Sporadic Blinker Issue on 2018

rkj__ · October 1, 2018

I recently got back from a 4,000km road trip with my new 2018 Sierra. The truck was near perfect, with one exception.

Sometimes, when signaling left, the truck behaves as if the front left signal bulb is burnt out. The bulb does not illuminate, and I get a warning on the dash, to check the front left bulb. It happens sporadically. It usually either works, or does not work for the ignition cycle, but it has stopped working on an ignition cycle that it was working on. It did not happen at all in the first 1,000km, but after that, it probably malfunctions on about 30% of the ignition cycles. I have not made any modifications. I have been unable to correlate the issue to any situation, like rain, temperature, headlights on, trailer connected, etc.

Obviously, I will take it to the dealer, and let them try to sort it out. But, I don't have much information for them to work with. It's hard to know if you have fixed a problem that is not consistently repeatable. To my surprise, the bulb is not readily accessible without removing plastic bits. It's not like my 2008 Canyon, where you simply pop the hood, and twist the bulb out.

Anybody have a similar issue in the past? If yes, what was the solution?

I'll update this thread once I get it looked at.

UPDATE

Replacing the bulb seems to have resolved the issue.

Edited November 9, 2018 by rkj__

BIGBRD7 · October 1, 2018

Mine was sparatic also, the filement burned open in such a way that it made contact if I hit it with my hand. I would assume its a bad bulb, and yes it's a pain to replace

GMCustomerService · October 19, 2018

On 10/1/2018 at 4:09 PM, rkj__ said:

I recently got back from a 4,000km road trip with my new 2018 Sierra. The truck was near perfect, with one exception.

Sometimes, when signaling left, the truck behaves as if the front left signal bulb is burnt out. The bulb does not illuminate, and I get a warning on the dash, to check the front left bulb. It happens sporadically. It usually either works, or does not work for the ignition cycle, but it has stopped working on an ignition cycle that it was working on. It did not happen at all in the first 1,000km, but after that, it probably malfunctions on about 30% of the ignition cycles. I have not made any modifications. I have been unable to correlate the issue to any situation, like rain, temperature, headlights on, trailer connected, etc.

Obviously, I will take it to the dealer, and let them try to sort it out. But, I don't have much information for them to work with. It's hard to know if you have fixed a problem that is not consistently repeatable. To my surprise, the bulb is not readily accessible without removing plastic bits. It's not like my 2008 Canyon, where you simply pop the hood, and twist the bulb out.

Anybody have a similar issue in the past? If yes, what was the solution?

I'll update this thread once I get it looked at.

Hi, Ryan. We understand how frustrating this intermittent blinker concern must be for you. If you’re considering visiting your servicing GM dealership, we would be happy to forward your information to our Canadian customer care team, so they can provide an additional layer of support. Feel free to send us a private message, if this is of interest to you.

Anthony J.

rkj__ · November 9, 2018

Well, this week I finally got around to getting the bulb replaced.

After a couple days, I've had no further faults, so it appears the issue was indeed as simple as replacing the bulb.

The service advisor at my dealership said that my truck was the second one they had with the issue, with the other truck also being the front left blinker.