Imagine yourself driving peacefully aboard your Chevrolet Silverado and suddenly an engine light shows up on your dashboard ! The most common response is the fear of risking a major trouble. To know what accurately this light refers to, you will have to learn how to read an Chevrolet Silverado fault codes, you may have previously heard about OBD system, this is exactly what we are going to discuss. Our editors have decided to write this document to enable you quickly locate the source of this default code and to give you reassurance. To do this, we will first look at the nature of a fault code on Chevrolet Silverado, then how to read an Chevrolet Silverado fault code, and finally how to erase this fault code in order to turn off the light on your dashboard.

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What is a Chevrolet Silverado fault code?

A fault code is a generic or standard code which is identical to all manufacturers , they are also identified as DTC (Data Trouble Code), the goal is to ensure that any diagnostic OBD can understand them. They will be symbolized by a standard format, like for example: P0255. Each data will have a precise interpretation. Default codes are codes issued by the calculators of your Chevrolet Silverado. These ECUs will constantly monitor your vehicle’s emissions, pressures, mixtures and when the values exceed the limits set by the vehicle’s ECU, the fault code will show up. The benefit of knowing how to read a fault code on your Chevrolet Silverado is that you will have gain access to to precise data about your vehicle which will let you to understand what issue you are facing.

How to read a fault code on my Chevrolet Silverado?

In this second part we will now focus specifically on what brings you here, how to read a fault code on Chevrolet Silverado. To discover this useful data you will need to to get a diagnostic tool, also referred to as OBD 2, named after the socket on your Chevrolet Silverado to which you will have to connect. These diagnostic tools are freely available, you will be able to find some in Bluetooth version which connects to your phone and some standard versions with a reader associated to the socket, as far as price is concerned, you will be able to find models between 30 and 100 euros. Once you have obtained an OBD2 diagnostic reader, you will have to find the diagnostic plug on your Chevrolet Silverado, it is found on the left side of your steering column on the lower part of your dashboard, behind a hatch. It is easy to locate because it is triangular shaped and has 16 pins. All you have to do is connect with your diagnostic tool to read the fault code of your Chevrolet Silverado.

How to erase the fault code Chevrolet Silverado

Finally, to conclude this article, we are going to describe you the process to carry out to erase a fault code on your Chevrolet Silverado. Once you have navigated through the menus, you will access the list of active fault codes on your car. However, you will have to ask yourself an essential question, is it really advantageous to erase this fault code on Chevrolet Silverado? Indeed, erasing a fault code without resolving the trouble is like burying its head in the sand. In addition, the computer of your Chevrolet Silverado is made to take resolutions depending to the data it records, if a very important fault code is present, it will actually modify the engine performance to preserve it. So if you get rid of the fault code, make sure to solve the issue to which it is associated. Some OBD diagnostic tools do not allow you to do this. You have a dedicated navigation menu on most diagnostic tools that should allow you to clear this fault code on Chevrolet Silverado.

If perhaps you have any additional questions about the Chevrolet Silverado, do not hesitate to consult our Chevrolet Silverado category.