1994 Chevrolet Pickup Problems

What owners report

Owners of this model year most often describe windshield wipers that stop or work only intermittently, often during rain, fog or humid weather. Many of these complaints also say a wiper recall did not include their vehicle, and some describe the wipers recovering after minutes or only after the wiper motor is struck. Seat, fuel-system and brake-light complaints appear in the sample but far less often.

1. 1
   Visibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)

   Intermittent windshield wiper failure

   • 27 complaints (47%)
   • median 73,000 mi at 10.0 yrs old (7 state mileage, few)
   • 1 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 1997–2008

   Owners describe wipers that stop, or fail to run, intermittently, sometimes for several minutes before they recover on their own. Some say they had to strike the wiper motor by hand or start the wipers manually to get them moving. According to complaints, the dealer replaced the wiper motor in some cases, but the wipers remained intermittent. Where mileage is given, reports range from 46,368 to 120,000 miles, and many mention rain, fog or humid weather.

   What to check: Run the wipers in every setting for several minutes, including in light rain or with a wet windshield, and ask the seller whether the wiper motor or relay was replaced and whether the intermittent operation returned.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Current recall 98v150001 for GM/Chevrolet, my veh has same problem of windshield wipers working intermittenly. I believe the same components are used on my vehicle as on the recalled ones. Dangerous problem, the wipers sometimes do not come on when switched on.”

   NHTSA complaint #733219, filed 2000-10

   “Complaint received via e-mail. I have a 1994 Chevrolet Pickup, the windshield wipers have stopped several times while I was driving in the rain. I heard through a friend that there was a recall for my type of truck. This prompted me to come to this site and look it up. I found a recall with campaign id number 03v159000. I then called a local dealer and after giving my VIN #, I was told that there were no open campaigns on this vehicle. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10101793, filed 2004-11
2. 2
   Visibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)

   Wiper recall did not cover some vehicles

   • 17 complaints (29%)
   • median 82,500 mi at 10.1 yrs old (4 state mileage, few)
   • 1 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 1999–2008

   Owners say a recall existed for a similar wiper failure, but their vehicle was excluded, often because of its VIN or build site. According to complaints, dealers would not repair the wipers under the recall, and some owners paid for new wipers or were told there was no open campaign. Some ask why coverage did not extend to other vehicles with the same parts. Only a few of these complaints state mileage, which ranges from 70,000 to 120,000 miles.

   What to check: Look up the VIN in the official recall lookup and ask a dealer whether any campaign or service bulletin covers the wiper system. Keep written records of any repair a dealer declines because of recall coverage.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Gm had a recall for the failure of the electronic control unit of the wipers on their suburbans, but it did not include pick up trucks. I personally know of 3 other people who have had the same exact failure of this component. I have contacted the GM corporation without any return other than the recall did not include pickups . Don't figure...is the same kind of vehicle with same component failure. I was fortunate in my small accident. I received minimal damage due to hitting a curb and blowing out a tire. …”

   NHTSA complaint #759461, filed 2002-03

   “Windshield wiper motor relay failure mutiple times. The most recent failure was on march 6, 2001 occurring in a major rainstorm on intersate 40 in arizona at the time of the failure, my wife was with me. The rain was so intense it almost caused me to crash as I could not see through the windshield. I previously contated Chevrolet who admitted there was a problem with the windshield wiper motors. There was also a safety recall reported, however, my truck was not built at a certain site so it did not qualify. …”

   NHTSA complaint #742101, filed 2001-03

Buying note. Buyers considering this model year should run the wipers at every speed, including in rain, and ask whether the wiper motor or relay has been repaired. Owners should check recall status by VIN, since complaints describe vehicles excluded from the wiper recall.

Summary written with AI from a sample of 38 NHTSA complaints for this model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first), then checked automatically against the source records. Where a problem shows a complaint count, every complaint for this model year was matched with fixed keyword rules (written with AI and tested against the sample), and the mileage, age and repair figures are calculated from those complaints; owners' figures are as stated, not verified. Other counts refer to the sample. The excerpts come from NHTSA's public complaint records and are unverified; capitalisation is normalised, NHTSA staff notes are removed, and shortened text ends with “…”. Something wrong? Request a correction.