Rear Park Assist Switch LED

gybob · December 5, 2014

I looked and cannot find this mentioned anywhere. The little amber LED in the switch is on ALL THE TIME. The only way I can get it to go off is to flip the switch and disable the rear park assist for that ignition cycle. I've looked at other 14's and they act the same (illogical) way.

Why do I have an amber LED constantly illuminated? In my years of flying and driving, I somehow picked up the notion that an amber light is a caution or warning light. Let it come on when the sensors detect something, or in the case of a malfunction, but not ALL THE TIME.

Short of doing something dastardly like messing with wiring or using nail polish, how can I turn the WARNING light off?

Are you listening GM?

Thank you.

JcMont · December 5, 2014

It's there to let you know you have that system turned on.

Gmcant33 · December 5, 2014

I don't see it as a major issue being that it's is not on the drivers view plus it's not like it's that bright.

solution : electrical tape.

chuckl1218 · December 6, 2014

By the way, the Lane Departure Warning switch works the same way. Amber light on means enabled. If enabled, it stays on all of the time. I've just gotten used to it.

gybob · December 6, 2014

Not a major issue by any means. I seldom drive at night, but I happened to notice the light (at night) a couple of weeks ago. That's when I checked other vehicles and found them all working this way.

I guess it's just that the logic of having an amber light ON to tell me that all is OK escapes me. I would expect to have an amber light warn me if I turned this nifty feature OFF. Now that I've noticed it, I find it distracting at night. I then turn it off to make the light go away. I guess I should be happy that I don't have lights to tell me that the Stability Control is on (as it is by default) as well. I do get an amber warning when I turn that OFF. In any case, I have a friend with a Tech 2 that seems to think he can reverse the operation of that aggravating little LED. We'll break out a few cold ones and give it a shot over the holidays.

I guess life is good when the most that I have to worry about today is an LED in a $46K new truck that act backwards from what I think it should

Mi99z71 · January 24, 2015

This light throw's me also. I came from 2011 Avalanche, there when the LED light is On, the system is OFF. Just the opposite here. I keep finding myself turning the system off out of habit.

fondupot · January 25, 2015

put a piece of black tape over it if it bothers you that much.

TJay74 · January 27, 2015

Black tape will be the only option, the switch is controlled by the BCM so I doubt you will be able to switch the wiring per say to turn it off.

DanielAcosta · January 29, 2015

It turns on by default every ignition for safety; I turn mine off after starting every time.

Note: if you hook up a trailer the system automatically shuts off when you accelerate above a few mph, then turns back on when you come to a stop. If it were up to me I would have it work like this all the time.

In the grand scheme of things this is a non-issue.

gybob · January 29, 2015

Black tape will be the only option, the switch is controlled by the BCM so I doubt you will be able to switch the wiring per say to turn it off.

Actually, my module reference shows the switch and it's LED connected to the K41 Front and Rear Parking Assist Control Module. I was hoping someone on here might have had a hack to get the LED to operate in a logical fashion. Black tape is so Fred Flintstone like.

Actually, I did find a solution though.... 2015 Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab Laramie. No more driveline vibration and....... One of many added bonuses - the LED's in there act logically.

DanielAcosta · January 31, 2015

Actually, my module reference shows the switch and it's LED connected to the K41 Front and Rear Parking Assist Control Module. I was hoping someone on here might have had a hack to get the LED to operate in a logical fashion. Black tape is so Fred Flintstone like.

Actually, I did find a solution though.... 2015 Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab Laramie. No more driveline vibration and....... One of many added bonuses - the LED's in there act logically.

Congrats on the RAM, it will be interesting to see how it holds up long term. Even though RAM finishes no better than a distant third in the recent comparos, it still seems to be a great truck. I'm happy with my Sierra.

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/2015-chevrolet-silverado-vs-2015-ford-f-150-2015-ram-1500-2014-toyota-tundra-comparison-test

CounterMeasure · January 31, 2015

Personally, I can't figure out why "amber=on" for these switches is a problem.

-The headlight knob uses amber for the current setting

-The 4WD knob uses amber for the setting

-When you press a mirror to adjust its position, the button lights up amber

-When you press the AC button, it lights up amber

-When the blower is on, it lights up amber

-The other various buttons in climate controls light up amber when they are on

-The heat/cooled seat setting lights up amber when on

-When you turn on the cargo lamp, it lights up amber

A concern of "amber=caution" I get, but just about all the controls use amber for on. Why is it a problem for the parking assist switch? Am I missing something?

gybob · February 1, 2015

Congrats on the RAM, it will be interesting to see how it holds up long term. Even though RAM finishes no better than a distant third in the recent comparos, it still seems to be a great truck. I'm happy with my Sierra.

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/2015-chevrolet-silverado-vs-2015-ford-f-150-2015-ram-1500-2014-toyota-tundra-comparison-test

Thank you for the encouragement Daniel. Not sure I would call a 4 point spread (out of 100) between 1, 2 and 3 a "distant third" though. In any case, I realized some time ago that some automotive press ratings are closely related to advertising revenue

It's funny. I retired from the Marines in 1995 after 20 years. Until then, I had never owned a new vehicle. At that time, for some damn reason, I thought I needed a new truck. Since then I've had a new 96, 99, 02, 03, 05, 07, 11, 14, 14 and now a 15. The 99 and 11 were F150's and the second 14 was a Sierra 1500 SLT, pretty well loaded, and all the rest were Silverado's.

As you can see, Dodge was never on the radar. IMHO, they were too far behind GM and Ford in the things that I consider important. As much as I loved the 11 F150 Ecoboost and the 14 Silverado for that matter, I wish I had at least looked at the Ram. They made major steps forward in 09 that are certainly worth looking at.

After a nightmarish 3 months of ownership in the shaking, vibrating 14 Sierra, when I decided to get another truck, I DID look at the Ram. I might very well have gone for the new F150, but Ford isn't dealing at all on those. Rams are pretty heavily discounted. Honestly, after first look and drive, between the Ram and the Sierra, it was kind of like comparing Windows 95 to Windows 8! Ram is on the map now! I couldn't believe how much improved they are over the 99 that my brother had and hated. The features and bang for the buck far surpass today's GM offerings.

With all that being said, I absolutely hope that she turns out to be dependable. I lost my ass getting out of the Sierra so soon. Actually, I kind of NEED for the Ram to be dependable. I missed so much work taking the Sierra in repeatedly for warranty repairs, that it had actually sort of become a joke at work.

I got the Ram on 15 Jan. So far, I've LOVED every minute of driving it. I love the engine - the power, the sound. I love the 8 speed trans. I love the way she rides. Heated rear seats!! Holy cow, I didn't know they made those I'm getting used to the look of the front end I SO don't miss the vibration that was still in the Sierra after a new rear end, a new tire and a LOT of road force balances. I haven't missed any work since I got this truck. I'm not going to bash GM. I've had a lot of them and may have more. The one I had was not right and then after all the repair attempts, they tried to tell me that all of a sudden, "it's right". I wish I had the time and energy to fight it further, but I needed a truck that I could actually drive - and enjoy.

Thank you for enduring this rant. I really am glad you enjoy your Sierra. She is on awesome looking truck for sure.

DanielAcosta · February 1, 2015

Bob, thanks for your commentary. It's actually more than a 4-point spread http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/2015-chevrolet-silverado-vs-2015-ford-f-150-2015-ram-1500-2014-toyota-tundra-comparison-test-2015-ford-f-150-vs-2015-chevrolet-silverado-1500-2015-ram-1500-2014-toyota-tundra-final-scoring-performance-data-and-complete-specs-page-6

Ford 196

GM 193

RAM 177

Tundra 164

Their commentary suggests the Ford and Chevy are so close it comes down to personal preference. The Tundra is obviously outclassed, which is ironic because that's the truck I had before the Sierra.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with your 14 Sierra. Fortunately for me, after almost 38K miles my Sierra has been more trouble free than any of my Toyotas were, hopefully that will continue. I had a real bad experience with a Ford engine, so the scuttlebutt about premature ecoboost failures keeps me away from them. The last Dodge I had started burning oil after 70K miles. My last Chevy had a solid drivetrain, but the rest of the vehicle didn't hold up like my Hondas and Toyotas. So far this new Sierra has been the most reliable of all, knock on wood.

gybob · February 1, 2015

Bob, thanks for your commentary. It's actually more than a 4-point spread http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/2015-chevrolet-silverado-vs-2015-ford-f-150-2015-ram-1500-2014-toyota-tundra-comparison-test-2015-ford-f-150-vs-2015-chevrolet-silverado-1500-2015-ram-1500-2014-toyota-tundra-final-scoring-performance-data-and-complete-specs-page-6

Ford 196

GM 193

RAM 177

Tundra 164

Their commentary suggests the Ford and Chevy are so close it comes down to personal preference. The Tundra is obviously outclassed, which is ironic because that's the truck I had before the Sierra.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with your 14 Sierra. Fortunately for me, after almost 38K miles my Sierra has been more trouble free than any of my Toyotas were, hopefully that will continue. I had a real bad experience with a Ford engine, so the scuttlebutt about premature ecoboost failures keeps me away from them. The last Dodge I had started burning oil after 70K miles. My last Chevy had a solid drivetrain, but the rest of the vehicle didn't hold up like my Hondas and Toyotas. So far this new Sierra has been the most reliable of all, knock on wood.

My bad on the totals. I looked at one of the subtotals rather than going all the way to the bottom. Looking closer, I see that they used the 6.2L w/8 speed. If I had purchased that setup, I'm sure I would have enjoyed the truck a lot more. In addition to the vibrations, the 5.3 with 6 speed was a real slug. Having owned and driven the Ford and Ram powertrains in the comparison, the GM 6.2 w/8 speed would be a "must have" for me in the future.

For what it's worth, I drove my crew cab F150 w/Ecoboost pretty much "like I sole it" most of the time. It never got babied at all. It hit 105K miles before I did ANY unscheduled repair/maintenance. It was a coil pack. By 110K, the other five coil packs and then the friggin engine ECM had to be replaced. Pretty expensive repairs overall. Didn't stick around to see what would be next. Traded after that.

I joined this forum after I bought my 07 new Silverado. Guess I'll probably drop out for a while until when/if I get into another GM truck. Comparing mine and your experiences, I guess it would be safe to say that, scientifically, speaking...... it's a crap shoot. Happy to hear that you got a good one. Hope mine turns out to be a good one.