'98 chevy 1500

~SwampRAT~ · July 01, 2011, 03:33:04 AM

so even tho im a ford man thru and thru, i got an awesome deal on this truck and couldnt pass it up. its a 1998 chevy 1500 2wd short bed with extended cab. its got the 350 vortec in it and it runs great. the truck itself has 250k miles on it, but the motor is at about 80k. anyways, there are minor problems with the interior. the wipers dont seem to work correct. you can turn them on and they will work, but the delay only works sometimes, and when you turn them off, sometimes they will go down and stay there like they are supposed to, but usually, they just go for a few min, then stop in random spots. sometimes takes me 20 min to get them in the right position. not only that, but the gas gauge doesnt work, sometimes it reads full, sometimes it reads empty, sometimes it will read full and go right to empty, lol. other than that, the gauges all seem to work correctly. now my suspicion here, is that the sending unit probably needs to be changed for the gas gauge, and as far as the wipers, im thinking its somewhere in the steering column, and ill probably be better off changing the whole column rather than ripping it apart and fixing it. now like i said in the beginning of this post, im a ford man, and im very new to diagonosing chevy problems, and extremely new to working on something so new. am i right in my assumptions, or are there other things i should look into? thanks for the help in advance! ill post pics of the truck too

Captn. J · July 01, 2011, 04:13:48 AM

for the wipers maybe bad relay or switch ... your call . for gas gauge it can be bad grounds or sender either way.

btw clean truck

KORNBREAD · July 01, 2011, 04:36:31 AM

yup the gas gauge ground on these are hugely notorious for drying and cracking and going bad. If the ground is good then maybe the steeper motor for the fuel gauge is going out. if thats fine and the rest of the cluster is fine, id bet the float in the tank is acting up. as for the wiper switch that's another annoying problem. 88 and up all have that same problem pretty much. then the left tun signal will start sticking and your gonna have to flick it back up by hand. tearing the column down is not that bad. very time consuming though and alot of small clips and small parts. a lot of guys will just change out columns but when that one starts acting up ( and it will eventually) your gonna have to fix it again. you can find how-to's on line on tearing that column down. ....and welcome to the good side tony

KORNBREAD · July 01, 2011, 04:51:00 AM

OMG I SEE THE FORD IN THE BACKGROUND!!! THE REST OF MY WEEK JUST GOT BETTER LOL.

~SwampRAT~ · July 01, 2011, 06:17:28 AM

thanks guys, im probably just going to swap out the column. seems like a better idea. i thoguht about the ground but havent gotten under there to check it out yet. the ford is looking much better now than it does in that pic, got the body lift off of the bed, got the good fenders on, and changed the tranny fluid...shes all cleaned up and im looking for a cab.

solid 12 · July 01, 2011, 01:41:03 PM

I have a 98 k 1500 and my wipers would act up too, there is a power board on the wiper motor that goes bad..once u take off the cover to the wiper motor its right there..i think it was @ $30 at advanced auto

~SwampRAT~ · August 26, 2011, 11:56:49 PM

Quote from: solid 12 on July 01, 2011, 01:41:03 PM
I have a 98 k 1500 and my wipers would act up too, there is a power board on the wiper motor that goes bad..once u take off the cover to the wiper motor its right there..i think it was @ $30 at advanced auto

FINALLY splurged and got me that circuit board. glad you told me about this cause it worked! thanks again. now i just need to get back there and check out the sending unit. hopefully that will be an easy fix too cause i cant afford a new sending unit.....

Chevy Racer · August 26, 2011, 11:59:27 PM

Quote from: solid 12 on July 01, 2011, 01:41:03 PM
I have a 98 k 1500 and my wipers would act up too, there is a power board on the wiper motor that goes bad..once u take off the cover to the wiper motor its right there..i think it was @ $30 at advanced auto

I just changed one of these on my truck too. LOL

camok10 · August 27, 2011, 11:16:20 PM

Quote from: Chevy Racer on August 26, 2011, 11:59:27 PM
Quote from: solid 12 on July 01, 2011, 01:41:03 PM
I have a 98 k 1500 and my wipers would act up too, there is a power board on the wiper motor that goes bad..once u take off the cover to the wiper motor its right there..i think it was @ $30 at advanced auto
I just changed one of these on my truck too. LOL

me too but i had no high or delay just low and some time's nothing

as for the gauge the way it read's full and empty id lean toward sending unit or gage it self because if it was a gound it would just always read full.

OHEARN.2012 · August 28, 2011, 01:33:29 AM

check your ground if it aint the ground id just leave it for now if your down on cash just fill your tank set your trip and see wat ur mpg is and run off ur trip and later on down the road change it when ya get some money they really aint a hard fix i did mine today in less then 3 hours pull box and there ya go

~SwampRAT~ · August 28, 2011, 01:09:17 PM

ya, ive been doing the trip and mileage thing for a few months now, just wanna get it fixed.

Camok10 - ive been paying attention to it lately, and for the most part its always full. from time to time it goes down to Empty but it always seems to go back to Full. hopefully ill get lucky and its the ground after all!

~SwampRAT~ · August 28, 2011, 03:25:44 PM

here's another thing. ever since i've gotten the truck, the high beams have been sketchy as well. sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. ever since i changed the pulse board for the wipers, they have worked. does the pulse board have anything to do with the high beam and low beam selector or is this just a coincidence?

Cannaert · August 28, 2011, 09:49:11 PM

I had the same issue on my 94 S-10. The bad pulse in that would not let the Highs work some times and it would also mess with the cruse control. It was just a very weird thing that the bad pulse boards caused

~SwampRAT~ · August 29, 2011, 04:25:01 PM

Quote from: Cannaert on August 28, 2011, 09:49:11 PM
I had the same issue on my 94 S-10. The bad pulse in that would not let the Highs work some times and it would also mess with the cruse control. It was just a very weird thing that the bad pulse boards caused

wow...so after i read your comment from last night, i checked it out and my cruise control works now too.....pretty damn good results for the $30 it cost me...

Eroq · September 01, 2011, 02:16:41 AM

Fuel gauge potentiometer is notorious for going bad in 98+ trucks especially around 2000 they were JUNK! Tons of electrical issues hit a dealer and get a new one

solid 12 · September 01, 2011, 03:33:04 AM

Quote from: ~SwampRAT~ on August 26, 2011, 11:56:49 PM
Quote from: solid 12 on July 01, 2011, 01:41:03 PM
I have a 98 k 1500 and my wipers would act up too, there is a power board on the wiper motor that goes bad..once u take off the cover to the wiper motor its right there..i think it was @ $30 at advanced auto

FINALLY splurged and got me that circuit board. glad you told me about this cause it worked! thanks again. now i just need to get back there and check out the sending unit. hopefully that will be an easy fix too cause i cant afford a new sending unit.....

No problem man! Glad i was able to help out