2016 GMC Yukon Steering Problems

Power steering intermittently and unexpectedly stops working.

NHTSA ID

11751501

Incident

Jul 17, 2026

When making a slow turn in drive or reverse the park assist screen shows it’s not working. Then all screens in the car turn black and the steering locks while driving. Making it impossible to turn or move. This is happening while driving, while parking. Putting my safety and others at risk due to not being able to control the steering. Park assist failure screen pops up then all screens turn black. Car is still on just unable to move. I have not had it checked by a mechanic yet.

NHTSA ID

11714221

Incident

Jan 29, 2026

On [XXX], I was driving my 2016 Yukon Denali on a trip to Maryland. While in Maryland, I was driving my vehicle. As I approached a street to make a right turn, I braked to make the turn. I slowed down to make the turn. As I made the right turn, my steering wheel ability became hard. I felt a stiffness in the steering wheel as I came out of the turn. My Denali became un-maneuverable. I lost my power steering ability in the steering wheel and I observed my power steering service light indicator warning come on. I pulled my vehicle to the side of the road and turned off my vehicle. I started the engine with no change in the steering mechanism. After twenty minutes passed, I restarted the engine. I was able to drive with normal power steering conditions. On [XXX], while driving my Denali, I lost power steering maneuverability while driving. My power steering service light appeared and indicated service was needed and that the Electric Power Steering (EPS) Assist failure occurred. Based on research, It appears that the same problem has occurred in other models of GMC vehicles. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11575208

Incident

Nov 11, 2023

My vehicle randomly locks up and shuts off while I am taking a sharp turn or parking. A 'Service StabiliTrak' warning flahses on the dashboard. The steering wheel locks and the only way to get this warning to go away is to turn the vehicle off. This is a dangerous hazard as the vehicle can come to an abrupt stop in traffic.

NHTSA ID

11523401

Incident

May 23, 2023

The largest issue was today, 2/22/2022, when I was driving doing 56 miles per hour it felt like it wouldn't accelerate. Then all of a sudden, the wheel kind of jerked right and the car shifted down all on it's own and I was doing 25 mph. The check engine light came on immediately after the violent jerking happened. I was on a 4 lane highway and had to immediately pull over onto the shoulder. It was jerking forward and back as I was trying to pull over on a freeway where the speed limit is 70 mph!!! I had my 80-year-old mother in the car with me. AND YES!! It put us both at great risk! I had to call a tow truck and they towed it to a dealership 9.8 miles away. When I talked to the Assistant Manager, he said that there were 3 other GMC Yukon 2016 that had come in today - ALL WERE 2016 GMC YUKON MODELS WITH 125K MILES. My GMC has 124,700 MILES all with Transmission problems. This can't be an anomaly. So I got online and there are many, many complaints about this transmission. As a matter of fact, it appears in 2019 there was a Class Action Lawsuit about this very thing. I will not know until tomorrow for sure what the issue is - because the dealership could not get to it today. However, something significant happened. As a side note, recently I had an electrical problem where sensors, etc are all saying need to be serviced and none of them are working. I had appt today at 10:30 am to have them check this. On the way there, the violent jerking and sudden downshift and check engine light came on. I was scared to death and so I pulled over and called a tow truck. The dealership did not tell me this is a common issue, nor was I aware. The dealership told me if it is in fact the transmission - cost is $6,000!!! I need someone to contact me to discuss this. Thank you, [XXX]phone - [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ID

11453520

Incident

Feb 22, 2022

This is the second time it happened the first time i parked my car while the engine was on and i got down real quick got back on my car and when i tryed turning all of a sudden my steering wheel keept turning the opposite way and parking control light appear saying it was off and it keep moving my steering wheel i all of a sudden turned my car off and back on the second time that happened i was going in a parking when it did the samething i was turning in the parking and it started turning my steering wheel the opposite way it started saying again parking control off and the system started going crazy and my car completely turned off i was left in the middle of the parking lot had tu put my car in parking and turn my car off reall quick and turned it on and was able to park but i did get really scared and been really scared to drive my car ever since because i don’t know if it will do the same thing again while driving . I have not taken it to get checked but will be making an appointment because it is a really scary situation.

NHTSA ID

11426103

Incident

Jul 22, 2021

OUR GMC YUKON LOCKED INTO 4WD WHILE ACCELERATING/DRIVING (APPROX 15-25MP) THE KIDS TO SCHOOL THROUGH THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, JERKED VIOLENTLY AS THOUGH BRAKING HARD, AND STEERING WAS EXTREMELY IMPAIRED. THE "SERVICE 4WD" MESSAGE APPEARED ON OUR DASHBOARD. THE YUKON IS LOCKED IN 4WD, AND EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO STEER AND MANEVEUR. IT JERKS VIOLENLY WHEN TURNING. WE ARE UNABLE TO DRIVE DUE TO SAFETY CONCERNS.

NHTSA ID

11402500

Incident

Mar 1, 2021

Mileage

65,000 mi

SERVICE POWER STEERING DRIVE WITH CARE ALERT APPEARS ON MY DASH

NHTSA ID

11221122

Incident

Jun 19, 2019

Mileage

42,236 mi

MY AC STARTED BLOWING HOT AIR. THE AIR COMPRESSOR WAS CHANGED TWICE. AFTER CHANGING IT THE LAST TIME I STARTED GETTING THE SERVICE POWER STEERING LIGHT ON AND Y STEERING WHEEL LOCKS UP. NO POWER STEERING. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS AND SEEMS TO BE COME TYPE OF WIRING PROBLEM.

NHTSA ID

11219532

Incident

Jun 18, 2018

Mileage

90,000 mi

VEHICLE SHAKES AND VIBRATES HORRIBLY AT HWY SPEEDS I HAVE TAKEN IT TO THE DEALERSHIP WITH NO FIX SAME PROBLEM

NHTSA ID

10979735

Incident

Jan 1, 2017