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If someone figures this one out I'll be blown away...

Avery4jc

Avery4jc

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Ok so here's the deal, my k3500 is beginning to get on my nerves. It seems like every time I turn around I'm replacing parts to keep it going... I went through months and months messing with the steering and after a ton of time and about $500 it's in good shape... shortly after my starter decides to take a dump so $140 and an evening later it'll start again... I bent the hitch... AGAIN... so lots of time and work later I have a reinforced frame/hitch with bracing through the frame to keep it all in place...
The whole while cosmetic stuff is falling apart... paint is chipping, the driver's side mirror is shaking like crazy which is pretty dang distracting/annoying while going down the freeway, the driver's door handle decided to come apart and the passenger rear door lock took a dump... OH and yeah the windows only work from the driver's controls! :crazy:
Just to top it off summer is fast approacing and the the only part of the HVAC that remotely works is the heat.


Soooo all that to say I had icing on the cake this past week which brings me to my question...



With the headlight switch off both turn signals work BUT when you hit the brakes all the lights on the dash flash...

With the headlights on the left turn signal works but when you do the right turn signal it clicks once then freezes...

Forget the hazzards the whole dang truck starts flashing inside and out!

And just my luck the brake controller took a dump this morning and won't come on anymore....



Obviously I have some crazy electrical issues going on here and I'm afraid it might have something to do with my computer because I disconnected the battery the other night while putting the starter in and when I hooked it back up all my problems went away for about a day but now they're all back. Any ideas on this nightmare of a truck? Before any one asks all the bulbs are good so I know it's not that...
 
These trucks are notorious for having weird electrical issues due to bad battery cables/grounds. Check both your hot and ground cables on the batt. They have a history of corroding inside and not showing any outward signs of deterioration
 
Check out the wiring for your trailer connector, maybe something is shorted back there.
 
Replace your multi function switch in the steering column. It is shorting out through circuits that shouldn't be powered causing all your nifty flashing. I had the same issue with my 96 K1500
 
You gots a demon in there. Paint a pentagram on the hood, and the sacrifice a goat on the pentagram.:haha:
 
resurrected_jimmy said:
These trucks are notorious for having weird electrical issues due to bad battery cables/grounds. Check both your hot and ground cables on the batt. They have a history of corroding inside and not showing any outward signs of deterioration
Click to expand...

Good thinking I'll give them a closer look...

USSkoval said:
Check out the wiring for your trailer connector, maybe something is shorted back there.
Click to expand...

Also a good idea... I was just back there fixing the hitch and I thought I did a good job of securing the wiring and since this has been happening long before I messed with the hitch I don't think I messed anything up but it's worth a look...

blazin_blazer said:
what about the flasher plugged into the fuse block, have you changed it out to see if anything changes?
Click to expand...

I thought about that but with the headlights off the turn signals work fine (the dash lights flash when you hit the brakes but that's another deal) so if the flasher was bad it wouldn't matter how stuff was set it wouldn't work... at least I think. :confused: :D

Russell said:
Replace your multi function switch in the steering column. It is shorting out through circuits that shouldn't be powered causing all your nifty flashing. I had the same issue with my 96 K1500
Click to expand...

This sounds promising... I'll look into it.


plumber mike said:
Disconnect the battery.Reconnect.Take it down and trade it off on that Dodge you wanted:haha:
Click to expand...

Ooooo don't tempt me... I drove by that lot the other day and it's still sitting there.

throttleissues said:
You gots a demon in there. Paint a pentagram on the hood, and the sacrifice a goat on the pentagram.:haha:
Click to expand...

That's basically the same conclusion I've come to... :)
 
Avery4jc said:
Ooooo don't tempt me... I drove by that lot the other day and it's still sitting there.
Click to expand...

BUT, before you do that, bring it by my house & we'll trade front axles.

That sounds like the perfect plan.

Later,
Buddy
 
Yes it is, but it is tied into your brakes, as well as a few other systems and could be causing the symptoms you are seeing. I would rule out everything else before spending the cash, but it sure sounds like the cause.
 
True... I'll try to get the brake controller going again and check my battery cables before I go dropping that kind of money but if it's a switch why would it temporarily get better after disconnecting the battery? That's the part that's stumping me...
 
check your turn signal bulbs, specifically the rear ones. occaisionally when a bulb blows the filament will short to ground causing the circuit to back feed. seen this many times, when you step on the brake the dash lights come on, one turn signal will flash but the other won't. the lamp may still light but won't flash. cheap place to start anyway...
 
Russell said:
Replace your multi function switch in the steering column. It is shorting out through circuits that shouldn't be powered causing all your nifty flashing. I had the same issue with my 96 K1500
Click to expand...


Its this, he's right. Our burb did similar things. When they took it out, it looked like it had been burned, it literally had burn marks on it :eek1:
 
I had a VERY similiar problem years ago and it turned out to be a bad light bulb. The crazy thing is that ALL the bulbs worked when i checked them but i started replacing one bulb at a time and finally thr problem went away. It was hard to believe that all the bulbs could work but after replacing a bunch the problem was gone so the last bulb i had replaced i reinstalled it and my problem was back even though the bulbed worked. :crazy: Install the new bulb problem gone, install the old bulb problem back. :crazy: Crazy i tell you but it is true and still hard to believe.

The other thing, i have seen it in the past and i just recently had it happen again where the directional flasher went bad and when i would turn on the right signal the dash light would flash normal for about 3 times then started flashing quickly, replaced the flasher and the problem was fixed. I think in your case i would replace the flasher first then start replacing bulbs one at a time.
 
What about the welding you did on the frame? Was the battery disconnected? Maybe if fried the computer somehow.
 
The PCM has nothing to do with the signal lights and stuff in this body style of truck. The BCM was introduced with the new body style.

Avery, check out rockauto.com, with a 10% discount code they had the best price on that switch that I could find.

At least your switch doesn't have issues with the horn circuit just yet, mine used to honk at random when you'd turn the steering wheel, and my signal lights were shorting out just enough to make my clicker work, but not enough for the turn signal lights to come on. That was a VERY annoying 3 hr drive haha
 
i second, third or whatever the multifunction switch. ive replaced so many of those in the shop i lost count. and the majority had burn marks at the terminal connectors
 
Another note on ours. our trailer ALWAYS blew the suburban turn signal fuses. We just kept replacing them. Turns out there was water in the T connector behind the hitch. Cleaned it out,got a new trailer harness, no more problems. Check that after you replace the mulitifunction to make sure its clean.
 
I would look at ther rear lights, check your ground wire's, mine did this and it was a simple ground wire that broke off, if all grounds are ok then look in the colum. Mine was every time i would hit the brakes my dashj lights would come on and when i turn on head lights I wouldnt have any blinkers. it amazing what a ground wire will do.
 
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