[29er]

Ready for a sad story? I am the 2nd owner of my 2018 Canyon SLT with the Duramax Diesel. I bought it 5 weeks ago from a private owner. Truck had 15k on the odo and I have driven it only 1k since I took ownership.

Yesterday the engine seized up 5 miles from home while towing our 4,000 camper on flat ground. The diagnosis came from my local GMC dealer this morning. I had towed our camper once before on an 80 mile shakedown cruise just to see how it performed. No other issues at all on that little trip or my daily driving. I was traveling @ 65 mph and noticed a loss of power, then a slight shudder before it shut down. There was no advance warning, no smell, noise, vibration. No notification from the DIC of any problem. It just shut down. Now I get to see how the GM warranty works. I assume at 16k there should not be an issue getting this covered? Of course, I am now questioning my purchase and I'm not sure I can ever trust this truck again after this. FWIW, the original owner is a retired person who never towed anything and I know from Carfax that the truck had been well cared for with 2 oil changes before I bought it. This really stinks. Any thoughts/advise/insight is welcome.

 

[valvecovergasket]

yikes!
seized as in ran out of oil and locked up? seems unlikely without a whole cascade of warning lights. would be really curious to see whatever report the dealer comes back with for the failure.

 

[Speedy4x4]

I am assuming there are codes?
Can you check codes ?

Just a light shrudder and no loud sounds or anything violent?
I am hoping for something small, and computer just shut it down.

 

[29er]

Again, absolutely no sign of impending trouble. Oil level was fine, no warning lights. The diagnosis came from the service manager at the dealer. He said the motor is seized and they will begin digging into it next week.

 

[Speedy4x4]

Tires come screeching to a hault?
Or coast to side of the road?

Under acceleration, or cruising?
What mph it happen at?

 

[29er]

Tires come screeching to a hault? No.
Or coast to side of the road? Was able to coast to the shoulder

Under acceleration, or cruising? Under acceleration.
What mph it happen at? 65mpj

 

[Iceman62]

Sorry, but I call BS...with all the electronics on today's vehicles - something would've definitely indicated issues b4 a motor siezed. I asked my older brother (certified diesel mech) & he agreed...motors just don't fail w/o some type of warning.

 

[Speedy4x4]

Why it seems odd, if the motor locked up at 65 mph, while torque converter was in lock, and just a slight shudder.

These seems like more the dealer issue.

On bigger trucks i have had some screwed up issues with regen and comouter shutting down engine, but they had eaton 10 speeds not automatics.

 

[valvecovergasket]

Sorry, but I call BS...with all the electronics on today's vehicles - something would've definitely indicated issues b4 a motor siezed. I asked my older brother (certified diesel mech) & he agreed...motors just don't fail w/o some type of warning.

exactly...

i ran ours out of fuel once and while it didnt sputter or misfire it definitely threw a number of warning pop ups up related to just about every major system on the truck as it shut itself off and i coasted to the side of the road.
no way it truly "seizes" and doesnt give you all kinds of popups. oil pressure warnings at the very least.

ask the dealer for some pictures or a printout of the last active codes.
i bet there was something electrical that shut it all down.

 

[rotaryenginepete]

So after it shut down, what happened? Did you attempt to restart? You didn't notice any warnings, but what about afterwards? Did any lights come on after it "seized"?

 

[29er]

I agree that in today's world there should have been multiple signs of trouble. Not sure if Iceman62 is calling me a liar or an idiot but this is exactly what occurred. Once the truck was towed I had to make a previously scheduled trip away from home so all communication has been via phone calls as of today. Believe me, I will be asking some pointed questions when I get home. I agree that the term "Seized up" seems wrong. I've witnessed a motor seizing up and there are plenty of hints that doom is on the way. Hoping it's a damn computer system snafu but I would have thought the dealer would have told me about any codes that popped up.

 

[29er]

So after it shut down, what happened? Did you attempt to restart? You didn't notice any warnings, but what about afterwards? Did any lights come on after it "seized"?

I tried several times to restart but the engine would not turnover. The only warning light that showed up was a "battery saving mode" or something like that, but it only showed up once.

 

[rotaryenginepete]

I tried several times to restart but the engine would not turnover. The only warning light that showed up was a "battery saving mode" or something like that, but it only showed up once.

did it make a noise when you tried to turn over? Could you hear the solenoid clicking?

 

[rotaryenginepete]

I was thinking that possibly, rather than a seized engine, maybe the alternator seized up and the computer shut the engine down. That might explain the battery saving mode.

 

[29er]

did it make a noise when you tried to turn over? Could you hear the solenoid clicking?

No solenoid clicking. My uneducated opinion is that there is an electrical glitch that just shut it down and I can't believe that a babied diesel motor with only 16k has truly seized up but that is what the service manager told over the phone. Again, they will not truly begin work on the truck until next week. I'm hopeful it's not a ruined Duramax.

 

[valvecovergasket]

i guess ill quote myself... my moneys still on some major electrical failure, especially based on the last description. failed BCM? failed something related to the ignition switch? something along those lines.
i bet everything in the drivetrain is fine. the term seized is erroneous in this context.

i bet there was something electrical that shut it all down.

I tried several times to restart but the engine would not turnover.

The only warning light that showed up was a "battery saving mode" or something like that, but it only showed up once.

 

[Chuck_B]

Following this. "Seized" might be service managerize for "It won't run and we haven't dug into it but we have to tell him something".

 

[Chuck_B]

Alternator overrun pulley perhaps?

 

[rotaryenginepete]

No solenoid clicking. My uneducated opinion is that there is an electrical glitch that just shut it down and I can't believe that a babied diesel motor with only 16k has truly seized up but that is what the service manager told over the phone. Again, they will not truly begin work on the truck until next week. I'm hopeful it's not a ruined Duramax.

yeah unless an belt driven accessory seized up or transmission problem, I would bet it was a safety shutdown triggered by an actual electrical problem or failure (not a glitch).

 

[valvecovergasket]

Alternator overrun pulley perhaps?

i would guess it would be some sort of controller - a failed alternator pulley ought to have shown up as a warning of some sort while driving when it figured out the voltage was dropping prior to the shutdown.
i also bet the battery is fine - otherwise youd have gotten low voltage warnings of some sort, but something along the line thinks the battery is bad.

edit - rereading that earlier post i cant tell if the "battery saving mode" showed up once while driving, or if it was after trying to crank but not hearing any action under the hood.