Chevrolet Equipment: Engine Block Heater

Chevrolet is recalling about 338,020 vehicles over a problem with the equipment. An electrical short-circuit can increase the risk of a fire.

Campaign
21V496000
Manufacturer
General Motors, LLC
Reported
1 July 2021
Vehicles
338,020
Built between
Not published
Models
4
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
4 April 2022
Repaired
72%
Unrepaired
93,053

Does this affect my vehicle?

The manufacturer did not publish a build-date range for this recall, so the model and year list below is the only way to tell whether your vehicle is covered.

  • 2017-2019 Chevrolet Silverado 2500
  • 2017-2019 Chevrolet Silverado 3500
  • 2017-2019 GMC Sierra 2500
  • 2017-2019 GMC Sierra 3500

Repair progress

93,053 of 338,020 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q1 2024.

72% repaired — 244,110 of 338,020 reported

Owners not reachable
825
Scrapped or exported
32

Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.

What the defect is

General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Chevrolet Silverado 2500, 3500 and 2017-2019 GMC Sierra 2500 and 3500 vehicles equipped with a Duramax diesel 6.6 liter engine and an optional engine-block heater cord. An electrical short-circuit may occur in the engine-block heater cable or in the terminals that connect the heater cable to the block heater.

What could happen

An electrical short-circuit can increase the risk of a fire.

What gets fixed

Dealers will replace engine block heaters and heater cords. Vehicles that have this feature disabled as a remedy to the safety condition will be contacted and offered replacement block heaters and heater cords under a separate customer satisfaction program, free of charge. GM will provide free replacement block heaters and cords under a separate customer satisfaction campaign. For vehicles previously included in recall 19V-328, the heater cord will be replaced and rerouted, free of charge. Interim owner notifications were mailed on August 13, 2021. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on April 4, 2022.

Parts involved

  • Cord Asm-Eng Cool Htr, Heater Asm-Eng Cool12681380, 12705875, 19419326, 84303149Engine-block heater power cord; Engine-block heater

Part numbers are as filed by the manufacturer and are listed for reference. Your dealer will confirm the correct part for your vehicle.

Timeline

  1. Recall reported to NHTSA1 July 2021
  2. Owners notified4 April 2022
  3. Latest repair reportQ1 2024 — 72% repaired

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 1 July 2021.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Customers may call GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 212329840.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
N212329840
Recalling manufacturer
General Motors, LLC
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand