3.0 Duramax cranks but won’t start

3.0duramax · August 7, 2021

Update, truck has been in now for 9 weeks. Dealer received 2 other bent exciter wheels and they're telling me the shipping was the time issue. Finally they got a good one and will have the truck back together tuesday. I wanted a new truck but apparently they cant make that happen. Waiting to hear from gm to see what my compensation will be.

Barrett10 · August 7, 2021

18 minutes ago, 3.0duramax said:

Update, truck has been in now for 9 weeks. Dealer received 2 other bent exciter wheels and they're telling me the shipping was the time issue. Finally they got a good one and will have the truck back together tuesday. I wanted a new truck but apparently they cant make that happen. Waiting to hear from gm to see what my compensation will be.

Have you been working with the dealer to get a new truck or reimbursed, or have you been working with GM. My dealer said they can’t do anything about a new truck or re-purchasing it all goes through GM, through the lemon law. I have been working with GM, the customer engagement team for about six weeks now. My truck is going to shop 36+ days with a bent wheel as well. I have a callback from the GM re-purchasing team on Wednesday next week. Hopefully I can get a date when I can get my money back. And buy something different. The dealer can’t help only GM can help. Just curious how you’re going about what you’re doing.

losky79 · August 7, 2021

Hello all, its been awhile since I have visited this site. Anyway, I am back and I currently own a 2021 Sierra 1500 AT4 (3.0 Duramax). Let me just say, I bought F150's for the last 8 years and this truck is absolutely amazing. The 3.0 Duramax with the 10 speed transmission drives and shifts so smooth. GMC knocked it out of the park with this combo. Now to the bad news, I too am having starting problems like everyone else. I purchased my truck in March of 2021 and it's build date was also in March of 2021. It was built in Mexico based of the VIN. I have had the no start problem 3 times since I purchased the truck. The first two happened before I hit 1000 miles and the third one happened yesterday (8/6/21) at about 5300 miles.

I have not taken it to the dealer, because based off reading these posts and prior knowledge of how a service departments work, I knew there would be no reason. If they can't duplicate it, or get a "Code" then it's pretty much useless to take it to the dealer. So after yesterdays (8/6/21) no start incident, I decided to contact GMC via their Customer Service Text Chat line this morning (8/7/21). I basically only wanted to let them know, my truck was having the no start issue like many others here and across the country, even Canada. While chatting with the GMC rep, they stated that On-Star was showing my truck threw Code P0234 yesterday, even though I did not receive a check engine light. I don't know if that will cause the vehicle not to start, but it might help us in figuring this no start problem out!

According to Google, P0234 is a Diagnostic trouble code (DTC) P0234 stands for “Turbocharger/Supercharger “A” Overboost Condition.” It is logged once your vehicle's powertrain control module (PCM) perceives that the boost pressure in the forced induction system is too high or beyond the manufacturer-specified limit.

Edited August 7, 2021 by losky79
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3.0duramax · August 9, 2021

On 8/7/2021 at 11:48 AM, Barrett10 said:

Have you been working with the dealer to get a new truck or reimbursed, or have you been working with GM. My dealer said they can’t do anything about a new truck or re-purchasing it all goes through GM, through the lemon law. I have been working with GM, the customer engagement team for about six weeks now. My truck is going to shop 36+ days with a bent wheel as well. I have a callback from the GM re-purchasing team on Wednesday next week. Hopefully I can get a date when I can get my money back. And buy something different. The dealer can’t help only GM can help. Just curious how you’re going about what you’re doing.

I've been working with GM, it has went to an executive level and the woman i have been in contact with from GM is telling me there is nothing she can do. She has tried pushing with her management to get somebody to call me multiple times but it has been 5 weeks of trying and I have still not heard from the 'executive'. My truck will be ready in a few days and I still have no confirmation of my compensation. The dealer is telling me not to worry about it he thinks it will be fine but hes supposed to say that, lol. Whatever is going to happen I will know within a week or so.

mjm5247 · August 9, 2021

On 8/4/2021 at 7:55 AM, mjm5247 said:

Happened again at 1,600 miles. Tightened the fuse box bolts to 53 in-lbs yesterday (all four needed tightened). We'll see what happens.

6 days after tightening the fuse box bolts it did it again. Key fob start after sitting all day.

fireaxxe · August 9, 2021

Same issue here 2021 RST Z71 3.0 Duramax 10 speed. Hit button, starter engaged ran for 15 seconds then stopped, truck didn’t start. Hit button again less than 10 seconds later then started. I checked the bolts on the fuse box in front of the battery and they were only about 25 in. Lbs. I set to 53 in. Lbs after finding this thread today.

For anyone that has had the bent camshaft sensor exciter wheel was this accompanied with a Check Engine Light?

And has anyone had the inspection only and DID NOT have a bent exciter cam sensor wheel?

Lastly has anyone personally tightened the fuse box bolts and had a crank no start condition after tightening these bolts?

fireaxxe · August 9, 2021

1 hour ago, mjm5247 said:

6 days after tightening the fuse box bolts it did it again. Key fob start after sitting all day.

That answers my last question

Frankhpns · August 9, 2021

On 8/7/2021 at 9:18 AM, Barrett10 said:

Have you been working with the dealer to get a new truck or reimbursed, or have you been working with GM. My dealer said they can’t do anything about a new truck or re-purchasing it all goes through GM, through the lemon law. I have been working with GM, the customer engagement team for about six weeks now. My truck is going to shop 36+ days with a bent wheel as well. I have a callback from the GM re-purchasing team on Wednesday next week. Hopefully I can get a date when I can get my money back. And buy something different. The dealer can’t help only GM can help. Just curious how you’re going about what you’re doing.

I would humbly suggest you look at the Magnusson-Moss Federal Warranty Act, it is significantly more beneficial to you then any state Lemon Law.

Frankhpns · August 9, 2021

48 minutes ago, fireaxxe said:

Same issue here 2021 RST Z71 3.0 Duramax 10 speed. Hit button, starter engaged ran for 15 seconds then stopped, truck didn’t start. Hit button again less than 10 seconds later then started. I checked the bolts on the fuse box in front of the battery and they were only about 25 in. Lbs. I set to 53 in. Lbs after finding this thread today.

For anyone that has had the bent camshaft sensor exciter wheel was this accompanied with a Check Engine Light?

And has anyone had the inspection only and DID NOT have a bent exciter cam sensor wheel?

Lastly has anyone personally tightened the fuse box bolts and had a crank no start condition after tightening these bolts?

No I did not see a check engine light, it appears GM may have a problem with the high pressure fuel pump in addition to the bent camshaft position reluctors and fuse box problem. I was told by a very good GM diesel mechanic that the pump pressure is 36,000 PSI to the injectors. The CPU requires 8,000 PSI and 4 engine revolutions to confirm sufficient fuel in the rail. The CPU will shut down the ignition after the 4th rotation but the engine will continue to crank until it times out at bout 9 seconds. I assume by that time there is enough fuel in the injector rail to allow for a start for the second time. I just went thru all this with my 3.0 which had been in shop 38 days. Second day I got it back, I got a fail to start/overcrank condition again.

DustoR · August 10, 2021

Same thing here. 2021 Sierra 1500 AT4 3.0 Duramax. Happened twice now with 4,500 miles on the vehicle. Cranks for 10 to 15 seconds and no start. Starts perfectly immediately after. Just waiting to see if a recall comes in because at this point it doesn't seem like anyone has a clue what's actually causing it. Both times I tried starting it cold and didn't give time for the accessory/battery mode to spool up. I think I might try letting the CPU spool up before cranking it over to see if that helps.

I submitted a case with GMC through their customer chat feature. I urge you all to do the same so they can put some emphasis on this case.

Edited August 10, 2021 by DustoR

fireaxxe · August 10, 2021

23 hours ago, Frankhpns said:

No I did not see a check engine light, it appears GM may have a problem with the high pressure fuel pump in addition to the bent camshaft position reluctors and fuse box problem. I was told by a very good GM diesel mechanic that the pump pressure is 36,000 PSI to the injectors. The CPU requires 8,000 PSI and 4 engine revolutions to confirm sufficient fuel in the rail. The CPU will shut down the ignition after the 4th rotation but the engine will continue to crank until it times out at bout 9 seconds. I assume by that time there is enough fuel in the injector rail to allow for a start for the second time. I just went thru all this with my 3.0 which had been in shop 38 days. Second day I got it back, I got a fail to start/overcrank condition again.

I’m glad you posted these details because I feel like my issues are a voltage issue. I noticed a few times that it seemed my battery was low it would crank just a little slower when I tried to start up. Also my voltage gauge would read low most of the time.

I went ahead and purchase an AGM battery charger and put it on overnight. When I did this I went to remove the negative battery cable and noticed the 10mm bolt to the battery post was loose it was also loose on the positive side.

So instead of removing the cable, I tightened them both down and charged the battery with them on. Hard to say if this will have an effect on the crank no start but I had a “creeking” sound when turning the steering wheel. That’s now gone away. And my rear driver side passenger door wouldn’t unlock first try intermittently. It’s worked fine every since.

I think all these issues are related to a power issue due to loose connections and low voltage batteries.

I also found loose hose clamps on the vacuum side of the turbo and one semi tight hose clamp on the pressure side.

mjm5247 · August 11, 2021

20 hours ago, DustoR said:

Same thing here. 2021 Sierra 1500 AT4 3.0 Duramax. Happened twice now with 4,500 miles on the vehicle. Cranks for 10 to 15 seconds and no start. Starts perfectly immediately after. Just waiting to see if a recall comes in because at this point it doesn't seem like anyone has a clue what's actually causing it. Both times I tried starting it cold and didn't give time for the accessory/battery mode to spool up. I think I might try letting the CPU spool up before cranking it over to see if that helps.

I submitted a case with GMC through their customer chat feature. I urge you all to do the same so they can put some emphasis on this case.

This is a good idea. I did the same.

Fr3nzy · August 12, 2021

I'm really glad I found this site and this thread. I recently picked up a 21 Sierra 1500 LT with the 3.0 babymax. I have 2k on the odometer and had my first crank/no start event last night.

It makes me very leery due to my last experience owning a Sierra. I had a 2016 1500 Denali that the dealership had for two months due to a 8-speed tranny replacement. I had to fight GM tooth and nail to get any help on that whatsoever. The bad tranny was after I replaced the A/C condenser coil, the starter (twice), vacuum pump, and both front magneride struts on a truck with less than 70k on the odometer. Before that I had a 2015 1500 with a litany of issues also.

Depending on how bad this crank/no start issue ends up being, this may very well be the that GM vehicle I own.

Disspointing · August 13, 2021

On 3/23/2021 at 6:52 PM, Dbersuch said:

Bought a 2021 Sierra with the 3.0 last week. Twice when trying to start the truck the starter engages and cranks the engine but it will not fire. Starter times out after a few seconds and stops cranking. Anyone else have this happen? 570 miles on the truck.

Yes same here 2021 3.0 Duramax diesel GMC Denali brought for service on Monday was told battery needed replacement (4800 miles), and this morning it did it again,I guess my 80k nightmare just started

Frankhpns · August 13, 2021

On 8/10/2021 at 5:13 PM, fireaxxe said:

I’m glad you posted these details because I feel like my issues are a voltage issue. I noticed a few times that it seemed my battery was low it would crank just a little slower when I tried to start up. Also my voltage gauge would read low most of the time.

I went ahead and purchase an AGM battery charger and put it on overnight. When I did this I went to remove the negative battery cable and noticed the 10mm bolt to the battery post was loose it was also loose on the positive side.

So instead of removing the cable, I tightened them both down and charged the battery with them on. Hard to say if this will have an effect on the crank no start but I had a “creeking” sound when turning the steering wheel. That’s now gone away. And my rear driver side passenger door wouldn’t unlock first try intermittently. It’s worked fine every since.

I think all these issues are related to a power issue due to loose connections and low voltage batteries.

I also found loose hose clamps on the vacuum side of the turbo and one semi tight hose clamp on the pressure side.

I believe that the CPU also looks for the proper voltage before initiating a start confirmation. Any place there is a loose connection their could be a voltage drop when trying to start. Battery, fuse block, etc.