2003 Chevrolet Silverado Truck Engine Troubleshoo

The quickest and most efficient way to troubleshoot a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado involves accessing the vehicle's powertrain control module (PCM) and retrieving all the active on-board diagnostic codes. These codes are a record of malfunctions that have occurred in the engine. Other People Are Reading How to Reset a Chevy Silverado Computer Chevrolet Engine Troubleshooting Second Generation On-Board Diagnostics (OBD-II)
The 2003 Chevrolet Silverado is compliant with the Environmental Protection Agency's rules regarding vehicle diagnostics. There is one basic set of codes used by all vehicles manufactured and sold in the United States after 1996. So, the process of troubleshooting the Silverado is the same used for a Ford, a Mercury and other contemporary vehicles.
Trouble and Pending Codes The Silverado's PCM classifies malfunctions into two groups: pending and trouble. A malfunction by itself can be a fluke occurrence. The PCM still takes note, however. Malfunctions all are labeled "pending" at first. If the malfunction consistently repeats itself, the PCM will change the status to "trouble." The check engine light turns on shortly thereafter.
P Codes OBD-II codes character sequences composed of a letter followed by four numbers. The first letter indicates where in the Silverado the malfunction has taken place. "P" codes cover engine operations. The "P" stands for Powertrain. For the sake of troubleshooting engines, all other codes can temporarily be pushed aside for later consideration.