troublesome '99 Sierra 1/2 ton

dana60cj · September 22, 2006

I have had more trouble with things going wrong on my '99 GMC Sierra in the last year than on my '84 Jeep CJ-7 that I off road heavily and have owned since 1993.

I bought it a year ago with 43,000 miles on it and I drive it like a grandpa because it's my daily driver. Thankfully I got a warranty with it and all of these things have gone wrong so far. What is up with this truck? This is way beyond abuse of a used vehicle before I got a hold of it. It now has 103,000 miles on it, mostly highway and easy going.

-blown 3 head lamp bulbs

-literally blew up the tranny, in pieces

-that took out the x-case

-New rear r&p, stripped teeth

-new rear diff. carrier, pieces chewed it up

-seized caliper

-fried entire ignition system and starter / solenoid

-tore up frt. unit bearings

-blew the intake manifold gasket

-water in fuel due to faulty venting system GM knew about and didn't re-call

-the d**n tail gate falls down all the time, but yet they recall the wires that hold it up, probably since the tail gate falls down and stresses them out every day

-ABS malfunction, $1,000 for a module, just pulled the fuse, that money went towards the tranny already

-constant vibration @ 40 mph that 4 mechanics and I can't find

water pump, I can understand

and now rust!

Anybody else have these issues?

Go professional grade!

95Sierra2500 · September 22, 2006

-blown 3 head lamp bulbs

You've put alot of miles on it, and headlamp bulbs do burn out...What brand did you buy? some don't hold up like others.

-literally blew up the tranny, in pieces

-that took out the x-case

I don't see how blowing up the trans can take out the TC, since they're separate entities only connected by a shaft - no fluid exchange.

-New rear r&p, stripped teeth

-new rear diff. carrier, pieces chewed it up

Was their any gear oil in there? That honestly sounds like someone abused that rear end, whether it be from running it on no oil or towing/hauling more than the gears allow.

-seized caliper

This happens every now and then, even on the all-mighty Toyotas.

-fried entire ignition system and starter / solenoid

Ouch...Perhaps you've got an alternator that is too big for the truck, causing things to burn up (noticing alot of electrical problems in your list).

-tore up frt. unit bearings

At what mileage? They're just bearings, and they're almost constantly loaded...it's not uncommon for them to fail. They also fail prematurely due to abuse, and you state that you're not the original owner...Do you know how the old owner treated this truck?

-blew the intake manifold gasket

I've noticed GM has issues with this on many engines, I think they had a purchasing rep send the job out to the lowest bidder.

-water in fuel due to faulty venting system GM knew about and didn't re-call

Are you sure you didn't get it in there from filling up at a bad station? I have gotten water in my fuel before...usually ends up being from filling at a gas station just after they get a delivery, or some gas stations will dilute their fuel with water to make more money.

-the d**n tail gate falls down all the time, but yet they recall the wires that hold it up, probably since the tail gate falls down and stresses them out every day

Recalls are usually only issued for safety issues, and a tailgate opening while driving down the road isn't usually a safety issue. It also has to happen on a set number of vehicles, and each automaker has their own number set I believe, though I'm not sure. But it sounds like your latches are worn. Do you use the tailgate alot, or did a previous owner? They're not that expensive to replace and probably take half an hour. Lubing the latch mechanism (near the handle) may help as well.

-ABS malfunction, $1,000 for a module, just pulled the fuse, that money went towards the tranny already

Electronics fail, no matter how well they're built. I do agree that ABS modules are far overpriced though.

-constant vibration @ 40 mph that 4 mechanics and I can't find

Sounds like tires are either out of balance or out of round, perhaps a bad universal joint in the driveshaft. Wheel bearings going bad, bad CV joint in a front axle...could be alot of things, but I'd start w/the tires.

water pump, I can understand

and now rust!

Anybody else have these issues?

Go professional grade!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Rust is to be expected if you live in a place where there is alot of salt (East or West coast, Michigan where they salt the roads, etc.) or if the truck came from there.

Not arguing that you've had alot of problems, but many of them may have been caused by a previous owner or from improper maintenance (again, not saying that it's your fault, perhaps the shop you use is incompetent? even dealers are not immune from that).

Edit: Quoting owns me...

Norseman · September 22, 2006

I have had more trouble with things going wrong on my '99 GMC Sierra in the last year than on my '84 Jeep CJ-7 that I off road heavily and have owned since 1993.

I bought it a year ago with 43,000 miles on it and I drive it like a grandpa because it's my daily driver. Thankfully I got a warranty with it and all of these things have gone wrong so far. What is up with this truck? This is way beyond abuse of a used vehicle before I got a hold of it. It now has 103,000 miles on it, mostly highway and easy going.

-blown 3 head lamp bulbs

-literally blew up the tranny, in pieces

-that took out the x-case

-New rear r&p, stripped teeth

-new rear diff. carrier, pieces chewed it up

-seized caliper

-fried entire ignition system and starter / solenoid

-tore up frt. unit bearings

-blew the intake manifold gasket

-water in fuel due to faulty venting system GM knew about and didn't re-call

-the d**n tail gate falls down all the time, but yet they recall the wires that hold it up, probably since the tail gate falls down and stresses them out every day

-ABS malfunction, $1,000 for a module, just pulled the fuse, that money went towards the tranny already

-constant vibration @ 40 mph that 4 mechanics and I can't find

water pump, I can understand

and now rust!

Anybody else have these issues?

Go professional grade!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nope none of them, sorry.

GM-Tech · September 22, 2006

some gas stations will dilute their fuel with water to make more money.

That's an old wives tale. Water and gas don't mix. How would that dilute the gas?

If they pour water in their underground tank, it'll just settle on the bottom where only the water will be picked up and pumped into your tank. They would have to install some sort of agitator to constantly stir the mix up to keep the water suspended in the gas. Then whatever amount of water that you got in the fill up would settle in YOUR tank and you're dead in the water (no pun intended!).

TEE · September 22, 2006

Sure have had my problems with my 04" Sierra but, nothing like that and I sureashell hope it doesn't

dana60cj · September 23, 2006

Go TEE, hope you don't either.

Good suggestions but. It just doesn't seem like it was built well.

The tranny seized while turning a corner and accelerating at 60,000 miles? It hurt the transfer case parts because of the sudden stop of power.

0il was just changed in dif before a trip, no leaks prior.

Checked the alternator, stock. Replaced it just because that seems to be another thing that goes on these vehicles.

Yes, understandable, but they should put lubeable units in so they at least stand a chance at making it. 103,000 miles is when it happened.

There was a GM safety bulletin about the fuel tank vent taking on water from normal use in rainy weather, but no re-call. So they knew it happened and didn't do anything about it. I think that is down right dishonest. The gas station where I always fill up had no complaints for weeks.

Yes it's the tailgate latches, and yes it IS a safety issue. They are built poorly, cheaply and rely on plastic bushings to wrap around the striker.

ABS - 0k, vehicles are expensive to own. We're supposed to be paying for all this new technology that people can't engineer to last the life of a vehicle. That cost doesn't outweigh the reliability of not changing anything over to the new techology. ABS went out right when I bought it, 45,000 miles, ridiculous.

Vibration, yup those were the first things they and I checked. Didn't like non-lubeable joint so I swapped all of those out to Spicers. 4 mechanics can't find what is causing it. It happens at 40 and 70-72 mph. The kids like it though.

Gotcha, I thought the same thing, but this has gone beyond any thrashing by a previous owner. It has come down to can these trucks really take what they are supposedly engineered to do? My familys Jeeps rock, '88 Cherokee, 286,000 no major problems, 2 radiators, 1 crank possition sensor. '00 Cherokee, 98,000 miles, no problems at all, ever. '84 Jeep CJ-7, it's had a hard life but it is still more reliable than the truck.