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The Chevy Silverado is built “Like a rock.” As it turns out, rocks are often stone cold in winter. One longtime Silverado owner is struggling to keep from freezing in his 2024 pickup. Here’s what he said in a Facebook Silverado Group while seeking help from fellow owners:
I live in northern Michigan's snow belt, and brush the snow off my rig while it's warming up. When it is snowing, at all, it covers the hood with a slight covering of snow. When I start to drive, the heater is blowing as it should. When I drive fast enough for the little dusting of snow to blow over some camera (I'm guessing), the heater shuts down like I'm on the phone. That's right, 0F degrees, and it shuts down, can't adjust the fan, NOTHING WORKS! Pull over, turn the truck off, open the door, close the door, and wait for the dome light to extinguish. Start her up, and it blows as it should. Start rolling, and any snow coming off the hood shuts it down again. Even had a snownado (wind blowing snow) shut it down.
There is nothing more frustrating than having a vehicle override your HVAC controls' inputs. That's what seems to be happening here. The owner of this Silverado believes that a sensor is detecting snow on the windshield and then turning off his HVAC fan. How annoying!
The owner also reports that this is his second Silverado in a row that has done this frustrating thing. He also had a 2019 that did it. Is this truck's owner crazy, or is this a problem that other truck owners have observed? Let’s look at what some other owners have reported.
JC - “My 2025 5.3 does the same thing. I’m in northern Canada. When I store it in my heated shop, it always works perfectly. Only happens when I leave it outside and start driving with snow on it.”
AO - “Had this issue in my 2024 GMC 3.0 L and now again in my Chevy 5.3L. I live in Northern Ontario, Canada.”
DK - “I had a 2022 that did the same thing. They could never figure it out. Chevy headquarters gave me a discount on a new truck.”
VCG - “My 2024 is like that too. Any little dusting of snow touches my windshield, and it drops. Happened the other day when it was -40... had to do the same pull over, shut off truck, open door, and start it back up.”
JM - “I have a 2026 RST and it happens to mine, took the truck to the dealer and they said some flap part or something under the dash needs to be replaced, it's a 2-3 day job, also said they are getting more complaints about it as well, also said there's a bulletin about it now too, go to a different dealer!”
JK - “My 2021 did that the other day, I was wondering what was going on. First Silverado out of six that I got cold feet. I hate this truck.”
AJ - “I had this same issue. First, they said it was the cabin air filter. Changed it. And it started doing it again, then they told me it was snow.”
CS - “My 2025 just did this the other day! I was confused and angry. Gonna have to call the dealer and see if they know anything.”
CM - “My '23 does it.”
JS - “Know exactly what you're talking about, some reason I thought snow was blocking a vent or something.”
JD - “Glad I ain’t the only one.”
KBS - “My 22 had this issue, my 25 also has this issue, not as bad though.”
As we can see, there is a long list of fellow Chevy owners who are observing this crazy lack of heat in their Silverados. Numerous owners have observed this in more than one of their trucks. Clearly, the OP is not imagining this, doing something unusual to cause it, and it seems like it is not his truck alone that has the issue. Yet, like with many reported problems, there are those GM truck owners who simply refuse to accept that, since they have not observed a problem, it can’t be real. Here are a few of those doubting loyal Silverado fans:
JS - “My GMC runs flawlessly. Heat works great.”
MR - “I live way up in the real Northern Michigan, the part that sticks out into Lake Superior. My 2024 GMC LZ0 Sierra Denali does not do this, and I am on auto with temp set to 70. My 2021 never did that either.”
SM - “User error.”
One very helpful comment came from a worker at a GM dealership, who said, “I work at a dealership in Northern Michigan, and we haven't had one of these in yet. Now I'm curious about it, and I’m going to look into it.”
With so many reports of the same issue, and with it happening when the windshield goes from clear to having a dusting of snow hit it, our expert take on this is that it is definitely a sensor seeing the snow on the windshield and then taking an incorrect action as a result of it. A software change will likely be the final solution via a technical service bulletin. That could take time, however, and the fact that so many users have reported it happening on multiple generations has us very concerned that this issue is long overdue for a remedy.
What do you have to offer as advice to these many Silverado owners who cannot get the heater fan to blow if their windshield is hit with a puff of dusty snow? Tell us in the comments below.
John Goreham is the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and an expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his fourteen years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on LinkedIn and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. John employs grammar and punctuation software when proofreading, and he sometimes uses image generation tools.
Image courtesy of General Motors and Chevrolet
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