Two problems related to diesel engine have been reported for the 2002 Chevrolet Silverado 2500. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2002 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 based on all problems reported for the 2002 Silverado 2500.
I have a 2002 Chevrolet 2500hd pickup with the duramax diesel engine with just over 100,000 miles on it. Recently, while sitting at a stop sign, darik smoke would come from the exhaust. It never did this before so I took it to the local dealer to find out what the problem might be. The dealer told me that the injectors needed to be replaced at a cost of about $4500. I contacted GMC, they set up a case file and got back to me in about a week to tell me that I was beyond the 7 year extended warranty and so they would not cover the repair. The fact that it only had about 1/2 of the 200,000 miles covered in the extended warranty didn't seem to count for anything. One of the selling points when I purchased the vehicle was that it should last for 200k to 300k miles without needing repair. The vehicle has been used primarily for personal transportation, not abused, with only occasional towing of a relatively light trailer.
2002 Chevrolet silverado equipped with duramax diesel engine, fuel injector bodies cracked filling engine crank case with diesel fuel. I found the condition before any damage could occur. If this condition was not caught like I did, the fuel in the oil would over flow from the engine crank case and spray under the vehicle potentially causing a fire. Vehicle was taken to Chevrolet dealership where the fuel injectors are being replaced by a special campaign. Dealer was reluctant to replace fuel injectors due to not meeting all conditions mandated by gm. Gm has extended warranty for this problem to 7 years or 200k miles, but has not done a recall. These fuel injectors have an extremely high failure rate and many leak fuel into the crank case which could be a potential fire hazard.