Other fuel system problem on the 2003 Chevrolet Silverado 2500
When other fuel system problem gets reported
Owners of the 2003 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 report other fuel system problem at a median of 110,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles, from 9 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 90,000 miles. It is the 13th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 35,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 140,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 108,387 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
22% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34,101 miles | 40,000 miles | 111,000 miles | 131,000 miles | 142,488 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–$2,200 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 15 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 10 miles, and latest on the 1997 at 190,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 16; the 2003 has 12. 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.
Chronic failure of fuel injectors on 2003 duramax chevy truck, deal has replaced injectors three times, now they are failing again and want 5k to fix them. Last fix was 40,000 miles ago. Here is the short and skinny. I was informed (during an injector swap in my truck) that the different types of injectors that were tested by gm and their partners (isuzu and bosch) provided good data for the ongoing service campaign, but will not be released through gm parts. Gm and partners (bosch) have made 2 modifications (documented) to the injector design from original and has deemed the current incarnation of this injector adequate. That is gm's solution apparently. Will it be a permanent solution? Who can say, but it probably will be the only solution we ever see. The production and design cost combined with a "limited" customer base dictates that we will probably not see a complete replacement unit of new design come into the marketplace. Many failure causes have been theorized, two main modes of premature failure have emerged, but I am of the thought that a waveform analysis of the power to the injectors done over long term might yield…
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet silverado 2500 hd. The contact stated that he applied the brakes in an attempt to stop and the brake pedal depressed all the way down to the floor. When the vehicle was stopped, the contact noticed brake fluid leaking from the brake lines. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic, where they replaced all the brake lines. They also had to replace the calipers. The dealer was not notified. The manufacturer was notified and stated that there were no recalls or warranties covering the failure. They offered no other assistance. The contact stated that the fuel lines were also rotted and corroded. This was not repaired. The failure mileage was 30,900. Updated 10/23/2014*lj updated 04/7/2015 *js
When driving the truck whether on a regular street or at high speeds on the highway, the engine suddenly either dies, reduces down to idle speed or idles very roughly. The reduced power signal comes on, along with the engine light. This has happened to us, several times while driving on the highway and on regular streets. We were extremely lucky not to have been killed. I researched this and found that many owners of the 2003 chevy silverado 2500hd had the same problem. We spent a lot of money at penske chevrolet, and according to them, they don't know how to fix it. We bought the truck in 8/2013, without any warranty and this problem was not disclosed to us. Since 12/2013, the problem has become more frequent and now we don't drive the vehicle because it is just too dangerous. There has to be some way to fix this problem and the chevrolet company has to know about this because there are so many complaints out there. *tr
Also reported on the 2003 Chevrolet Silverado 2500
Loss of braking
Other brake problem
Brake line, hose or caliper failure
Instrument cluster or gauge failure
Other electrical problem
Differential or transfer case failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 12 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 fuel system problem happen on the 2003 Chevrolet Silverado 2500?
Across 9 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 110,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other fuel system problem on the 2003 Chevrolet Silverado 2500?
12 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 41 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