2002 Chevrolet Silverado 2500

COMPLAINT REPORTS ALLEGE POOR WELD QUALITY AND/OR BENDING OF THE SUBJECT VEHICLE ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT TRAILER HITCH RECEIVER.THE AGENCY'S INVESTIGATION INCLUDED ANALYSIS OF MANUFACTURER AND AGENCY INCIDENT REPORTS, REVIEW OF POLICE REPORTS, ANALYSIS OF THE AGENCY'S FATAL ANALYSIS REPORTING SYSTEM, A VEHICLE OWNER SURVEY, INSPECTION OF TOW VEHICLES/HITCHES AND ANALYSIS OF FAILED PARTS.INCIDENTS OF WELD FAILURE WERE RARE AND ASSOCIATED WITH VERY LOW-SPEED DRIVING (TURNING, BACKING AND SUDDEN STOPPING).INCIDENTS OF BENDING WERE ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROPER TRAILER HITCH ADJUSTMENT OR OVERLOADING. A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT HAS NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED AT THIS TIME AND FURTHER USE OF AGENCY RESOURCES DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE WARRANTED.ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT DOES NOT EXIST.THE AGENCY WILL MONITOR THIS ISSUE AND RESERVES THE RIGHT TO TAKE FURTHER ACTION IF WARRANTED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES.SEE DOCUMENT SEARCH FILE FOR ADDITION INFORMATION.

GM PROVIDED ADDITIONAL DATA REGARDING ALLEGATIONS OF FAILURE OF THE TRAILER HITCH.ODI REVIEWED THAT AS WELL AS OTHER DATA PROVIDED BY PEER MANUFACTURERS.BASED ON OUR REVIEW, ODI FINDS THE NEED TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE THIS ISSUE.THIS PRELIMINARY EVALUATION IS UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA07-013) FOR FURTHER ASSESSMENT AND STUDY OF THIS ISSUE.

GM IS CONDUCTING A RECALL ON ALL SUBJECT VEHICLES BUILD BETWEEN MAY 1999 AND OCTOBER 14, 1999.SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE INCORPORATED INTO PRODUCTION IN EARLY OCTOBER 1999, AND VEHICLES BUILT AFTER THAT DATE HAVE LOWER WARRANTY FAILURE RATES.THE COMPLAINT AND WARRANTY DATA APPEAR TO SUPPORT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THESE CHANGES. GM MADE ADDITIONAL CHANGES IN NOVEMBER 1999, FEBRUARY 2000, MAY 2001, AND FEBRUARY 2004.ODI WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS PROBLEM AND WILL TAKE FURTHER ACTION, IF WARRANTED, IN THE FUTURE.FOR FURTHER TECHNICAL DETAILS SEE THE ATTACHED ENGINEERING ANALYSIS REPORT.

THE PRELIMINARY EVAULATION IS BEING UPGRADED.DURING THE EA ODI WILL LIMITITS INVESTIGATION TO ONLY THOSE VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH A HYDRO-BOOST SYSTEM, WHICH PROVIDES POWER ASSIST TO THE BRAKING AND STEERING SYTEMS.VACCUUM BRAKE BOOSTER VEHICLES ARE EXCLUDED.ODI HASEXPANDED THE SCOPE OF THE EA TO INCLUDE MODEL YEARS2003 AND 2004, ASDURING THE PE, ODI LEARNED THAT THE HYDROBOAST PUMPS WERE MODIFIED IN FEBRAURY 2004.THEREFORE,ODI HAS EXPANDED THE SCOPE TO INCLUDE THE ADDITIONAL MODEL YEARS.ODI'S IS CONCERNED BECAUSE THISISA SUDDEN FAILURE THAT AFFECTS TWO CRITICAL SYSTEMS OF THE VEHICLE, BRAKES AND STEERING, AT THE SAME TIME.THE ABILITY OF THE OPERATOR TO HANDLE THE DUAL FAILURES IS A CONCERN. FURTHER, THESE VEHICLES TEND TO BE WORK VEHICLES, WITH SOME OVER 10,000 POUNDS GVWR AND MANY EQUIPPED TO PULL LARGE TRAILERS.DUAL FAILURES OF HEAVILY LOADED VEHICLES AND VEHICLES PULLING TRAILERS FURTHER INCREASES THE SAFETY RISK.ODI PLANS TO CONDUCT TESTING TO QUANTIFY THE BRAKING AND STEERING PERFORMANCE DEGRADATION AND THE IMPACT ON SAFE VEHICLE CONTROL, WHEN A HYDROBOAST PUMP FAILS.

I pulled the truck out of the garage in working condition, left it running while parked in the driveway. It emptied the entire brake fluid reservoir through a leak in the distribution junction on the rear axle, leaving the truck with no brake function whatsoever. Had I not parked the truck in the driveway, I would have been involved in a serious collision due to sudden complete brake failure.

NHTSA ID

11679616

Incident

Aug 9, 2025

While driving on US60 East of Lexington Kentucky I was preparing to turn left using the left turn lane. There was another car in front of mine and as I approached it I began to lightly apply the brakes. The brake pedal went all the way to the floor with no decrease in speed. Fortunately I was able to switch back to the through lane and avoid an accident. While I was able to avoid an accident there was definitely a risk of injury to myself and the occupants of the other vehicle. When I was able to inspect the vehicle I found that the brakeline adjacent to the fuel tank was rusted through which caused a complete brake failure. I do the vehicle maintenance personally and have since made necessary repairs to the brake system. I was aware of problems with the brakelines on this vintage truck being prone to failure due to rusting. As I was making repairs it was obvious the routing of the brakelines was such as to making the rusting more likely to happen.

NHTSA ID

11433593

Incident

Jun 14, 2021

HARD BRAKE LINE FAILURE DUE TO CORROSION FROM POOR QUALITY PARTS WITHOUT PROPER CORROSION PROTECTION OR CORRECT MATERIALS (I.E. STAINLESS STEEL VS MILD STEEL) WHEN VEHICLE IS USED IN AREAS WHERE DE-ICER IS USED ON THE ROADS.

NHTSA ID

11413971

Incident

Apr 25, 2021

Mileage

182,000 mi

THE ABS LIGHT CAME ON AND THE BRAKE LIGHT. THE POWER STEERING IS BAD AND THE STEERING WHEEL SHAKES WHEN I BRAKE, I GOT THE BRAKES AND ROTORS CHANGED AND THE PROBLEM PERSISTED

NHTSA ID

11403813

Incident

Mar 19, 2021

Mileage

265,000 mi

KNOWN TO GM INJECTOR PROBLEMS WITH CHEVY SILVERADO VEHICLES. MY INJECTOR CRACKED OR FAILED AND DIESEL WENT IN TO MY ENGINE OIL, CAUSING AN OVER FILL OF 2 GALLONS. OIL WAS LEAKING OUT ALL OVER FROM MY TRUCK WHILE I WAS DRIVING. THERE ARE MANY OTHER POST ABOUT THIS PROBLEM AND GM IS AWARE BUT HASN'T ISSUED A RECALL.

NHTSA ID

11395766

Incident

Feb 4, 2021

Mileage

143,000 mi

MY ABS SPEED SENSOR GOT SHEARED BY BACK OF MY FRONT DRIVERS SIDE TIRE IN WHICH I HAVE SEEN ON MULTIPLE SIGHTS A DEFECT THAT WAS DEEMED A RECALL FOR BEING POORLY SET UP ON THE ASSEMBLY LINE. SECONDLY, IVE SPENT THOUSANDS AND LOOKING ONLINE FOR A VARY SERIOUS ISSUE IVE BEEN HAVING WITH MY VEHICLE DUE TO INTERMEDIATE STALLING, BACKFIRING, AND VEHICLE DIEING DUE TO WHAT HAS FINALLY BEEN FOUND TO BE THE INFAMOUS CRANKSHAFT SENSOR. REPLACED MY COMPUTER, ALL 02 SENSORS, EGR VALVE EXC... THAN UPON LOOKING AND RESEARCHING, I FIND IT WAS A MAJOR ONE ON RECALL AS WELL FOR FAILING ALL THE TIME. I JUST FEEL IF THESE ARE FACTORY ERRORS AND BEEN ON THE RECALL, AND MY WOMAN WHO TRAVELS WITH ME THAT IS PARALYZED DUE TO AN ACCIDENT, I SHOULD BE ENTITILED TO THE RECALLS GIVING THEY WERE KNOWN FLAWS ON THE ASSSEMBLY LINE AND A DANGER TO OTHERS. WHEN THE VEHICLE STALLS OUT, IT STARTS CHOKING, BACKFIRING, AND BUCKING AND WANTS TO LOCK UP AND LOOSE CONTROL. NOT COOL. IVE BEEN CHASING THIS PROBLEM SPENDING THOUSANDS IN PARTS AND REPAIRS TO MAKE THIS TRUCK SAFE FOR WORK AND FEEL IF THERE HAS BEEN RECALLS FOR ALL THIS, WOULD BE NICE TO REAP SOMETHING OUT OF MY INVESTMENT IN THIS TRUCK

NHTSA ID

11373725

Incident

Nov 6, 2020

Mileage

267,000 mi

VIBRATION IN VEHICLE PRIOR TO TIRE BLOW OUT ON FREEWAY TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY 70 MPH.. APPEARS TO BE A TREAD SEPARATION TYPE FAILURE. TIRES ARE BF GOODRICH ALL TERRAIN TA KO BAZ WITH APPROXIMATELY 27000 MILES ON THEM. SIZE IS LT265/75R16. TIRES WERE ROTATED AND CHECKED FOR PROPER INFLATION BY PROFESSIONAL TIRE SHOP APPROXIMATELY 4 DAYS PRIOR TO FAILURE.

NHTSA ID

11355048

Incident

Sep 13, 2020

Mileage

109,000 mi

DRIVING UP TO CITY INTERSECTION WAS APPLING BRAKES, CAR IN FRONT APPLIED HIS QUICKER CAUSING HIS REAR TO RAISE UP, INDICATING PANIC STOP, I FOLLOWED AND APPLIED HARD PRESSURE TO MY BRAKES, PEDAL THEN WENT TO THE FLOOR AND LOST ALL BRAKE ACTION, THIS LEAD TO MY TRUCK REAR END OF OTHER CARS

NHTSA ID

11343261

Incident

Jul 31, 2020

Mileage

143,000 mi

This PI communicates the requirement to provide a pico file to receive diagnostic assistance from TAC.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have an unusual noise and is difficult to identify, isolate or pinpoint. Technician should get record a sound clip or take a video of the noise for assessment by engineering. Technician will need to call General Motors Technical Assistance Center for further assistance.

This service bulletin explains how to measure for oil consumption and possible reasons for loss of oil.

This service bulletin explains how to measure for oil consumption and possible reasons for loss of oil.

Vehicle Wide Programming (VWP) is a new process to update software on GM Vehicles. It provides the ability via a single selection within Techline Connect to first identify which modules need updating and then proceed to updating affected modules (with some exceptions). The updating of modules is completed in parallel instead of the technician needing to update one module at a time. This allows a more streamlined approach for dealers and customers.

GM is receiving damaged (cracked or broken) transmission cores returned to the reman facilities. The damage is being caused either in the removal process by the technician, or inadequate packaging or shipping. This bulletin advises the dealers to be more careful not to damage the transmissions during removal and to package the core properly for return.