2003 Silverado crew cab electrical problems

[Longhorn4x4]

My 2003 3500 Silverado 3500 LT crew cab has had a couple of minor electrical gremlins that I've hunted off and on for the two years I've had it.

When I bought the truck, the power extend and defrost on the mirrors was inop. I am replacing the mirrors, so I was not worried about it. The adjustment worked fine.

The passenger side front window would occasionally not work, from either switch.

About 6 months ago, the driver's seat heater suddenly started shutting off after maybe a minute or two.

So, Friday, I nailed the gas pretty hard (it's an 8.1L Allison dooley) as I was pulling out of a side street. It spun the tires hard. All of the sudden, the ABS light came on (given the tire spin, not a huge surprise), the driver's door open warning appeared in the message center, and a couple of other lights came on. All the warning lights and messages went back off a few seconds later.

However, now none of the power windows work at all, none of the power door locks work with the master switch, the seat heater does not work at all, the power mirrors will not adjust, the master power window switch does not illuminate, the RAP (retained accessory power) function does not work, and the dome lights do not come one when you enter the truck after it has been sitting.

Now, the auto lock and auto unlock works normally, the remote locks and unlocks the doors normally, if you open the door after driving, the dome lights illuminate.

I have tested all the fuses and circuit breakers I can find, in the driver's side dash panel, and under the hood in the fuse/relay box. It acts as though there is no power in the driver's door, and it thinks the door opens as soon as the ignition is turned off.

I'm evidently not seeing a fuse, a circuit breaker, a fusible link, or a relay somewhere.

Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

[WigglesTheHoly]

Did you check the connections of the harnesses? I'd check every harness connection. Also check things with a volt meter. Also check your door jam loom to see if it's been crimped to hell at some point and you have some busted wires. Test light would be handy as well.

[Longhorn4x4]

Turns out the jack leg who wired in some aftermarket power extending mirrors made a mess of the job. His poor wiring caused the power window switch in the driver's door to damned near burst into flames.

I managed to find a company with a new GM switch in stock, and bought that. I ripped out the harness he added in, I still need to replace a couple of butt splices with soldered joints and heat shrink insulation.

I also replaced the mirrors with a set of Spyderco manual extend towing mirrors. Those mirrors were a direct plug and play installation. The turn signals and power functions work, I guess we'll see about the heaters in the mirrors, I suppose they work with one of the defroster functions. The only thing I don't like is that the angle of the driver's side mirror and passenger side mirror is different. Just put them on today. When I get time, I'll pull the covers and see if I can adjust the pivot.

At this point, the only problem left in that area is the seat heater for the driver's seat shuts off after about 30 seconds. From what I've read, the heat element is probably bad.

[1FastBrick]

Glad you got it fixed. The heated seat issue is a common thing with the seat elements.

[Longhorn4x4]

Unfortunately, it is.

[69gmcc10]

check out post number 17 on my 03 silverado sig about my heated seat. They usually burn up like in that post. Got my Dorman replacement on rockauto.com for a good price.

[Longhorn4x4]

Originally Posted by 69gmcc10

check out post number 17 on my 03 silverado sig about my heated seat. They usually burn up like in that post. Got my Dorman replacement on rockauto.com for a good price.

Yeah, I'll probably put in a new GM part, I may even replace the seat cover at the same time. After I put on a set of nerf/step bars, so that I can stop sliding across the bolster.

Currently, the next step is new Taylor plug wires, and new AC Delco Professional plugs. I put some Champion plugs in a while back, but I've never been happy with the idle quality, and now I've got a lite miss/pop under throttle.

[69gmcc10]

The leather on my seat back was just fine so l left it alone, but the bottom is due to be replaced.

Good looking truck!

[Longhorn4x4]

Thanks. I love this truck, it's been a great one, the 8.1L is the ticket. It's probably going to get a set of electric fans, and a new set of headers and 3" dual exhaust.

I just got the matching rear wheels, the ones in the picture have rivets, they're not supposed to. The 19.5" wheel upgrade is the ticket, and so are the PowerStop severe duty brakes. It also got a set of towing mirrors after that picture, the ones in the picture were crap.

I'm looking for a set of step/nerf bars that bolt to the body mounts or the frame, not the rocker panels. I'd like to have a set of wheel to wheel bars with three steps per side.