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Chevy S10 Owner Reviews
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BTW: Our '94 4-cylinder Automatic S-10 2WD has had zero problems other than this one and the seat belt inertia locks that just quit working. With over 77K on it we still pull down over 27mpg, have had no traction problems in nasty winter driving with the Tiger Paws that now have over 80K on them (on another S-10) and still look pretty safe! Yeah, it rattles a little and rides rough - I bought a pick-up not a luxury sedan! For the under 10K price-tag 6 years ago this has been a very good vehicle...
THE WIPER PROBLEM
About the time the original 36,000 mile warrantee ran out on our ’94 S-10 Pick-up we started to have intermittent problems
with the windshield wipers. They would either refuse to work or stop working, usually in warm weather or after the
temperature warmed-up under the hood in colder weather.
I checked GM Safety recalls and found nothing and, eventually, inquired of my dealer’s service department on a couple
different occasions to see if GM was aware of this problem and if they would offer to fix it - no such luck!
I knew the Wiper Motor Assembly would be an expensive part, so we limped along for the better part of 3 years with
unreliable wipers on the truck. I found that I could wiggle the connector on the motor and get the wipers working again most of
the time if I was willing to get out in the rain - for my wife and daughter, who also drive the S-10, I treated the windshield to a
frequent coating of Rain-X. One of the first things I looked at when we bought our ’98 S-10 2 years ago was the wiper motor
- it had the same configuration but a different part number which made me even more suspicious that the ’94 motor had some
kind of design defect.
THE CAUSE
Just this past week I decided that I was going to resolve the problem with the ’94 once and for all. I removed the Wiper Motor
Assemblies from both trucks and found that the ’98 Assembly worked fine on the ’94 but the ’94 Motor demonstrated the
same problem on the ’98 - if I wiggled the harness plugged into the ’94 Motor it would work sometimes on either truck. I
removed the cover on the ’94 Motor Assembly and found that the male connector body is molded-into the Motor Circuit
Board Assembly - the only thing holding it to the Motor Assembly is the plastic cover attached by 3 Torx screws.
I couldn’t see anything obviously wrong so I set the thing aside and went to my local Advance Auto Parts store to see if I could
buy a new Wiper Motor Assembly for a reasonable price. They listed a rebuilt Wiper Motor Assembly at $25.00 + $15.00
core charge, which seemed pretty reasonable, but when the counterman brought the motor out and we opened it to make sure
it was OK, I found that it did not include the Connector and Circuit Board Assembly! I was pretty sure the problem was in the
Connector and Circuit Board so I told the counterman at Advance "No Thanks" and went home for a closer look. Before I left
the store, though, I sneaked a peak at the computer terminal screen and noticed that they also listed a Delco Wiper Motor
Assembly at $123.00! I didn’t feel so bad about the money I had spent on all that Rain-X over the past few years
When I got home I sat down with the old ’94 Wiper Motor and removed the Connector and Circuit Board Assembly. Now,
looking really close at the board in the area of the Connector, I could see that the solder was cracked around 4 of the 5
connector pins where they were soldered to the Circuit Board pads - AHA!
I got out my trusty soldering iron (I’m a mechanic, not a sparky! I hate sniffing the smoke from burning solder flux and burning
my fingers with the soldering iron. But I learned in soldering class that "a good mechanical joint makes a good solder joint" and
it was pretty clear the Connector on that Motor board had neither!). I re-heated each of the five solder joints where the
connector pins attached to the Circuit Board until the pins were hot enough to flow solder on the opposite side of each pin to
the soldering iron, and ended-up with 5 nice, shiny, solder joints with no gaps or cracks around the pins. When I plugged the
Motor in to the Harness it worked perfectly! I wiggled the Connector and it no longer seems to have any effect on the
operation of the Motor! VIOLA! Two cents worth of electricity and a penny’s worth of solder seems to have done the trick!
My theory is that the soldering machine that assembled the Wiper Motor Circuit Board Assembly for the ’94 S-10 was not
set-up properly to get a good solder joint on the heavy connector pins. It would take a lot more power to heat the heavy pins
than the small electrical components on the Circuit Board and, because the connector pins did not get hot enough during the
soldering operation, they ended-up with "cold" solder joints that cracked during the first 3 years of the truck’s life. The Motor
Assemblies at Advance Auto Parts are cheap because GM Dealers have been replacing Motor Assemblies like hot-cakes with
those $123 Delco parts, and Delco is wholesaling the Motors to the rebuilder for next-to-nothing. Unfortunately, the rebuilt
Motor won’t fix your Wipers if you have the same problem I had, and you’ll be doing a lot of nasty, unnecessary work by
removing and replacing the whole motor.
HERE’S WHAT TO DO
· DO NOT attempt to remove the whole Wiper Motor Assembly from your S-10! It is very difficult to remove the plastic cowl
vent from the car to get at the nut that attaches the Motor shaft to the Wiper Arms and you do not need to do it.
· Remove the Connector from the Wiper Motor by lifting the latch on top of the Connector and gently pulling the connector out
of the Wiper Motor to the left.
· Remove the three Torx screws that hold the black plastic cover on the Wiper Motor Assembly and pop the cover off.
· The only thing holding the Circuit Board and Connector Assembly in place now is the snug fit between the edges of the
Circuit Board and the Motor Housing. You will see about 4 spots around the periphery of the board where they have provided
a small notch for a screwdriver blade to pry the Circuit Board away from the motor. Pry gently at each spot until the Circuit
Board pops out and carefully slide it down and forward away from the motor.
· Look carefully at the 5 spots where the Connector pins solder to the board - if you have "cold" solder joints there you may
need to look real close to see the cracks in the solder around the pins or maybe even use a magnifying glass.
· Now sit down with a small soldering iron (mine has about a ¼-inch tip - you don’t want to use a Wood-burning tool and a
tiny instrument soldering iron might not get the pins hot enough) and heat each pin ‘til you see the solder on the Circuit Board
pad "sag" around the pin and the crack disappears. I added a little bit of solder to each joint for good measure - just don’t
"bridge" the space between copper traces on the board or you’ll end-up with a short!
When you put it all back together you should have a more reliable Wiper system on your S-10. It takes a half-hour. costs
almost nothing, and might even work on other GM cars with Wiper problems.
If it works for you send me an E-mail and let me know!
Much thanks again for saving me the bucks.
I love my truck, have had some minor repairs, mostly maint, radiator, fuel pump, alternator etc.
Biggest complaint is electrical (power windows, gauge quirks) but overall a GREAT truck. Bought new, and hubby always good about changing the oil, etc. Still has lots of giddyup. My truck has been there, done that, and will do it again. Is now a challenge to see how many miles I can go. Dog owns the ext cab...no third door back then!
I'm looking to replace my old V6 Ranger with a new S10 or Ranger, probably a 4cyl for better fuel economy. A new 2.3L OHC engine will be available in the 2001 Ranger this winter, I wonder if Chevy will counter with their 2.2 OHC.
Thanks for any info.
weather stripping all go out under warranty, along with three factory recals. Third year model -- What's up Chevy?
I had perfectly maintained this vehicle, having full maintainence records. The Chevy dealer offered no partial Goodwill credit on the transmission. GM Corporate did not even bother replying to my follow up letter. GM seems to have no professionalism, and seems not to care about
maintaining customers whatsoever. It makes me depressed to say, but buy a Toyota and have some piece of mind
4.0 V6 207 HP engine,standard 4 doors on supercab along with standard 4 wheel abs.Nice truck I though about a 2000 ZR2 great rebates and 0% financing for 5 years up here in Boston,but I'm not a big fan of the Chevy
If you take care of a Chevy, it'll last forever... Be proud to own an American-made, American-company owned vehicle.
Jeff
albeit with a Cherokee and power windows.
First look at the door panel. The handle, and any other obvious fastners will have to come off. Then you should be able to "pop" the panel loose around the outside. Pick a corner and work in both directions, slowly and carefully. It pops out, it will pop back in.
The window mechanism uses some parts that are metal and some that are plastic/nylon. The latter wear out and must be replaced. For an electric opener this means buying a $300 motor because a $2.50 nylon wheel has worn down. Hopefully yours will be cheaper.
If you do not already own a Haynes manual for your vehicle I would strongly recommend it.
Good luck!
Front Porch Philosopher
SUV, Pickups & Aftermarket and Accessories Host
However, the 98 s-10 4x4 LS ext. cab is a different story. 3.73 limited slip RE, all options, towing prep, etc... This truck is a joke. The seat handle breaks, door seals fail, 4x4 switch burns out, electrical problems, the list goes on and on. -- And, this truck has been treated like a baby (the 85 is the work truck), and has only about 15k year miles on it. Can GM no longer produce long lasting products, or are all car companies getting this cheap?
Vince the 5.3 wouldnt fit in the S-10.
To put in pics
Ryan
when I can, and learn from the rest of you...
I have a '97 S-10 LS SB, Metallic Beige in color,
with the 2.2liter/5-speed manual package, alloys,
A/C, but no fancy door locks or power windows/
power mirrors, no rear slider window...a pretty
bare-bones vehicle. It currently has 119,000
miles on it, and the only thing that's been
done to it is oil changes every 3-4000 miles,
chassis lubes, new Bosch plugs, and a set
of Cooper tires (the Uniroyals lasted 92K).
I put 600 miles minimum per week on this truck,
and it never quits. I cross over the Blue Ridge
twice a day on my commute, and the motor could
use a few more horses, but I can maintain 60mph
in 4th gear going uphill. Eight bags of mulch
in the bed gives me all the traction I need
during the winter, 'cause if I can't get out
of the driveway, I'm not going to work anyway.
I'm starting to hear a 'tink-tink-tink' sound
coming from what sounds like the driveshaft...
I'm hoping it's nothing more than a universal...
of course, it had to happen when the weather
starts turing colder...nothing like crawling
around on a cold garage floor...
I drove it to Chicago last June...it averages
around 27-28 mpg from day to day, and close
to 30mpg on the highway...not bad...
I've seen some other posts from folks who've
had bad luck with their trucks, and I think
that's all it is...bad luck. Before I bought
the Chevy, I had an '89 Mazda B2200 that I
put 225,000 miles on, and never did anything
to that one except oil, brakes, belts and hoses.
And prior to that, I had a '74 Camaro that I
put 175,000 miles on it's motor before having
it and the tranny rebuilt, and then drove it
around for another 100,000...I don't think that
it's all in how you take care of things, but
it can't hurt...
Thanks for listening...this place looks like fun.
The average mpg is about 22-23. Replaced the water pump and engine seal under warranty. The passenger door cannot be locked from the inside, but can be locked from the outside with the key. Overall satisfaction is pretty good.
I just purchased a 2001 Chevy S-10 4x4. This is
my first truck, and I was wondering about
"off-roading" in it.
I took it on some muddy trails as soon as I got
it, and someone "yelled" at me, stating that
1) the S-10 really shouldn't be taken off-road
unless you really need to, because it's not a
"true" 4x4, like a F150 or Sierra and
2) you should definitely stay on paved roads for
the first couple of thousand miles, as going
off-road immediately can damage the truck
Any thoughts?
Ryan
Moral of the story? Nothing is predictable...
Sorry to hear about the trouble with your S10. None of us want, or expect, to have that kind of trouble with their trucks. I know a co-worker who is having some of the same frustrations with his truck as you are with yours. He bought a 2000 Tacoma and has recently had his rear axle replaced along with one half of his rear suspension. Add to that a faulty electrical system that has left him stranded on two occasions, and, well, you can see that he is not a happy camper...
Ryan