Posting this for a friend; his wife was driving her '01 Suburban tonight and the darn thing just knocked off. We rode out to see what's going on. The engine would turn over fine just wouldn't run. We noticed the fuel gauge as on "E" and the Low Fuel lamp was on. Obviously we thought she ran the thing out of gas. We put 2 gallons in it, tried to start it, and nothing. The Suburban was sitting on an incline so we were thinking maybe 2 gallons of gas wasn't enough to reach the pickup tube so we put in another 2 gallons. Still nothing. We did let it roll backwards onto some flat ground just in case and still nothing. We turned the key to the "on" position to check if we could hear the fuel pump priming and didn't hear it. We checked all the fuses and all are fine. This problem is throwing me for a loop because I've never encountered a faulty fuel pump to cause the gauge to read empty. Is this a normal occurrence when a fuel pump goes bad?

12/11/2008 11:09:43 PM

we swapped one on the 'rolla and i want to say it wasnt on E, and today on a Daewoo we were trying to diagnose the pump, i also want to say his wasnt on E either.

but shoo, all these vehicles be different.

did you get my PM UndercoverNiger?

[Edited on December 11, 2008 at 11:16 PM. Reason : btw, were there any symptons that she can remember? ]

12/11/2008 11:15:44 PM

Quote :

"btw, were there any symptons that she can remember?"

she said she was just sitting there at the stoplight and it knocked off.



[Edited on December 11, 2008 at 11:21 PM. Reason : -]

12/11/2008 11:20:02 PM

It's a convienent solution to say it came unplugged on top of the tank or the ground for the gauge and pump came off the frame, that would cause both problems, but I doubt that's it.

How many miles are on it? theres a good chance that it ran dry and burned up the pump, anything over 100k miles could use a pump anyway. Try beating on the bottom of the tank with the key on and see if you hear it come on.

Otherwise, you need to check the fuel pressure, the pump should come on for 3 sec after the key is on, and during cranking.

If no pressure, then check and see if you have voltage at the plug on the top of the pump, I'll have to look at the wiring diagram when I get home to tell you what color wire it is, but you should have 5v on the gauge signal, and 12v on the pump one, with a good ground through the other wire.

If all that checks out, you need a new pump/sender unit assembly.

With both problems I would assume you have an electrical problem, but without looking at it myslef,it's hard to say.

12/12/2008 8:17:05 AM

^yeah, i explained all that to him last night. i was thinking it could be the relay since the wiring diagram only shows 4 wires going to it (12v+, float high, float low, & ground). i talked to him a little bit ago and he said he swapped the relay and nothing changed.
he said he's going to go ahead and swap out the fuel pump and sending unit.
btw, it does have 147K on it so a new one is warranted anyway. i just wouldn't have thought a faulty fuel pump would cause the sending unit to read incorrectly. i guess i'll find out later today if that's the problem.

12/12/2008 8:59:56 AM

Quote :

"ran dry and burned up the pump,"

my first thought

12/12/2008 9:04:55 AM

it actually was never out of gas. they had just put in 12 gallons on tuesday.

12/12/2008 9:07:00 AM

if it was run low a lot, the sending unit will wear off the contacts in one spot, it'll only read higher, easy to check when you pull it out

[Edited on December 12, 2008 at 9:58 AM. Reason : 147k bet you a handjob the pump is shot, i went through one every 75-100k]

12/12/2008 9:57:33 AM

Ain't that one a module design? As in sender and pump all together?

I hain't seen too many GMs where the fuel pump lasted that long; you got your money's worth.

12/12/2008 1:45:06 PM

wow. i'm owed a cheeseburger and a handjob. pump is fine. even though i was told he checked the fuses it turned out to be the ecm fuse.

12/12/2008 7:32:09 PM

just come to joel's house new year's but i won't look you in the eye

and btw, a fuel pump on the verge drawing too much current will overheat the relay, short it, and blow the ecm fuse if it doesnt eventually fuck the ecm

12/12/2008 7:43:53 PM

i also found out that the overhead dvd monitor went out at the same time. an unnamed local car audio shop installed the aftermarket unit a few years ago. the monitor quit working a week ago and he took it back to the same shop so they can supposedly fix it. now the monitor quit working again. ha. i'm wondering where they tapped for power since they had to run a new power wire.

12/13/2008 1:00:02 PM

probably one of slowblack's negros, who taps the ecm fuse? everyone knows you are supposed to pull power from the crank sensor or injector wiring instead

[Edited on December 13, 2008 at 1:29 PM. Reason : they damn sure better pay for the tow]

12/13/2008 1:29:36 PM

so a relay off the accessory position with the power from the battery is the wrong way to do this?

12/13/2008 3:00:12 PM

indeed

12/13/2008 3:00:52 PM

just making sure

12/13/2008 3:07:14 PM

k

12/13/2008 4:13:09 PM