Chevy Silverado Fuel Injector Problems – Symptoms and Ways to Fix

Many owners of the new Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (and also GMC Sierra 1500) equipped with different engines noticed that their vehicles that are meant to live almost forever suddenly work harshly and show check engine light on their dashes. This may frustrate you because you don’t expect to see anything like this in a fresh Chevy truck with just several thousand miles on it. But keep reading to find the best solution for this problem.

In short, the harsh work and engine misfire in the 2020-2023 Chevy Silverado 1500 is a common problem caused by injector issues and problems with preparing the air-fuel mixture. The most involved engine is the 5.3L V8 but other engines may frustrate you, too. The P0300 code is usually shown, but other codes meaning engine misfire can also be triggered.

Here’s what I will cover in this article:

• Is it the injector or the software issue with the ECU?
• Changing your injectors in the dealership – what should you know?
• Can you drive if one of the injectors is bad in the Silverado?
• How can you solve the problem on your own?
• Is there a lawsuit or recall regarding Silverado’s injectors?

Injector or ECU? Here’s how to locate the problem

I’ve talked to a manager of the Chevy dealership and he said that in about half of cases, the P0300 error code usually means engine misfire and people take it for injector failure, which is just a program failure. GM has already issued some updates and you can get them for free in any GM dealership. But I don’t actually believe this.

I suppose that the P0300 appears in the ECU not just for fun. It means that the ECU has already counted some times that your engine misfired. Maybe, the problem is not yet significant but, in my opinion, this is the start of the injector and/or ignition coil problems.

Not only 5.3L engines are affected by this problem. The 6.2L V8 has also been reported many times. The base 2.7L engine and the diesel engine are out of the game – they usually don’t have these problems.

So, here are the symptoms that show your Silverado actually has injector problems:

• The check engine light is on. This is the first symptom that Silverado owners report.
• There is the P0300 (or P0301, P0302, etc.) code. If you use the scanner, you will see these codes, active or in the memory.
• The idling speed of the engine is not stable. You may notice that when the engine is idling, the odometer needle is going up and down a little.
• The engine loses some power when accelerating. You feel that the power is a little worse than it should be, but this is hard to feel if you still don’t know your truck really well.
• Gas mileage is a little worse than usual. You may notice a decline in fuel consumption without any other reasons for this.
• Fuel odors from the tailpipe. You can also see the smoke from the exhaust pipe when the vehicle is idling.

If you have all these symptoms or only some of them in your Chevy Silverado, it’s the best time for you to go to the dealership. If the vehicle is still covered by the GM warranty, you will get free repairs. But of course, you will need to wait because the backorder for Silverado injectors is just insane.

I saw people complaining about this problem when their trucks had only 1000 miles or 10,000 miles on them. So, this is obviously the defect in the injectors, not something that you did to your truck or could prevent.

Unfortunately, software updates will not help much and you will still have to replace the faulty injectors. You better avoid driving for a long time with bad injectors because this can lead to all kinds of other issues.

Warranty repair in the dealership – some tips

The obvious solution for those owners of the Silverado truck whose vehicles are still covered by the warranty is to go directly to the dealership. But you shouldn’t hope that the dealership will solve your problem immediately.

Here’s what they will do:

• inspection of the vehicle;
• diagnosis that may not include problematic injectors;
• cheaper fixes that may take one or two days depending on the availability of parts;
• you get your car from the dealership and discover the check engine light after several miles;
• you go back to the dealership and they agree that the problem is with the injectors;
• they order injectors for your vehicle but the backorder for these parts makes it impossible to get them quickly;
• as a result, your Silverado may spend several weeks at the dealership.

Some dealers offer substitution for your truck but some don’t. As a result, you may end up spending a month without your truck. Unfortunately, there is no proper solution to this problem.

It appeared to be that the injectors in the 5.3L and 6.2L V8 engines are faulty and many US owners are now waiting for these parts. This is another proof that the injectors in these engines are faulty and often need replacement.

If the vehicle is not under warranty, you may try your luck in some other repair shop, not in the dealership. But getting OEM injectors will still be pretty complicated.

Can you still drive the Silverado if one injector is faulty?

First of all, you don’t know if this is one injector or if there are two of them that require replacement. You may look at the codes using any OBD2 scanner. If it shows the P0300 code, it means that several cylinders are misfiring. If the code points at a certain cylinder, it will have its number in the end (P0303 for the third cylinder, P0306 for the sixth one, and so on).

You can drive to the dealership or repair shop, there is no need to call a tow truck. But driving the vehicle for several hundred miles with this problem in the engine is not the best idea you can come up with.

Although this won’t kill your truck, it may significantly affect the engine and reduce its potential lifespan. Especially if several injectors are malfunctioning simultaneously, the consequences may not be enjoyable.

Can you solve this problem on your own?

If you want to keep the warranty coverage, never repair the Silverado truck or any other car on your own. Dealers will inevitably find this out and the warranty will be voided at the same moment.

But if your truck is not covered by the warranty, you may start thinking about cheap repair methods. I don’t recommend any of them because you can make things even worse.

Here’s why DIY repairs are not the best choices, in this case:

• buying OEM injectors online or in any other way is pretty hard and they will cost a lot of money;
• you risk buying cheap aftermarket injectors at the full price of OEM units;
• aftermarket injectors are not durable and will fail in the nearest time, they may even leave you stranded on the roadside;
• replacing injectors is not that easy – you may find it challenging to unscrew and take off the old injector without damaging the mounting and fasteners;
• after installing the new injector, you will need to code it using a professional scanner;
• your scanner may not show codes from the memory of the ECU and you may just overlook that some other injectors also need replacement.

Unfortunately, GM didn’t upgrade the injectors and the ones that you will be installing in your vehicle may also be faulty and fail in 5 or 10 thousand miles. Overall, General Motors doesn’t really admit its mistakes easily, so it will take some time before they agree to pay for a massive recall and change all injectors in these 5.3 and 6.2 V8 engines.

Is there a lawsuit you can join?

I am pretty sure there are several cases of lawsuits regarding the new Silverado and its V8 engines. But I managed to find only one – you may check it here and apply now. When this article is written, the case is just being prepared. I hope it will motivate General Motors to find a proper solution for this massive problem and offer a good way out that will comfort all owners of the new Silverado and Sierra.

Final thoughts

I still think that the new Silverado is not a bad choice for those who want a capable truck with a V8 engine. But you should understand that manufacturers struggle to still keep these huge engines on the market and they try to balance between durability and emission requirements. It’s some kind of magic that in 2023 you can still legally buy a truck powered with a V8 engine.

But everything comes with its price and for owning the V8 engine, you will need to pay. At least, you will have to pay for bad injectors that may fail spontaneously and basically leave you without a truck for a month while the dealership is waiting for the new injectors from General Motors.