heat and lights not working and smoke coming out of light switch

Asked by Alaskachick Aug 07, 2014 at 09:58 PM about the 1991 GMC Sierra 1500 K1500 4WD Standard Cab SB

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Have a 4 wheel drive, 5.7motor unsure of it is a SB, LB,SLE or SLX, however I know it is a standard cab :)...Anyways the display for the heater started going out last week after the heat setting would freeze on whatever they were set too, then the problem seemed to resolve itself. Last night the display light went out except for the word "low" and the setting froze- I cannot get the heat to shut off. At the same time the lights stopped working. I was able to get the lights to barely work (very dimly) after toggling the switch off and on, then smoke started coming out of the light switch :( do I need to replace the circuit board? I am a single mother that just got back to work 2 weeks ago and cannot afford to pay to have this checked out...hopefully you have an answer for me PLEASE--

1 Answer

44,745

no money? that is the primary problem- and one I share with you- if something started burning, it means there is an electrical short somewhere around the switch- if you can handle it, look inside the dash and find the burned wire- the plastic coating should be melted, that is what was burning- it might be just a loose wire- if you don't see a burned wire then it is one of the switches that failed, either the climate control or the headlight switch- also look inside your fusebox and see if anything has gone awry- do you have a friend who is handy?

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