GMC Automotive Repair Manuals

Interesting Facts About GMC You Probably Don’t Know – Common Problems – and PDF Manuals for Download…

The GMC division of General Motors LLC is a sector of the manufacturer General Motors. The American manufacturer focuses on utility vehicles and trucks, selling everything from buses, to pickups, vans, military vehicles, commercial vehicles and sport utility vehicles alike.

Founded in the September of 1908 by William Durant, General Motors bought the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company and the Reliance Motor Car Company upon which the current brand name for GMC Trucks was built.

Both companies were merged by 1911 and by 1912, thousands of trucks were produced and branded with the GMC Truck brand even though General Motors maintained GM.

GMC kept three manufacturing locations which were Saint Louis in Missouri, Oakland in California and Pontiac in Michigan while it produced over 600,000 military trucks for the US army during the Second World War.

GMC’s official branding was ‘GMC Truck’ up until 1998 when it was shortened to ‘GMC’.

GMC released a book about the history of the company in 2002 called GMC: The First 100 Years.

Up to date, GMC produced military vehicles, transit buses, ambulances, heavy duty trucks, fire trucks and motorhomes in the past.

The company still manufactures light duty trucks, medium duty truck, SUV’s vans and pickups.

Apart from the grilles and nameplates that have looked a little different over the years, GMC and Chevrolet have been producing very identical rucks since 1920. Even with all the physical similarities, they had their differences.

From 1938 to 1959, GMC had the 6-cylinder Jimmy’s engines and from 1960 to 1974, they had their V6 engines. GMC trucks were marketed for commercial use while Chevrolet vehicles were targeted on private car ownership.

Chevrolet cars were sold at excusive dealerships while GMC, on the other hand, made their cars available to former Oldsmobile and Pontiac dealers as well as Buick and Cadillac dealers.

This left GMC displayed in more places because they were available alongside other GM vehicles even in dealerships with no trucks and definitely no Chevrolet trucks.

From 1962 to 1972, Chevrolet cars had double headlights while GMC cars of resemblance already had quad headlights.

In 1973, GM released a new series of rounded line trucks which made GMC rucks even more similar to Chevrolet trucks by removing their quad headlights.

Over the next thirty years, both manufacturers produced almost the same vehicles only with different trims and with different price tags.

GM’s Sierras and Silverados began to see some difference from 2007.

The style and sheet metals used in manufacturing those trucks started to differ form the Chevrolet counterpart. Also in the same year, GMC rolled out its first ever unibody vehicle, the crossover SUV Acadia.

The predecessor of the Acadia was the GMT-360 Envoy and this was discontinued when the GM Moraine plant in Ohio was shut down in 2008.

In 2010, GMC introduced the Terrain which was a replacement for Pontiac Torrent and did not share the same sheet metal with its counterpart the Chevrolet Equinox.

Common GMC Problems

Cars face slight problems from time to time but specific models have common problems that keep occurring. Being aware of these issues help better manage the vehicle by looking out for them and curbing them. Here are some issues to look out for in GMC vehicles.

  • Inconsistent power and rough running engine: this problem is most common in the GMC Terrain model and happens as a result of problems with the engine. The car can begin to die when in an idle spot like at a traffic light or it could run for a few seconds after vehicle has been shut off.
    It could be as a result of a choked engine and cylinder in desperate need of decarboning or pressure on the fuel pump.
  • Transmission failure: the 2008 GMC Acadia has been known to suffer from transmission failure after reaching or passing the 75,000km mark.
    When this problem pops up, the engine warning light might come on right before you begin to notice any difficulty with transmitting from one gear to the next.
    Trying to fix this problem on your own might result in further damage or just a temporary fix at best. Transmission might have to be replaced if this problem shows up and you can trace your warranty and have it fixed with the help of a repair manual.
  • Poor visibility due to terrible headlights: the GMC Sierra 1500 seems to have a lot of complaints about light problems. Night driving can be a bust using the factory set headlights which are more or less the same on low or high beam settings. You might not realize how terrible the light are until its very dark or raining when you are driving.
    Having a manual can help you in this case because you will know to have the headlights upgraded to a newer GMC model or have the wattage increased after switching out to new bulbs.
  • Excessive oil consumption: owners of the GMC Yukon could experience the frequent need to replace engine oil because of how far it burns up. Some people have to change their oil up to four times just in a month.
    The engine makes a disturbing rattling noise and oil consumption is always on the high level. Some people prefer abstaining from synthetic oil, others follow the repair manual for a GM deflector fix; but others have to change their engine completely to solve this problem.
  • Cluster gauges not working: the GMC Envoy has complex issues with the cluster gauges from time to time. In some cases, only one of the fuel gauges, speedometers and temp gauges does not read correct information.
    In severe cases, it is two or all of them. From the manual, you can see that changing it out for another GM cluster gauge is usually the best solution.
    If your gauges are not working and interior car controls begin to misbehave, feed you wrong information and misfire then driving your vehicle has become dangerous and seeing a mechanic about it is wise.

 

Purpose of this is to catalog and include one of most comprehensive, useful and accessible “automotive repair PDF manual” database on the web for all GMC models.

It’s your go-to source for learning all about GMC – when you can’t find it elsewhere.

To get started, select the intended car model below…

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