I’m having every problem imaginable, PLEASE HELP

qoconnell · July 25, 2022

This is my first post so sorry if I’m all over the place. I’ve had my 2014 Sierra slt for about two years now. I got it with 116k miles and I’m at about 174k right now. Since the day I’ve bought the truck it’s been nothing but issues. You name it, it’s happened. Four separate water leaks (sunroof, gps antenna, third brake light, and cab vents), 2 transfer case control modules, problems with the power steering going out, brakes going out at low speeds. A couple of months ago my transmission went out and it also needed various other repairs totaling over $20k. Now my park assist sensors don’t work, my rear doors don’t open from the inside and also don’t lock from the outside, reverse lights and camera don’t work, and it constantly dings at me to service my trailer brake system (seriously, it chimes at me about every two seconds as I’m going down the road, telling me to service the trailer brakes). I’ve gone through and checked every ground I can find and nothing helps. Today I went through every single fuse and relay in the truck. I found a couple of blown fuses and replaced as needed, but still no change. I’m at a loss for what to do at this point as I’m stuck with the truck after all the money I’ve sunk into it. Does anybody maybe have any solutions to any of these problems? I’m desperate for answers, anything helps.

KARNUT · July 25, 2022

8 minutes ago, qoconnell said:

This is my first post so sorry if I’m all over the place. I’ve had my 2014 Sierra slt for about two years now. I got it with 116k miles and I’m at about 174k right now. Since the day I’ve bought the truck it’s been nothing but issues. You name it, it’s happened. Four separate water leaks (sunroof, gps antenna, third brake light, and cab vents), 2 transfer case control modules, problems with the power steering going out, brakes going out at low speeds. A couple of months ago my transmission went out and it also needed various other repairs totaling over $20k. Now my park assist sensors don’t work, my rear doors don’t open from the inside and also don’t lock from the outside, reverse lights and camera don’t work, and it constantly dings at me to service my trailer brake system (seriously, it chimes at me about every two seconds as I’m going down the road, telling me to service the trailer brakes). I’ve gone through and checked every ground I can find and nothing helps. Today I went through every single fuse and relay in the truck. I found a couple of blown fuses and replaced as needed, but still no change. I’m at a loss for what to do at this point as I’m stuck with the truck after all the money I’ve sunk into it. Does anybody maybe have any solutions to any of these problems? I’m desperate for answers, anything helps.

I’m all for putting in repairs rather than payments. I think it’s time to bid farewell to this one. If you spent 20K on it. Sounds like you don’t do your own work. That thing needs a do it yourselfer. I would have said good by before the 20K. With a used transmission.

It's Tim · July 25, 2022

21 minutes ago, qoconnell said:

I found a couple of blown fuses and replaced as needed

Simply replacing fuses without verifying the circuit itself is good, probably not the best idea...

Was this a salvage title vehicle by chance?

qoconnell · July 25, 2022

17 minutes ago, KARNUT said:

I’m all for putting in repairs rather than payments. I think it’s time to bid farewell to this one. If you spent 20K on it. Sounds like you don’t do your own work. That thing needs a do it yourselfer. I would have said good by before the 20K. With a used transmission.

I’m not asking if I should get a new truck. It is simply out of the question for reasons I don’t need to explain. Most of the problems have been fixed by me, but there are some things that I’m just not equipped to tackle myself. I’m willing to at least try to fix these things myself, which is why I’m here.

qoconnell · July 25, 2022

10 minutes ago, It's Tim said:

Simply replacing fuses without verifying the circuit itself is good, probably not the best idea...

Was this a salvage title vehicle by chance?

Not a salvage, but I have discovered previous body work in the rear passenger side of the bed. The carfax also shows that it needed 6k in repairs to the front passenger side. I’ve never thought the two could be connected but now I’m wondering if this thing got absolutely destroyed. How can I check if a circuit is good?

It's Tim · July 25, 2022

newdude · July 25, 2022

Service trailer brakes. The system sets codes and ideally should be scanned. C1114 is a top code.

3 most common failure parts are the switch in the dash, the trailer receptacle and the TBC module above the spare.

qoconnell · July 25, 2022

42 minutes ago, It's Tim said:

I don’t have a multimeter, and I will pick one up if necessary, but I do have a simple test light and tested some fuses. I wasn’t able to get fuse 33 in the engine block (reverse lamps) to light up even with the truck in reverse.

steelerdude15 · July 26, 2022

Another couple of things you can look at are your battery and negative cable. When the batteries are near the end of their life, they can cause all sorts of electrical issues. I’d get it tested. If the negative cable, which is a known problem in these trucks, they can cause all sorts of issues too.

Edited July 26, 2022 by steelerdude15

qoconnell · July 26, 2022

27 minutes ago, steelerdude15 said:

Another couple of things you can look at are your battery and negative cable. When the batteries are near the end of their life, they can cause all sorts of electrical issues. I’d get it tested. If the negative cable, which is a known problem in these trucks, they can cause all sorts of issues too.

This has also occurred to me. When I first got the truck all of the electronics had crazy issues and we could never figure it out. Eventually needed a new battery and it fixed almost everything. I’m taking it in on Wednesday for some routine maintenance and I’m gonna have the battery checked out.

swathdiver · July 26, 2022

12 hours ago, qoconnell said:

Does anybody maybe have any solutions to any of these problems? I’m desperate for answers, anything helps.

You ought to have the dealer level scan tools for diagnosis and testing and access to the shop manual. And MDI2 with GDS2 software on a laptop will save you thousands, tens of thousands over the life of the truck.

You can read my rants about having a Tech-2 but such a machine is too old for yours but the ranting applies to your truck with regards to the MDI and GDS software.

It can do parasitic draw tests, actuate your lights, windows, mirrors, etc. Everything you need for quick and proper diagnosis. There's no reason for your trailer brake controller to be on the brink still.

stu_pidasso · July 27, 2022

On 7/25/2022 at 6:02 PM, qoconnell said:

I don’t have a multimeter, and I will pick one up if necessary, but I do have a simple test light and tested some fuses.

If you want to solve these issues, its necessary. Test lights have limitations and are only good to prove you have continuity.

Is your truck insured for fire? Fire seems to solve issues fast. Don't be careless where you park that thing, like, say, on a really dry leaf pile. Probably not a good idea to pay someone to burn it down either.

JimCost2014 · July 27, 2022

22 hours ago, stu_pidasso said:

Probably not a good idea to pay someone to burn it down either.

Think that would depend on who you ask......

dna9656 · July 29, 2022

I'm no whizz kid mech as I'm sure could be seen if you read over my posts; HOWEVER...

You mentioned the truck was in an accident that costs 6 K to repair and you have put another bunch of buck in to her, I'm wondering if some wire bundle or single wire isn't pinched (exposing the load carrying copper inside the insulation) and shorted to a weak ground or to other hot side(s) of other circuits and powering/shorting them..... meaning the wire(s) that are part(s) of many circuit(s). I say it this way as you have said many seemingly unrelated circuits are affected; this can be the result of an undiscovered problem with the wiring.

When a body shop does an estimate it's called VISIBLE estimate; meaning it's based on what's visible without taking the truck apart. Of course, when the disassembly required for repair starts, more problems can surface. Many shops run video cams during this phase of repair to proof they FOUND it and did not CREATE the problem(s) It's classic CYA ok? So the customer can't claim the shop did it or the insurance company can deny it because it wasn't included in the original VISIBLE Repair Est. Sorry for the disjointed writing but I hope you get my point(s).

The main thing is there could be a pinched bundle causing multiple shorts to ground and/or the hot side of other circuit(s). This wasn't very common in the old days when we had pretty simple wiring to look after. In theory most cars and light truck could use the same harness; (again, in theory) because they didn't have the stuff today's (in the last 20 years or more ) option, features, equipment. They had basic stuff, brake lights, turn signals, flasher, headlights, dome, dash, courtesy lights, ignition, some times power windows. That was mostly it for common vehicles. Caddys, other fancy cars had more but regular guys didn't see much of that.