1998 Chevrolet Silverado from North America - Comments

Blower motor started making an annoying tick-tick-tick noise on low speed. I replaced it with an original GM part bought from a dealer for about $100. Has worked ever since. That was about 3 years ago.

Some radio button backlight bulbs blew out, so you can't read the buttons at night. I removed the radio myself, took it apart, got down to the circuit board that has small 12v lamps soldered in place. I unsoldered them and replaced them with some 12v grain of wheat lamps I had, but you can find better and more exact replacements at Radio Shack for 50 cents each.

Now for the expensive stuff. Both anti-lock sensors went bad in the front wheels, causing the anti-lock to come on just as you would be pulling to a stop, making the brakes chug-chug-chug a little before stopping. Total cost was $600 to get both wheel hubs with integral sensors replaced.

Water pump leaked over 100,000 miles. Had to be replaced.

Right front wheel brake rotor broke completely off from its center so it was just spinning free in there (so there was no braking action on that wheel). Rotor replacement - about $75.

Tail gate latch and handle have required frequent cleaning and lubrication to keep them working. They "ears" that stick out the sides of the tailgate, which engage in the body to hold the gate closed, get hung up otherwise, and the gate won't latch. I've used lots of carb cleaner to dissolve away all the old dirt and grease, and relubed with grease, white lithium, plain old oil, WD 40, you name it. Nothing seems to do any better. Lately, I've had the best results by just cleaning it off well with Gum Out, and spraying everything down with WD 40 --- no grease, no oil. This seems to keep the latch mechanism cleaner and it works longer before starting to hang up.

Rear right radio speaker quit about a year after I got the truck. Removing them is a nightmare because you have to tear out the inside rear pillar trim (this is an extended cab model). Rather than do that, I used an Xacto knife and steel straight edge, and cut a rectangular panel right out of the interior plastic trim, pulled the speaker out from the front, and mounted a much-improved Alpine 2-way speaker in there. I did the same thing on the other rear side. The stock GM rear speakers are really awful anyway.

After screwing the new speakers in, I simply snapped the cut-out rectangle back in place. This was about 2 years ago. They don't pop out, and they don't rattle. Yes, if you look at them, you can see the cut-out border, but it really hardly shows. I don't think anybody would even notice it if it wasn't pointed out to them.

Just had to have a new fuel pump put in. Total with labor was $600. Pump just quit one morning right in the driveway (didn't hear it spin up for a few seconds when turning the key). Lucky it wasn't in the middle of a long highway trip or a family vacation!

I have a slight intake manifold coolant leak. It dribbles out of one corner near the back. You won't even see it, it's so slight. But over a couple of months, you'll notice the coolant level go down, and you can sometimes smell it. It's been like this for almost 2 years. I have no intention of dumping another $500 into this unless it gets any worse, which it hasn't in all this time.

The truck runs smoothly, has plenty of pick up, and is very good on gas. I get about 19 mpg with an even mix of city/highway driving, which I think is very good for a big V-8 truck. If you are a lead-foot, it's mileage will drop to about 15. But if you drive it "nicely" it will reward you.

It's comfortable, good-looking, and has never broken down on me on the road or left me stranded.

However, as you can see from my repair laundry list, this truck has been EXPENSIVE to maintain. I had a 1989 Silverado before this, and except for a blown head gasket at about 100,000 miles (cost be $700), that truck was trouble free right up to the day I traded it at about 192,000. This 1998 has not been nearly as reliable.

I too have an 1998 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Ext. cab 4x4. I have the same problem with the radio lights and the blower motor totally went bad. As for the major things I had reverse gear go out on me at 49,000 gently driven and well maintained miles and had to have the transmission rebuilt. 1800.00 and 3 yrs later it seems to work fine, but it is always in the back of my mind. At 92,000 miles my intake manifold gasket has just started to leak a little coolant as well from the front drivers side of the motor. Was quoted a price of 600.00. to fix it. Keeping and eye on it not sure what I'm going to do just yet. Gas mileage is just as good and I really enjoy driving this truck, but I am a little disappointed with the General, but I will buy another!

The intake manifold leak may be more of an issue than you think. The fitting on the coolant hose that connects to your heater core becomes brittle and will eventually burst. I had mine go out at about 110K miles. I replaced the hose, fitting and manifold gasket. I refuse to do that again.

This could also be a cause for poor heater function. That same hose from the heater can clog up with gummed up coolant.

Well I went ahead and had the intake manifold gasket replaced on my 1998 1500 Z-71 Silverado. Funny thing is as was stated in a previous comment, I too had to have the fitting replaced that attaches the heater hose to the intake because when the dealer was removing the the hose it broke. (Hmmmmm, maybe there is problem with this design!). Don't get me wrong though, as I have stated earlier I am a true GM fan. You can take any manufacturer and they too have there problems I just wish with all these complaints about the same problems maybe they would step up and take some responsibility.

Been there, done that on the coolant leaks on my 1998 Silverado. Intake manifold gasket job AND water pump replacement at 100K. Heater hose fitting on intake manifold broke where threaded into manifold at 120K. Just replaced the cheezy plastic retainer for the same fitting yesterday at 145K as it had become brittle and broke, allowing coolant to leak. Also, two co-workers with same vintage trucks have had the same problems at virtually the same mileages. Anyone seeing a trend here?

I too own a 1998 Chevy Silverado 1500 4x4 pick-up. I bought it in 1999 and still own it and I'm sure I have paid half the purchase price in upkeep! I too had the intake gasket leak at about 130,000. What a job. I have replaced two fuel pumps, water pump, and timing chain collapsed at about 90,000 miles. $1800 later it was back on the road. I also had the anti-lock go bad kicking in with the slightest touch of the brakes. Wheel hub bearings have been my worst thing though replacing them 8 times alternate sides. One time I even lost the front wheel only being held on by the axle nut at 65 mph due to the center twisting out of the rotor. I also have the radio light burned out problem. One thing good I can say, it's always had good heat. I dearly love my Chevy and would have to cause I wouldn't have put up with all these repairs for anything else! I realize wear-n-tear is with every vehicle, but this one has wore me down. It sits more than it gets drove!

Had my Chevy silverado 4x4 brand new and had to fix both doorhandles at least two times each, tie rods, pitman arm at least twice each, universal joints at least 4 times, transmission went on me once, fuel pumps twice, water pump once, intake gaskets twice, and its still running with 510,000 kilometers in it.

Just bought a 1998 silverado and a guy I bear hunt with said, your door handels will break, fuel and water pumps will go out and altinater will go out. Well had it a week and altinater went out vesterday, I hope this isn't the start of a high maintence truck...

I wrote the original review. Here is a follow-up.

Driver's side door handle (el-cheapo pot metal) broke about 3 weeks ago (upper right corner of it cracked).

It still worked, but because that corner (about a 1/2" x 1/2" section) had broken out, the whole handle assembly would pull about 1/8" out of the door when you pulled on it to open the door, and it was getting worse. Rather than pay $150 for a dealer to take the whole door apart to replace it, I loaded up the whole thing with JB Weld 2-part epoxy (mixed it up and fill in the entire missing area). That seems to have it fixed. I'll probably mix up some more, mixed with black enamel, to make finish it up and make it look better.

As for the manifold coolant leak - this is a CHRONIC problem with Chevy truck V-8 engines. I actually put some Barr's Leak stop in the radiator and it has worked like a charm. Some people swear this stuff doesn't work, or gums up their cooling system. I think the key is, it works for SLIGHT leaks, not MAJOR ones. AND, it is very important to thoroughly shake it up, put it in the radiator, and then run the truck for a solid 30 minutes like the directions say. Don't just run it for 5 minutes and turn it off.

Anyway, that was 8 months ago, and it has not lost any coolant since.

I have had to replace the starter.

Also, the battery cables at the battery end corroded very badly - another CHRONIC GM problem with their sealed Delco batteries. I cut away all the corroded metal and rubber on the ends, soaked them in a baking soda solution to boil off all the corrosion, sanded them down to clean copper, and they are fine now (on a new battery). That's been about 6 months, and they are still looking good.

I stick with my original assessment. This truck runs great and is nice, but is a VERY expensive and trouble-prone vehicle. This was the 2nd GM pickup I've owned (last was the '89), and this will be the last one. They blew it.

Bought my 1998 Silverado CK1500 new in fall of 1997. Have 63,000 miles on it now since it is second vehicle.

First problem was windshield wiper circuit board at 40K went bad while driving in Canada ($250). Made it back home using some "Rain Guard".

Then the speed sensitive power steering caused wobbling while driving at 45k ($800).

ABS sensors went bad in front at 50K ($300).

Antifreeze began leaking from engine gasket at 52K ($800).

Then universal joint made squeaky noise at 53K ($150).

Door handle almost fell apart on drivers side at 54K ($75).

Then at 55K I had a strong odor of burning transmission fluid, a seal was leaking onto the exhaust manifold, ($1200) for transmission overhaul.

Now at 62K I had a problem with a very loud noise from the engine and had low power when accelerating. Was told I need an engine overhaul, which would be $3,500.

That's it, I give up and right now it is sitting in my driveway until I sell it for parts. Going to get a new Honda Pilot, which should last much longer since I no longer need a truck bed.

I've got a question for some of you 98 Silverado owners. I posted a comment on here back in January of '07 concerning my intake manifold gasket leaking. Had it replaced and the truck has run great for the past year, but now at 108,000 miles I have a problem with the drain plug on the radiator leaking. When I first realized what the problem was I was able to turn the plug about a 1/2 turn more so I watched it for a week and everything seemed fine so I thought the problem was solved. The problem has arisen again and what I have noticed is that it is happening when the outside temperature drops into the single digits. Has anyone experienced a similar problem? Being that the plug is plastic I don't want to turn on it much more. Would a thread sealant work on this? Just curious as to what some of you other guys might think.

Love my 98 Silverado, but repairs are becomming more frequent.

Door Handle Driver side cracks.

Tail Gate Handle had corosion issues and would stick.

Intake Manifold Gasket at 70,000 miles.

Battery Cable replacement at 80,000 miles.

Alternator replacement at 80,000 miles.

Complete front end suspension overhaul at 85,000 miles.

Water Pump at 90,000 miles.

Fuel Pump at 95,000 miles.

Ignition Switch replacement at 95,000 miles.

One more annoying problem... my RPM's fluctuate +/-500 at

a constant rate of speed. Any ideas?

I am the original poster.

First, regarding the person before this post, whose RPMs are fluctuating +/- 500 rpm at driving speed, watch out for this one. Our 2003 Trailblazer just experienced that same symptom, caused by the transmission torque converter lock-up randomly locking and unlocking. It was a VERY expensive repair, so I would have this checked out.

Continuing on with my 1998 Silverado... looks like the brake light switch has now failed - no brake lights. I did the diagnostic detective digging. It's not the bulbs, relay or fuses, and the 3rd eye light doesn't work either. All other taillight functions work (turn signal, taillight, backup, hazard).

Another thing I forgot, one of the transmission cooler lines rotted out and stared leaking fluid badly. Luckily, I was able to get home and get it repaired.

Batter cable at the starter rotted out, had to be replaced. But at this many miles, that isn't surprising.

The manifold gasket leak has still not returned - I guess the Barr's Leak stuff did the trick - I know, I probably got lucky. The truck is now up to about 150,000 miles.

BTW if people want info on how to replace the burned out radio lights, I did a big write-up on the procedure over at www.howtomendit.com Search there and you will find it.

I own a 1998 Chevy Silverado, I bought it in 2003 with 32,000 on the clock, and now the fun starts,

35,000- intake gasket, (300)

42,000- wiper motor ($75)

56,000-Fuel Pump (650)

60,000-Water Pump (300)

All in all this truck has been good to me, not so good gas mileage, 14-16 but I live in the hills of Pa. Right now the truck has 80,000 on it so I hope to keep it for a little while longer. Oh and the heater has started to make the "tick" that was described earlier.