Other engine problem on the 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche
When other engine problem gets reported
Owners of the 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche report other engine problem at a median of 35,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 25,000 miles and a quarter after 50,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 18th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 15,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 70,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 57,650 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
50% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12,937 miles | 25,556 miles | 34,183 miles | 48,138 miles | 70,587 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $300–$4,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 7 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2002, at a median of 35,000 miles, and latest on the 2007 at 155,000 miles.
By volume the 2007 carries the most reports, with 10; the 2002 has 9. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
It stalls when accelerating from a turn. Mostly on right turns as you accelerate out of the turn the vehicle dies. It starts right back up, but it does this intermittently about once a week. The truck has been to two different dealers a total of 5 times for this problem. Neither one can duplicate the problem. It happened again this weekend. I am afraid that my husband or another member of my family is going to get hurt in this truck. I am trying to deal with gm but they are giving me the run around. They can't do anything if they can't duplicate the problem.
1. Check engine light... 2. Oil light... 3. Noise still present and getting worse. Returned vehicle to university motors... 1. They cleared the codes and said may have been due to gas(I use bp gas) 2. Added 2 qts. Oil(oil was changed on 12/29/02@university motors and replaced the pvc valve. 3. Rear locator bar was loose they tightened. *la
While driving 55 MPH vehicle stalled. Dealer was not able to duplicate the problem. *ak the consumer stated that the vehicle restarted until it got to the stop sign failed but would not die. The vehicle was road tested and the engine died. The consumer was unable to shift into neutral and crank engine. The consumer was able to restart the engine and the engine had an extended crank time. The consumer stated that the radio would not work all the time. *tc phone interview update (february 15, 2006): the first dealer couldn't find what caused the engine to stall. They later went out of business. The vehicle kept stalling without warning at all speed. The stalled engine would not restart immediately. The second dealer find the problem to be the crank position sensor right the way. The sensor was broken in several pieces. The vehicle was traded in. The complainant will try to find the repair inovice and fax it to odi.
Also reported on the 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche
ABS module or sensor failure
Liftgate, tailgate or trunk failure
Parking brake failure
Other brake problem
Other wheel or tire problem
Loss of braking
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 9 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other engine problem happen on the 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 35,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 25,000 miles and a quarter after 50,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other engine problem on the 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche?
9 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed