2021 Cadillac Escalade Engine Problems

On 4/17/2026 in Tomball Texas I experienced a sudden loss of engine propulsion while driving on a 4 lane road. The battery had voltage, hazard lights and radio worked normally. The car rolled to a stop in a traffic lane as this road has no shoulder and was put into park. The push button ignition was pressed but no restart of engine. The car was towed to the dealer that same day and told me the engine was "seized" and they have seen many of the same engines with the same problem. This car is not under the current recall for the L87 but those a few months to years from the recall lot have a current NHTSA investigation ongoing.

GM issued a special coverage in bulletin N252508341 for the coolant control valve in my vehicle. This issue happened to my vehicle exactly as the symptoms are stated in the bulletin: check engine light, P1098 code, fan running at high speed with the engine on and off, and reduced acceleration. I took the vehicle to the dealer to be covered, and they say my vehicle is not covered by the bulletin. To be clear, the bulletin covers 2021-2023 Cadillac Escalades with the LM2 3.0L Duramax engine. My vehicle is a 2021 Cadillac Escalade with a LM2 3.0L Duramax engine. Which had all the issues and symptoms listed in the special coverage. Yet, they say it is not covered. This seems incredibly shady. And very wrong. Why in the world would they not be covering my vehicle? It seems unsafe to be driving a vehicle that has reduced acceleration, a fan constantly running at high speed, and a check engine light for malfunctioning parts. Faulty parts from GM which they have already acknowledged are bad.

On 2/21/26, while driving approximately 60 mph, my car experienced a sudden loss of propulsion. The vehicle unexpectedly shifted into neutral and began decelerating, displaying a prompt instructing me to press the start button. I was able to coast to the shoulder and avoid a collision, but the incident occurred in active highway traffic on a Saturday afternoon and posed a significant safety risk. The vehicle had completed manufacturer recall service related to engine propulsion concerns less than 90 days prior to this event and had PASSED the associated safety checks. Approximately 5,000 miles had been driven since that service without prior warning signs. Given the nature of the failure and its occurrence after recall completion, I am concerned that the recall remedy may not adequately address the safety defect. A loss of propulsion at highway speed could reasonably result in serious injury or death. Cadillac has NOW agreed to replace my engine, but they didn't replace it when they had the chance in November. The recall parameters failed me.

Rod/Main bearing Debris Causing block damage Engine needs rebuild/ replace

Engine needs to be replaced or rebuilt Also the fuel pump power control nodule failed

The contact owns a 2021 Cadillac Escalade. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V274000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.

The contact owns a 2021 Cadillac Escalade. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 MPH, there was an abnormal squealing sound coming from the engine compartment before the vehicle stalled in the middle of the roadway. The check engine warning light then illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the residence and was later examined by a mechanic who diagnosed that the engine had seized and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The local dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V274000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 113,000.

See attached document for complaint. IN RE: GM Recall N252494000 I received notice in May of 2025 that my 2021 Cadillac Escalade is involved in a recall. At first my dealer said the part to repair is not available? Then in September we stopped by my dealer and he said the recall does NOT involve my Cadillac. So I will attach a copy of my notice so there is no question they notified me I have a defective Cadillac. Please someone tell me Why this happened? I want a different automobile!!! By the way I find it very interesting that Regina A. Carto,, Vice President of Global Product Safety and Systems FAILS TO PROVIDE HER ADDRESS?

The contact owns a 2021 Cadillac Escalade. The contact stated that a customer was operating the vehicle through the Turo App when the vehicle lost motive power while driving at an undisclosed speed. The contact was unaware whether any warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the engine had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact then received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V274000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The dealer was contacted. The dealer informed the contact that parts were not yet available for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 63,000.

A major recall has been issued due to possible engine failure. It sounds like a ticking time bomb and the dealer and GM currently refuse to do anything about it because “remedy not available yet.” I’m stuck driving a vehicle where the engine could fail randomly at any minute putting my family in danger and there’s no fix being offered right now despite the massive recall. Replace my engine!

I own a 2021 Cadillac Escalade that falls under the manufacturer recall issued by GM/Cadillac for engine problems associated with this specific make, model, and year. I received an official recall notice via both email and U.S. Postal Service, instructing me to take my vehicle to my local dealership to have the recall addressed. I promptly complied and took my vehicle to the dealership. However, I was informed by both the dealership and the manufacturer that my VIN number “excludes” my vehicle from the recall, despite it matching the same year, make, and model. Approximately one month later, my engine failed due to the exact same defect that is the subject of the recall. Nevertheless, GM/Cadillac continues to refuse to cover my engine replacement under the recall, solely on the basis that my VIN number is not included in the recall list. As a result, the dealership has ordered an entirely new engine for my vehicle. I am now expected to be without a vehicle for two to three months while waiting for the new engine to arrive and be installed. I believe GM/Cadillac is misrepresenting to consumers which vehicles are covered under the recall to avoid financial responsibility for defective engines. My situation demonstrates that vehicles outside the listed VIN range are experiencing the exact same defect, yet GM/Cadillac is refusing to extend the recall coverage. I respectfully request that NHTSA investigate whether GM/Cadillac is improperly limiting recall coverage and failing to include all affected vehicles, leaving consumers with significant expenses and lengthy repair times for a defect the manufacturer already acknowledged. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

General Motors issued a recall on various 2021-2024 Tahoes and Escalades with 6.2L V8 engines. Since issuing the recall, they have given no information and my Escalade has been sitting at the dealership for months with not ETA of the engine and parts needed ti fix the vehicle. GM is dragging this out slow and methodically!

I was sitting in a drive through when the car just stopped running. I could not get it to restart. Engine light had come on and gone off a few times. I had it towed to a Firestone next door , they advised it needed to go to dealership for engine recall. Dealership did not look at it for 3 days so I had it towed to Cadillac- waiting for them to call.

See attached document for complaint. Text from attached document: Last week [ went to get the oil changed at my local Jiffy Lube and was told, "We can' t service Lhis vehicle any longer because it has been re-called." I asked, "what I am supposed to do? They said Cadiliac is supposed to Lake care of it. After calling Mark Christopher Cadillac in Ontario, Cali fornia they said they can't help me until they get parts and have no idea when that will be.

Complete engine failure with vehicle only having 79615 miles on the vehicle. Vehicle was inspected by authorized Cadillac dealership and it was determined that the crank shaft/connecting rod had failed causing the engine to be replaced. Dealership communicated that issue was consistent with issue with known GM recall however vehicle was not covered under current recalled vin numbers at the time of engine failure.

I have been waiting for GM to send authorization for the dealer to inspect and remedy the engine, as per the open recall, but have heard nothing since May 2025, when GM stated parts were not available.

The contact owns a 2021 Cadillac Escalade. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V274000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact stated that the dealer was contacted; however, the contact was informed that the parts for the recall repair were unavailable. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about parts availability. The contact had not experienced a failure.

1st incident - Car stalled at a red light and had to be towed for repair. It was determined to be the fuel injector pump. No lights came on and there was no indication of an issue prior to it stalling. 2nd incident - On the intestate it started making a rattling noise and felt like it was losing power. No lights came on to indicate any issue. Luckily we were able to exit the interstate but it stalled on the middle of the exit ramp. We were 5 hours away from home and it was towed to the nearest Cadillac dealership. They had the car for approximately 2 months and replaced the engine. 3rd incident - the car was back 2 weeks from the engine replacement. For 1 of these weeks it sat in the airport garage. When it was turned back on after sitting for a week the check engine light came on. I was able to make it home from the airport but it stalled out in our driveway and had to be towed again. It was determined it was the fuel injector pump and it was replaced again. The pump was only about a year old.

Engine Shut off, misfires, put me on side of road twice. Dealer replaced engine with remanufactured engine, took car home, next day same thing happen, misfired, and put me on side of road again! Car been at dealer for 2 months Cadillac refuses to acknowledge.

We were driving our 2021 Escalade Cadillac on the highway and the check engine light came on and then 10 seconds later the engine completely stopped without any further warning. If we had not been right by a highway exit, we would have stopped right on the highway. When the engine stopped completely, everything was useless. We couldn't use the windows or locks or even put the car into neutral to roll it off the highway. It took 5 hours for a tow truck to get to us and we had to wait with the car the entire time because a window was rolled halfway down and we could not lock the car. Our car was towed back to Midland, TX and now requires a brand new engine. The engine is on back order and there is no expected date. We may not get our car back for months.