2002 Silverado Question

[DixieWASP]

I have found what appears to be a nice 2002 regular cab short-bed Silverado for sale. It has a 5.3 V8, two-wheel drive, and automatic transmission. Is 2002 a good year for a 1500 Silverado?

 

[RichLo]

Not bad, LS swapped from the factory and still relatively simple electronics and controls compared to newer vehicles.

 

[DixieWASP]

Not bad, LS swapped from the factory and still relatively simple electronics and controls compared to newer vehicles.

I remember GM added cylinder deactivation at some point which can be problematic.

 

[Jerryred94silvy]

Cylinder deactivation wasn’t until 2007. 2002 is a great year imo. My family owns an 05 suburban and an 02 silverado and they’re both fantastic.

 

[JS45]

My family has had multiple early year gmt800s and all have been great vehicles 300k plus on most of them and they are still on the road

 

[DixieWASP]

Cylinder deactivation wasn’t until 2007. 2002 is a great year imo. My family owns an 05 suburban and an 02 silverado and they’re both fantastic.

Thanks for letting me know!

 

[DixieWASP]

My family has had multiple early year gmt800s and all have been great vehicles 300k plus on most of them and they are still on the road

Thanks for telling me.

 

[618 Syndicate]

I have an 07 classic with a 5.3, approaching 300k, it's my daily. My winter beater is the 05 Yukon, 6.0 with over 300k.

 

[fancyTBI]

My parents have an ‘02 ECSB 4.8/4L60e. The 4.8 was a real great motor, IMO. The original 4L60e died at 307K. Never had been opened up, broke the sun shell.

My friends had 5.3 trucks and they all ran great. ‘02 is a good year for those trucks.

The GMT800 is a nice platform with a lot of aftermarket support.

 

[someotherguy]

GMT800's are the cockroaches of the truck world; they'll probably be here long after we're all gone - thanks mostly to the durability of the early LS engines.

I've got my GMT800 gripes mostly around electrical issues (they're way more complex than any GMT400) and probably more than half of them out there have an eternal CEL due to EVAP issues that are often more difficult to solve than they should be.

They're about as easy to steal as a GMT400 and are still high-theft vehicles to this day; the plastic exterior door handles don't inspire confidence. The thieves just knock the lock out of the handle; some of them just break the handle by forcibly yanking on it. Around Houston where auto theft is out of control, they even steal beat old work trucks. Get a Ravelco antitheft setup, it's about the only thing that will keep it yours.

Anyone living in rust belt areas will tell you the brake lines are made out of fairy dust that dissolves at the first hint of road salt.

They're good trucks.. styling is hit/miss depending on year and your personal tastes, to be sure.

Richard