recalls on the vehicle but couldn't find any but it should have been a lot of recalls because there are so many of these vehicles the exact same model and year with trouble with stability control nd brake and traction control issues. All the issues they hd on this car tht I have should not have been sold to anyone except the manufacturer. I wish I could just get my money back that I paid for it. $4700. 00 not included in the work I had done like the cv axles replace on both sides in the front. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

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The radio in my 2021 GMC Acadia had to be replaced due to an update failure. I had to pay $221. 32 for diagnostic and $1,580. 18 for a new radio. My husband and I are the original owners of the 2021 GMC Acadia. My dissatisfaction is why are some GMC products under recall for this issue but my 2021 GMC Acadia not part of the recall. The hands free calling was not working, the gps and also affected the back up camera. All of these . A response is requested.

There is a current recall on the 2018 GMC Acadia for a "shift to park" issue. It clearly states that GMC is aware of this issue and my vehicle is having this issue but for whatever reason, I am being told we are not part of the recall. My VIN is not coming up with it either but we are having the same issue.

Vehicle producing code p2138 then goes into limp mode stating to service stability, traction control off and engine reduced power. Replaced throttle body and acceleration pedal position sensor and error was still present.

An error pops on the dash that says steering assist is reduced-drive with care, and the thermostat gauge does not work, nor does the air conditioner and the vehicle fan under the hood is extremely loud. This has been happening intermittently since September 2024. Basic research on the internet is showing many people have the same issue with these vehicles. Further research suggests possible vehicle computer system issues. I don't know why there isn't a recall already.

See all problems of the 2020 GMC Acadia 🔎.

When I park my car it beeps and says my car is not in park. Many other models of the 2019 GMC Acadia, along with other gm vehicles, may be affected by a "shift to park" recall. This recall addresses a defect where the vehicle may display a "shift to park" warning message even when the vehicle is actually in park, potentially preventing the ignition from being turned off and the key from being removed. This is exactly what my car is doing but they say my VIN is not included in the free fix. I brought my vehicle after it died to a GMC dealership and they said it will cost 1,000 to fix. My safety is at risk because I drive to different locations as a therapist and I often drive home at night in remote locations.

I’m just reporting several known issues. First, with code p2138, which I got today at oreilly after my car started throwing warnings. I used my parking brake briefly and afterwards got the following warnings on my car: “steering assist is reduced, drive with care”, “engine power reduced” , “propulsion power is reduced” , “service parking brake”. I’ve never even had one of these warnings. I’ve only gotten “shift to park” which is another known & common issue. With this p2138 code, it can affect acceleration and essentially loss of control over it, but seems I suddenly have several issues. Recently the infotainment system is possessed, touch screen stops working, it calls people by itself, beeps and scrolls by itself and is essentially useless. Might as well be driving at 1997 something or other, at least I could play a tape or cd. This is denali trim at 87k miles. Primarily though I’m concerned with this code, if it’s legit, it is very dangerous. How unreliable and unsafe to not know.

Automatic locks are triggering while driving and soon after vehicle is parked and powered off.

This 2012 GMC Acadia denali with close to 160k has been in the shop several times due to it randomly stalling out it kept basically locking me out from starting the car a "service anti-theft system" would flash across the dash followed by a flashing check engine light along with a lock and key symbol. A local gm repair shop had it in 3 times for them to tell me they couldn't figure it out or get the vehicle to "act up" they cut me two new keys and tightened up what they claimed to be loose battery cables just for the vehicle to die/stall with a no crank no start happen literally 10 minutes down the road after paying almost 600$ for repairs and that it was towed back 3 times for the same issue spanning over two months of them not being able to figure out the issue. Salvador ended up replacing the anti-theft control module after the 3rd time having to tow it back and forth just to leave the shop and I couldn't start the vehicle the next day after handing over almost another 400$ and less than 15/20 miles of drive time. Gm needs to get this issue figured out!!! there anti-theft system locks people out from starting their vehicles more than it does actually preventing actual theft. This will eventually end up causing a major crash at an intersection or highway if the anti-theft system keeps failing it just randomly cuts out power to the engine while driving.

On numerous occasions the key fob is not detected and locked out of vehicle. Key fob notice on panel saying it’s not detected while driving. Took it to jim causley GMC dealer several times and then they kept vehicle for a week unable to duplicate and sent me on my way. This is still happening with no help.

I have had intermittent issue with a message to shift the car to park when I shut it off. It was in park. If I wiggled the shifter it would often correct. That went on for a few years on and off. Lately it was more persistent. I brought it into the dealer and they replaced a harness and a switch. Seems that a harness would not go bad unless it had a manufacturer defect. I have seen a lot of reports on this issue on online blog sites. Seems to be a common problem. The problem with this defect is that when it is sin that mode, you cannot safely secure the vehicle and warning bells keep ringing. So the vehicle cannot be left like that and expect it to be secure.

When placed in park a message appears to shift to park and the vehicle electrical system stays energized.

After shifting car to “p” park, it still says shift to park and drains the battery.