Total Complaints
1 filings
CHEVROLET W4500 · model year
1 NHTSA complaints, and 1 recall campaign listed for this cohort. A VIN lookup is required to determine whether a specific vehicle has an unrepaired recall.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2004CHEVROLETW4500 carries 1 consumer safety complaint in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
The most frequently selected component label in reports for the 2004 W4500 is fuel system, other:fuel injection system with 1 filings. Complaint categories reflect owner reports and intake categorization; they do not establish a defect pattern or cause. This cohort has 1 NHTSA recall campaign listed below. Enter a VIN in NHTSA's official recall lookup to determine whether a specific vehicle has an unrepaired recall.
NHTSA currently has 57 investigation files overlapping the 2004 W4500, and 2 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should read the complaint-by-year trend as report volume, not a causal diagnosis. Use the related-complaint feed and the official recall lookup when researching a specific vehicle.
Total Complaints
1 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER:FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM | 1 |
FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL:STORAGE:TANK ASSEMBLY
ON CERTAIN TRUCKS EQUIPPED WITH RPO IK9, DUE TO INSUFFICIENT DURABILITY AND TESTING, THE FUEL SWITCHING MANIFOLD SOLENOIDS LACK WATER OR SALT INTRUSION RESISTANCE, WHICH CAN LEAD TO FAILURE OF ONE OR MORE SOLENOIDS. FUEL SWITCHING MANIFOLD SOLENOID FAILURE WILL CAUSE INCORRECT FUEL DELIVERY RESULTI
ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS WITH THE TRUCK THERE HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SMOKE BELLOWING FROM THE EXHAUST. IN SOME CASES, OTHER AUTOS BELIEVE THE VEHICLE WAS ON FIRE. INJECTORS HAVE BEEN FOUND TO BE FAULTY ON THREE OCCASIONS REQUIRING REPLACEMENT AT SIGNIFICANT COSTS. SMOKE FROM THE EXHAUST IS DUE TO THE FAULTY INJECTORS NOT ALLOWING FUEL INTO THE ENGINE SO AS A RESULT THE ENGINE IS BURNING ONLY OIL AND NO DIESEL FUEL. ENGINE IS EXPOSED TO EXCESSIVE HEAT AND COULD START ON FIRE. *JB
Mileage: 73,029
Loss of motive power due to engine failure
Loss of Motive Power due to the Battery Energy Control Module
Electric Vehicle Battery Fires
Outboard Front Seat Belt Anchor Cable Failure
Fuel Line Leak
Data vintage: August 2026. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Every figure on PlainCars is rendered directly from NHTSA complaint and safety data, no number is typed in by an editor. This year-specific record is rendered from NHTSA ODI, recall, and NCAP rows for the 2004 CHEVROLET W4500; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.