Second time .

1995 GMC Sierra, one heck of a truck, however, the problem we have is a reoccurring one. Every 12 yrs it requires a ignition harness on the steering column replacement. The first one the wire pulled out of the terminal block and left the head in the block, wire completely broke off. It cost $277.00 at the dealership to have a new one put on, the only reason we had a dealer do it was we was told it could blow the airbag off into our face while working on it.

Yesterday we went for a tractor for my daughter (same truck) and after paying for the lawn tractor and had it loaded on the lawn trailer, we backed out of the driveway, stopped shifted into drive, guess what? No tachometer,no speedometer no 1st or 2nd gear in the transmission, the light for the selector was out. So today,my Son pulled the harness without incident, and we checked the continuity with a ohm meter in the wiring harness , all showed continuity. The problem was discovered by my Son taking the harness block apart, which contained 6 springs,6 lever contact points,and a rotary selector. Contact points were pitted with arcing deposits. We cleaned them off,and buffed with a scotch brite pad, reassembled, reinstalled, and guess what? It works again without the $139.99 harness (new) and shop charges at the dealership. Without the makeup of the harness you could burn the transmission up, no first gear and no overdrive, no tach or speedometer. Son spent 5 hrs between disassembling, tear down and cleaning parts and reassembling, and reinstalling everything. I'm truly sick and tired of something that was installed several years back, to fail again yesterday. GMC is a nice truck,however this problem gets on my nerves. Do any of you guys have a GMC like that with the same problem? I hope you don't,as it is a money pit item failing over and over again,and GMC knows about it.Welcome to the world of do it yourself fixing.
Regards,
LOU

Bought a 96 Sierra new,brother has it now, never had that problem; very few issues as a matter of fact in 150,000 miles.

Ben

Had a 92 I bought new, had very few problems in the 250000 miles I put on it. I sold it 2 years ago and it is still running around town.Jim

My brother had a '93. He put 358,000 on it with very few problems. Head gaskets finally gave out and he sold it to another farmer, who put a new set on it and is still driving it every day. Says it is the most dependable truck he owns. My brother wishes he still owned it!

That's why I drive a Ford.

We have three of those also.lol.
LOU

Sold my 90 GMC to a neighbor last summer, needed a radiator, pitman arm and tires. 286,000 miles, 2 sets of intake gaskets, few sets of tires and brakes and a couple of exhaust systems, a water pump and a lot of oilchanges, still had ice cold air and a like new interior. Bought a 2013 Chevy this time, nice truck.

Lou,
I had the same problem 2 years ago on my 95 GMC 1 ton sl. The first time I replaced the harness, the second time it happened I used a can of contact cleaner. It worked for awhile then kept failing, mine wouldn't go into 4x4, the heater motor wouldn't work and the wipers didn't work either. Mine failed at about 125,000 miles. It will never happen to me again, I sold it and got a bigger and better truck. It's a 2001 F-450. Hope everything works out.
Tom

You've had one, relatively cheap, wiring repair, and a set of corroded contacts in 20 years, amounting to about $14 a year. I don't know what the definition of "money pit" is, but I'm pretty sure that ain't it. Give the moaning a rest, why don't you? Sometimes mechanical things fail- it isn't always because of bad faith or lack of thought on someone else's part.

Well if ya had bought a 1995 Ford/Dodge you would be feeling pretty good about now.

(quoted from post at 23:16:42 08/31/15) Well if ya had bought a 1995 Ford/Dodge you would be feeling pretty good about now.

Click to expand...

.....other than the typical Dodge transmission failures & the Ford spark plugs blown out of the heads! They all have various problems. Just life.

UAFitter,
Your reading comprehension is lacking. Money pit is a cost that keeps re-occurring through out a time period when a cost should not be on the same product line .ie,wiring harness.
I like the truck but not a re-occurring expense .If one figures the cost of time to make repairs, then money does enter the equation.
The recurrence justifies my dissatisfaction, therefor a right to complain. Your lifestyle must have never suffered continued expenses for any given product or services, therefor my suggestion to you is get a life before chastising a person with a valid reason to complain.

Most products failing now are coming from overseas.
Having mechanical failures is normal, but when the same part fails over again, it is not mechanical error,but poor design for the consumer, and I have a right to be judgmental. If a part on a name brand tractor failed,or any farming machinery failed and was repaired, I am sure most farmers would not like repairing the same part over and over again,without venting some dis-satisfaction about the product. Built in obsolescence on such a part as I have claimed, that can be fatal if on a highway when the transmission locks up, due to wire harness failure. I just don't like to redo manufacturing mistakes and expect it to not break again, particularly if it is not a moving part, ie wheel bearings,transmission parts or engine or drive train, but a wiring harness should never happen twice.

LOU

WHY not just say the IGNITION SWITCH failed??? It's not a "harness" issue, Louie, it's a switch issue!

The problem is there's no "wiping action" of the contacts in those switches and any dust or debris that gets in the contacts causes a loss of continuity and just remains there.

In my experience, the folks that typically have problems with those switches SMOKE or the pickup is used in severe dust and dirt conditions. I have often seen NASTY cig ash in the ignition and multiplication switch area of steering columns.

On the other hand, a few years back I replaced one and tore it apart as your son did, and there was a LARGE fly mashed between the contacts.

Must be Bush's fault!

DAMN autocorrect... "multiplication" should read "multifunction".

Bob,
quit showing your ignorance, it is A IGNITION WIRING HARNESS ISSUE. Not the ignition switch. The ignition switch is fine.First picture is what was screwed up. 2nd picture is a ignition switch,NOT THE PROBLEM. As for a fly in yours, I see no way one could get into it, it is a sealed unit, no gaps for a fly to crawl into. It required a small screwdriver to open it up.
LOU

wish I could get off that cheap with any of the vehicles that I have owned. Bill

Learn to do your own repairs,rather than jumping at a service center.This is just one that had to be done twice, there were other repairs,but never twice.
LOU

Good LORD, LOUIE, the first photo is the ignition switch, the second is the "lock cylinder".

And, yeah, some goofy parts site probably agrees with you, but it's kinda ridiculous to call a switch a "harness", and a lock cylinder a "switch", don'tcha think????

Oh, DANGITT, I just looked at Rock Auto, and they call your "harness" and my "ignition switch" a STARTER SWITCH,
but they still know a "lock cylinder" when they see one!

You may apologize now, LOUIE.

But you never will as you are the most arrogant person I have ever met here.
Amazon agrees with me as well

Bobby,
I make it a point to be arrogant with idiots & know-it-alls.I apologise for you being both to the readers.
LOU

Fitter, it's useless to talk to LOUIE.

Sorta like trying to mud wrestle a pig.

He doesn't even know the difference between a "harness" and a "switch".

But I'll bet GM is gonna go BROKE for the second time, though, now that they've lost his business!

Lou I have owned Chevy, Dodge and Ford trucks. The Chevys have been the cheapest per mile to own and run. The Dodge diesel I own is second on cost but it cost more to purchase so the cost per mile to own and repair is higher. Be glad you can work on it at all. Some of the newer stuff requires a computer to reset things after you work on them.

I've replaced that "harness" on a '97 Tahoe twice and needs to be done again. First time took about 8 hours, second was quicker with the gained knowledge. My intervals are more on the order of 6 months now. Replaced first time with NAPA part. Worked fine for while, then went bad replaced again and NAPA honored their warranty. Now have the issue again, but the truck is sitting for now. Have some other issues making it difficult to pass the state safety inspection and considering just driving it down to the local scrapper. Having seen this post I might decide to tear it apart and just polish up the connections and see if it works again.

Kirk

No, I can read just fine, thanks. What I read is somebody who weeps like an orphan when things don't run forever for free, and never misses a chance to look for malfeasance on somebody else's part. It's usually the case with your complaints that you are the only person that has ever been wronged in such a fashion, and then (like now) you take offense and get out your thesaurus to express your contempt for anyone who dares to suggest that maybe you're making a mountain out of a molehill. Give it a rest, man.

I have yet to see a transmission lock up on the road due to wiring failure . Even when driven to the point they grenade ,they still seldom lock up . Electrical parts fail, even new parts fail. But newer vehicles sure beat the old ones. Tune ups, plugs and points every thrty thousand miles . Baby sitting car while it warms up in winter. REACH in hit the key ,or better yet, hit remote start and wait for nice warm car .

If you lost a plug on a 1995 Ford it wasn't Ford's fault.

Lou, I have a 2000 Chevy field truck that does the same thing. Where exactly is this block or connector or whatever located? I'd like to take a look at mine.

I bought a 2008 Kia Sedona thinking for the price ($10,000 in 2010) I couldn't get hurt if it turned into a POS. It now has 152,000 miles and the only "repair" in all those miles was a new rear rotor on one side when the wheel bearing started leaking grease and a new idler pulley on the serpentine belt. Still has the original brakes - front and rear, and have never paid for an alignment. At 170,000 we plan on trading it. Just ran an oil analysis with Blackstone labs, they say the engine is perfect in terms of oil condition (not getting hot), metal content and water/antifreeze. Even the paint looks good considering the beating it takes on gravel roads.

Dang, two repairs in 25 years, that's pretty crappy quality

Had the same problem on my 97 chevy. Replaced with one from sturdevents that lasted 5 months. Replaced with one from checkers that lasted 6 months. Bought a old stock GM off ebay and has been fine for 6 years now. (knock on wood)

Lou,
I have a 2007 GMC. Had to replace the key part of switch. I had too many keys on key chain, my fault.

I'll keep you in mind if I have to replace the wiring harness. Not looking forward to that. I did have dealer replace the key part, $150.

I did find out from dealer if you need a replacement key, they can use VIN# and make you a new one, $35. My keys seem to wear out fast. A locksmith couldn't make a good copy using a bad key.
George

UAfitter,
You read into things what you want to read into things. My written words have no inflection or feelings in them, just what you would feel when reading them or those pesky little voices in your head tells you what I feel.. I have found over my 80 yrs you can't educate fools. I can tell you if I were to post THE LORDS PRAYER, word for word, posters like you would find fault 9 times out of 10.

Just because my intelligence rates higher than yours, there's no need for you to complain on my writings. I have no thesaurus as a writing defense, it is all what it is. I have no sympathy for guys like you who never understand anything,on any subject. For me to have contempt for someone like you would mean I would have to know you, and I will not waste my time trying to see what you are in a person. I realize you will never recognize a SUPERIOR level of intelligence,no matter how hard you try. It's just not in you. You would rather try to diminish someone else for you to elevate your feelings about yourself.When my parents were alive, they taught me ignorance is bliss, and you are one of the most blissful person I have had the displeasure of corresponding to. It also appears to me that you would try and discredit any of my posts,just to suit your warped needs. Narcissistic people such as your replies indicate THE NEED TO EXPOUND ON YOUR WRITINGS CONCERNING ME IS JUST WHAT IT IS,NARCISSISTIC OPINIONS.

It seems to any intelligent person GM should have come up with a updated part for this problem, as it even goes into the newer 2015 vehicles with the same problem. Even Googling this vehicle problem, I am not the only one who has had it happen, more than once,and each time it was replaced only to fail again in a shorter time frame than ours.SO they all must be wrong,and in need of your expertise to tell them not to make a mountain out of a molehill, you will be busy writing that to them if you will Google the problem and tell them that very sage advice, and also their cry-babies.So you give it a rest,and mind your manners,if you were taught any that stuck.This reply also is meant for Bobby .

LOU