My truck slowly started getting worse. First, the dinging noise that your car makes qhen the keys are left in the ignition or if you leave your lights on, my truck would make this sound with no light on or key in ignition causing the battery to drain. Then the gauges started acting crazy, completely not working at times. Now my truck will not start, it turns over but something doesn't catch or fire. I have replaced the battery numerous times and the spark plugs are new.
The worst 1999 Chevrolet S10 problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Brakes35
- Seats33
- Body28
- Transmission28
- Airbags27
- Engine22
- Electrical19
- Fuel system11
- Suspension9
- Tires9
- Lights8
- Acceleration7
- Seat belts6
- Steering6
- Visibility6
- Wheels5
- Locks3
- Driver assistance1
Specific symptoms reported on the 1999 Chevrolet S10
ABS 11No deployment 11Door locks 7Stalling 6Ball joint 5Fire or smoke 5Fuel pump 5Loss of power 5Transmission failure 5
Recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Defect investigations
Tailgate support cables
General motors is conducting a special policy program for 903,464 owners of 2000 - 2003 model s/t vehicles through which owners may, at their option, either (1) periodically inspect the tailgate support cables installed in their vehicle and have the cables replaced if the cable coating exhibits any indications of damage or deterioration or (2) request that the tailgate support cables be replaced free of charge. Gm will honor all requests by owners who opt for replacement without question regardless of the condition or appearance of the cables. Gm has agreed to mail reminder notifications to owners every two years until the tailgate support cables have been replaced or until the vehicle is 12 years old.odi's investigation indicates that a significant majority of the reported complaints (87%) and injuries (94%) have occurred in my 2000 - 2003 s/t vehicles.
EA05008
Tailgate support cable(s) break
Odi is upgrading rq04-012 and opening an ea to investigate the tailgate support cables installed in 1998 - 2004 model year sonoma and s10 model vehicles.general motors is conducting recall campaign 04v‑129 to replace the tailgate support cables originally installed in certain model year 2000-2004 sierras and silverados and certain model year 2002-2004 avalanches and escalade exts (c/k models).general motors has advised odithat the tailgate support cables installed in the subject vehicles were fabricated using identical or similar sheathing material as the recalled vehicles.however,general motors has advised odi that sonoma and s-10 vehicles differ from c/k models in several ways: the vehicle height is lower; the tailgate displacement (drop) when not supported by the cables is smaller and the tailgate comes to rest at a less severe tip angle when not supported by the cables; the tailgate mass is smaller; and the size, payload, and usage characteristcis are less demanding than c/k model vehicles.gm also stated that sonoma and s-10 warranty claim information indicates a lower claim count and a lower claim rate than recalled c/k models.notwithstanding the above information, odi has received an additional 73 non-injury complaints and 10 injury complaints on the subject vehicles during rq04-012 (since november 2004 to date), which justifies opening an engineering analysis to further investigate this issue.
RQ04012
Post-collision fuel system integrity
Alleged that the fuel tank may be susceptible to puncture in certain crash modes
PE99009
Technical service bulletins for the 1999 Chevrolet S10 99
Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.
- Structure: body: tailgate
- This warranty administration bulletin provides information regarding the field action courtesy...
- Fuel system, gasoline
- Equipment: electrical: anti-theft devices
- Equipment
- This warranty administration bulletin provides policy information with the field action courtesy...
- Power train: automatic transmission: torque converter
- Equipment: electrical: anti-theft devices
- Power train
- Power train
1999 Chevrolet S10 fuel economy
Official EPA estimates in miles per gallon (MPGe for electric). Ranges cover trims that share the same engine.
| Engine | Drive | City | Highway | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.2L 4‑cyl | RWD | 17-20 | 24-26 | 19-23 |
| 4.3L 6‑cyl | RWD | 15 | 20-21 | 17-18 |
| 4.3L 6‑cyl | 4WD | 14-15 | 19-20 | 16-17 |
What 1999 Chevrolet S10 owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Key in lock have to move it back and front 7 times to get it in start and key comes out in start run ass lock.. I saw on the new that from 1997 to 2015 bad key switches.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 chevrolet s10. The contact stated that the ignition key failed to release from the ignition switch. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the ignition needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 150,000.
The problem usually appears in the summer, and rarely occurs during the winter. It started back in june of 2012, occurred several more times before the end of the year. Then starting in june of 2013, it began acting up an average of once a week until august. When it acts up, I will be driving, and the truck will buck a couple of times and the needle on the tach will jump up and down, and usually some of the warning lights will flash on and off and the doors try to unlock. It basically acts like the ignition is trying to shut off but gets flicked back into the on position. It will usually have a couple of episodes where it will do this for a few seconds and then run fine for a little while. When it does this, I usually have enough time to pull off to the side of the road to shut it off and let it sit for a while, but there have been several times where it dies immediately. When it dies, I have to leave it in neutral and try to coast until I can pull off onto the shoulder. If I try to restart it while in neutral, the steering column locks, which could cause me to veer off the road, and when the truck is off, the airbags won't deploy. I have taken it to 6 mechanics, and none of them have been able to find the problem. I have heard of other s-10 owners having the same trouble, and in light of the recently uncovered issues with gm ignition switches, I thought I should report my issue.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 chevrolet s10. The contact stated that he noticed that the spare tire became detached from the vehicle. The contact inspected the vehicle and found that the spare tire cable had fractured prematurely. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 60,620.
Yes my engine light came on and it said service engine soon. So I took it to a michanic and had it checked and it came up the transmission was having issues is there anything or help I can get to replace it?
I was moving my truck around in my drive way and the brakes failed and I hit the garage. After inspection I found that my brake line had rusted through and broke. This is the second time this has happened and I think it is ridiculous that something this important to the safety of a vehicle is this poorly made. Please look into this matter.
The steering column multifunction switch (hazard) has stopped functioning causing a cascade failure to braking system lights, dash lights and ignition.
The upper control arm on the driver's side failed due to corrosion. The truck was towed to the dealer who originally said that they would not work on the truck due to liability issues if something else failed. When I went in to pay the towing charge, a different service counter representative said that they would indeed work on the truck but only if I agreed to replace the upper and lower control arms on both sides. Total cost was estimated to be greater than $2500. I had the truck towed to an independent mechanic who replaced the driver's side upper control arm for $473.77. While the mechanic was backing the truck out of the garage after the repair, a section of brake line failed due to corrosion (see separate complaint.)
A brake line failed in a parking lot as I was backing out of a parking space. The dealer said the line was corroded and spliced in a compression fitting at a cost of $222.50. Since then, there have been 2 other failures of brake lines due to corrosion. The second failure, I replaced about 10 ft of brake line myself. The 3rd brake line failure occurred while an independent mechanic was fixing a broken upper control arm that had failed due to (wow) corrosion.
Compare the 1999 Chevrolet S10
Other model years
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Questions about the 1999 Chevrolet S10
Is the 1999 Chevrolet S10 reliable?
Owners have filed 231 complaints about the 1999 Chevrolet S10, 11.0 times a typical S10 model year.
What is the most common problem with the 1999 Chevrolet S10?
Brakes, with 35 complaints, typically around 68,276 miles. Next is seats (33).
How many recalls does the 1999 Chevrolet S10 have?
No recalls on record.
What year does the Chevrolet S10 have bad brakes?
The Chevrolet S10 model years with the most brakes complaints are 1994 (532 complaints), 1995 (320 complaints) and 1996 (219 complaints).
What gas mileage does the 1999 Chevrolet S10 get?
Official estimates for the 1999 Chevrolet S10 range from 16 to 23 mpg combined. The most efficient version (2.2L 4-cyl, RWD) gets 17-20 city and 24-26 highway.
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