Engine sensor failure on the 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 2500
When engine sensor failure gets reported
Owners of the 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 report engine sensor failure at a median of 55,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 50,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles, from 13 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 7th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 40,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 85,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 45,259 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.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37,541 miles | 49,825 miles | 52,590 miles | 70,000 miles | 82,800 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 $180–$900 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 4 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2009, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2002 at 85,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 16; the 2001 has 15. 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.
Engine quit without warning while towing 12,000 lb trailer forcing me to the side of the road. After a few minutes I was able to restart the engine and continue. Failed again shortly thereafter. I was eventually able to get home. Scan tool revealed crankshaft position sensor problem. I replaced the crankshaft position sensor myself. *nm
My 2001 chevrolet silverado hd2500 p/u started having intermittent stalling problems in july 2007. The engine would die and it would take a few minutes to restart. Finally in sept 2007 it died on the freeway when I was traveling at over 65 MPH. The powersteering stopped and the power brake assist stopped. I was lucky that I didn't have a high speed accident. The truck was taken to the local chevrolet dealer and they replaced the crankshaft position sensor and charged me $420.99. The vehicle only had 37,546 miles on it at the time but was out of warranty. I have not had any further problems since the repair. I contacted chevrolet about their recall # 06083 NHTSA id#07v521000 and they advised that my vehicle did not qualify. I don't understand why since it is the same 8.1 engine and year/model. If you go on the gm-truck.com web site you will see that this is avery common and dangerous problem with the 2001 8.1 gm engines. *tr
My 2001 chevrolet silverado hd2500 p/u started having intermittent stalling problems in july 2007. The engine would die and it would take a few minutes to restart. Finally in sept 2007 it died on the freeway when I was traveling at over 65 MPH. The powersteering stopped and the power brake assist stopped. I was lucky that I didn't have a high speed accident. The truck was taken to the local chevrolet dealer and they replaced the crankshaft position sensor and charged me $420.99. The vehicle only had 37,546 miles on it at the time but was out of warranty. I have not had any further problems since the repair. I contacted chevrolet about their recall # 06083 NHTSA id#07v521000 and they advised that my vehicle did not qualify. I don't understand why since it is the same 8.1 engine and year/model. If you go on the gm-truck.com web site you will see that this is avery common and dangerous problem with the 2001 8.1 gm engines. *tr
Also reported on the 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 2500
Other engine problem
Loss of braking
ABS module or sensor failure
Brake line, hose or caliper failure
Other brake problem
CV axle or driveshaft failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 15 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 engine sensor failure happen on the 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 2500?
Across 13 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 55,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 50,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is engine sensor failure on the 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 2500?
15 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 51 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