Problems with 2003 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

The check engine light is on and the oil reader is all the way to the right and while driving on the highway the reduced speed warning comes on the engine reduces speed and cannot go over 30 in a 30 mile radius it has done this to me 4 times just this morning to work. *tr

Exhaust manifold bolts breaking off leaving studs in the heads (4) my late 2002 chevy z71 developed an exhaust leak and the catalytic converter started banging at idle or after parked. engine has black exhaust on the head where we found the main leak. so, carbon monoxide has been coming into the cab and the engine compartment seems hotter than normal. when checking into the issue, i found every truck in our company fleet has this same issue and our associates that have personal trucks driving to work checked theirs and they also have the same issue. from 1999 thru 2008 years. when contacting our local chevy dealer, they advised they had never seen or heard of any issues like this. i find that hard to believe. every person i mention this to, checks their truck and has the same issues with the broken bolts. there is definitely a problem with the exhaust manifold contracting and expanding too much- cheap steel attached to aluminum heads appear on all of the v-8 truck engines. please look into this as a safety issue with heat and carbon monoxide as well as the costs to repair. *tr

While making a turn the engine cut off. has done this 5 times now.in heavy traffic was very scary! *tr

Reduced engine power generic code p2135. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet silvarado 1500. while the vehicle was parked, the contact noticed there was an oil leak from under the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to the local dealer who replaced the transfer case. the failure mileage was approximately 150,000.

The suburban would stall while waiting in drive thru lines. several times. dies while in gear, put in park and would then start up. dealer could not find any problems. i knew i had gotten a bad tank of gas, 2 months earlier. so we tried fuel injections, etc... the suburban would die and would be towed back to the dealer. they decided i needed to replace the fuel module. $800 later and it was still happening. the dealer was driving my car more than i. putting miles on the car and gmc decided i had too many miles on the vehicle to do anything about it. now, it dies while driving the vehicle. one year later and the problem still exists and no one has figured it out. i am scared to drive the vehicle and mostly dissatisfied that i spent 45k on a vehicle and then when it fails no one knows how to fix it. they just want you to buy a new vehicle. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet silverado 1500. the contact was driving approximately 45 mph when the vehicle traveled over an uneven road surface and the reduced engine power mode warning message appeared. the check engine warning light was also illuminated and the vehicle stalled. the failure recurred intermittently. the vehicle was towed to the dealer where the technician stated that the fuel pedal actuator had to be replaced. the pedal was replaced but to no avail, and the failure persisted. the vehicle was taken back to the dealer where the technician was unable to diagnose the cause of the failure. the vehicle was not further repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 56,000.

The truck was purchased the 17th of june and two wks later the service engine light came on and its was real hard to get in 2nd gear. we took it to the chevy dealership and they checked it out for us. the problems are there is no cat converter,two seals and a sensor that needs to be replaced. not to mention 2nd gear is messed .the service manager told us and gave us the list of things wrong and they are the 2nd gear ,the synchroni,3nd gear,synchroni and the ring in first. all this is to do with the transmission and the cat converter. a and z autos got mad that we took it to the chevy dealer. they keep giving us the run around and have not fixed the truck yet and they still have it at their shop. they will not return our calls . *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet silverado 1500. the contact stated that the second gear was not catching and the check engine warning light on the instrument panel. the failure was noticed while driving 50 mph. the chevrolet dealer stated that the catalytic converter had been cut out, which was illegal. the failure mileage was 120,535 and current mileage was 120,640. updated 09/10/08. *lj

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet silverado 1500. while driving, the vehicle shuts off and loses power. the mechanic stated that nothing could be done and informed the contact that he should have purchased the extended warranty. the contact plans to call the chevrolet dealer. the current and failure mileages were 40,000.

Foul smell from air vents due to no replaceable cabin filter or accumulation of moisture in ducts or a/c coils. *tr

For some unknown reason i began losing coolant fluid from my silverado truck, but it was not leaking out upon the ground. after a month of this process, and having to continually add coolant to my engine, i took my vehicle to a mechanic i have known for several years. thinking it was most likely a bad head gasket (which i found out were being eroded away from the "coolant "itself), we replaced the head gasket. less than one week later, i again had to add more coolant. again we removed the heads and investigated the problem. when we searched online mechanical data bases, we discovered that my truck had been fitted with defective heads, produced from a plant in mexico. we even discovered a general motors memo regarding the problem. this plant produced over 1.5 million heads for various vehicles. it seems that inferior metal products were the reason the heads themselves were allowing coolant to be sucked into the crankcase, compromising the oil, and damaging or seizing up the engine. i have talked with several service shops,(grease monkey, jiffy lube), and have discovered that this is an ever growing problem, the only remedy of which is to totally replace the heads. the expense to the consumer,who didn't intend to purchase a defective vehicle, ranges from $1,800 to $9,000 in repairs, and may well effect some six to 800,000 vehicles on the road. i spoke to one woman who was driving down the freeway when her engine seized up. it was a miracle she did not lose control while driving. i have contacted general motors regarding some form of compensation for my expenses, and as you would expect, they just blew me off and told me no recall was being considered. i have no idea if this plant in mexico is part of the nafta program, but it sure seems strange that gm wants to keep something of this magnitude so quiet, and remain so unconcerned of public safety and expense. i would think a recall to curb these failures would be the very least gm should offer. *tr

Just 100 miles after pcm was replaced , out of warranty, engine warning light came on. since unable to get to dealership fast enough i did some research in my manual, which stated that if i shut down vehicle and light goes off then probably nothing major to worry about. intermittently the light has came on, then gone off for the past 4000 miles. so with my oil change, had dealership run test on diagnostics, found bad catalytic converter. cost of repair, $ 862. well, i don't have that kind of money just floating around. therefore, i couldn't get it done this time around. so i don't have that fixed. i was told gm gives up to 80,000 warranty on the pcm module and the catalytic converter. strange how the light came on just 100 miles over the last work done. why is this happening to me and my truck? *ak

Vehicle was idling poorly, it had a rough idle that would shake the vehicle. this came and went, it was not a constant problem but slowly grew worse. it was diagnosed that 4 of the eight cylinders, one entire bank, was misfiring. the trouble was caused by a faulty oxygen sensor that was dumping 50% more fuel than needed into these cylinders. the sensor was replaced as was the spark plugs which had become fouled. *nm

My complaint is the braking system on my 2003 chevrolet silverado 1500 extended cab, 4x4 truck. the brakes have always felt spongy. after complaining about the "low" brake pedal, my dealer advised that i needed to have my rear rotors repaired & the rear brake shoes replaced., so i had the work done. one week later, i again complained that now when i'm stopped at a traffic light, the brake pedal would go even lower. the braking system was checked out, the master cylinder was checked, & i was told everything was ok, there were no leaks. i was also told that this was the biggest complaint about this truck. i have had nothing but problems with this vehicle. in the first few months of owning the vehicle, the wiper blade was defective, thus scratching the windshield. i had to complain to get the windshield replaced & the wiper repaired. also withing the first few months after purchasing, the 4x4 switch had to be replaced. the truck would not shift out of 4 wheel drive low. another complaint that the dealer was notified within the first year of ownership was the wind noise due to a faulty door gasket on the driver's side. this was not replaced, only temporarily fixed, which only corrected the problem for a short while. recently, the engine light came on, the o2 oxygen sensor had to be replaced. within a month, the engine light came on again, this time it is a stuck open valve solonoid dealing with the emmission system of which i was given an estimate of 364.00 to reapair, this would not be covered under the extended warranty of the vehicle. this vehicle is only 2 years old, & i'm tired of having to take the time to get it to the dealer's for repairs. *ak

Major repairs first the axle seal started leaking 24000 miles,also notified manufacturer didn't get repair until , return for check at 36000 ,i fixed the truck myself because wasn't getting service from dealership where i purchased my truck,flow chevrolet,of winston salem. now i had noticed ticking when i would start the engine cold and have been left to settle with having the truck repaired with it costing me the consumer, even if ,the dealership i working with me. but at 51000 or better i shouldn't behaving these type of repairs. *jb

2003 chevrolet silverado 1500 (v6) was apparently designed with the air conditioner evaporator coil situated over the distributor and points. the condensor coil drips moisture onto and into the distributor causing corrosion. this corrosion causes the engine to hesitate and vibrates excessively at acceleration to 45 mph. my new vehicle has already had the distributor and points replaced to "remedy" the situation. the dealership was supposed to wrap the condensor coil with tape which would cause the condensate to drip further into the engine but as it turns out they didn't "get around" to wrapping the coils. as a result, after running the a/c, the engine is hesitating after only 20 miles of driving. they stated the fix is good for as long as the tape holds up. after the warranty runs out, it looks like it will be my problem to pay to replace the distributor every 5 or 10 thousand miles which is unacceptable. so far, i have contacted 4 dealership service departments in the houston area. every service manager has acknowledged the problem exists on all v6 engines for this truck for years 2002 and 2003. the sales staff will not acknowledge they ever heard of such a problem. i am aware of 3 other owners of this vehicle that are having the same problem but their dealers won't acknowledge any problem exists.*ak

2003 chevrolet silverado goes into "reduced engine power" mode. the truck has done this 3 times in the last week. if it happens while trying to pull into traffic a serious accident could result. i have an appointment to fix the problem but the real concern is to have a computer able to control the engine speed is dangerous. at any time it could reduce engine power without the driver having any control.*jb

The vehicle experienced a problem with the throttle, and not starting at times.*jb