fuel pumps

barry G · April 7, 2015

I pulled in, all normal, went to start next day..no pump.

passed relay test, jumper to fuel pump good..bad pump.

I then ordered a carter p80001S, the whole assembly. 1996-1997 only. the same pump goes all the way to a 454. I am running 5 liter. Awaiting to install. I needed an ATV lift to hold up the tank level as it drops down with 20 gallons of fuel in it. Make the job easy.

my question is, is there a setup for proven hazardous environment? outside electrical? can I add a diode to the ground?

I see newer trucks went plastic everything.

I am tempted to go external with a wailing walbro pump. Quik release fuel. Hot rod setup. I have an intuition this one is going to fail too soon as well.

barry G · April 11, 2015

a followup on the new pump.

it even changed the alt gauge reading, very calm.. like truck needs a hardly anything to start and run.

so, there is a couple of signs a pump is going... random blips in the rain, (deep puddles) and the alt gauge will read high for any old school bulb packed gmc, but I am all LED. So, gauge will read high when pump is not at its best.

I did find an accurate template, and made a hole. no outside cord, a little generator was my best friend.

thisis only a 22 gallon tank, and guess what? it was damn near chock full. that equates to 140-160 pounds. The hole was necassary. Being this old, not sure how many times it will munch on the pump anyway. The carter p80001S is very good.

Doug_Scott · April 7, 2015

I think you will find that GM went to the pump in the tank in order to use the fuel as a coolant for the fuel pump. The trick to it is to avoid driving around with tank near empty all the time. I have had friends that for whatever reason would never put more than a couple of gallons of fuel into their vehicle at one time. Poor habit to have.

Get the Carter replacement pump for your truck. If it were me, I would just siphon the fuel out of the tank if I was on my own trying to drop the tank to change the pump. Most everyone has 5 gallon fuel cans in their garage, go borrow a couple.

I do not understand your other questions. Why a diode on the ground? A diode simply resists current flow in one direction. Don't get how this could be of use for a fuel pump ground wire.

barry G · April 18, 2015

I agree, and it is reassuring to find other opinions.

My bro-n-law is a service manager at a major dealer. The place is big enough to attract all kinds of repairs..that are not the dealers new cars and trucks.

He has been with chevy trucks since the 80s.

Got talking today, this truck is an example of where that lid idea may have come from, not as a hack. Started in the mid 90s. I guess this truck may have a difference in the driveshaft diameter...paired up against the old styl tank mount with the L shaped bracket. If it was the steelie 1992 k1500 shaft, The tank has just enough room to drop by level.

clearly an overlap in models error. Happens all the time.

We established a plan today to remove bed, old bolts, do it all up with bed off. Should come out nice. I have many hours in automotive welding, and enjoy it.

I do have one more question..

this evening the fuel pump sounds like a super high pitched turbo. It is rather exotic, and not heard by all ears. Engine gets very powerful, and alt gauge is back up to just past 14v. Now, I'll find it is calm again at its own function of choice..and wonder what does that to regulate. The alt gauge will go back down below 14 when pump is in a quiet runtime.

I found it is a self balance fuel pump in diagrams by gm, and do not know what that means.

barry G · April 7, 2015

I think you will find that GM went to the pump in the tank in order to use the fuel as a coolant for the fuel pump. The trick to it is to avoid driving around with tank near empty all the time. I have had friends that for whatever reason would never put more than a couple of gallons of fuel into their vehicle at one time. Poor habit to have.

Get the Carter replacement pump for your truck. If it were me, I would just siphon the fuel out of the tank if I was on my own trying to drop the tank to change the pump. Most everyone has 5 gallon fuel cans in their garage, go borrow a couple.

I do not understand your other questions. Why a diode on the ground? A diode simply resists current flow in one direction. Don't get how this could be of use for a fuel pump ground wire.

got an outside lamp that attacks vehicles here. A gadget turns on by itself at dusk.

interesting lesson.. cars do not care what comes at them backwards electrically, like engineers who did not think of it.

I did jostle the heck out of the truck already, welding, all lghts to LED (amp increases for other tiems, like fuel pump), so I am not too perturbed.

I did some internet browsing, this generation is quite content. 96-98, some of the miles posted is phenomenal, original setups.

This truck I am asking about had a nest, a wrong odometer exempted by law, and strangely good looking for 19 years. Only had it for 2500 miles, couple months.

I learned wires can break down, so if a pump goes, get the whole setup.

Thanks for reply, I'll just go exactly as it is, all factory. the plastic shield on tank is still there, all the bolts look easy to remove.

The problem with playing with fuel is where I am located, best get this dropped down, no games, back up and in.

The ATV stand was a comical epiphany...it is exactly perfect for the chore.

Doug_Scott · April 12, 2015

I did find an accurate template, and made a hole. no outside cord, a little generator was my best friend.

thisis only a 22 gallon tank, and guess what? it was damn near chock full. that equates to 140-160 pounds. The hole was necassary. Being this old, not sure how many times it will munch on the pump anyway. The carter p80001S is very good.

I don't know why they don't put a removable plate in from the factory. How much extra can it cost per vehicle? Even if it cost them and extra $50, raise the price of the $40k truck by $100 and make more money on it. This whole idea the bean counters have of any dollar saved per vehicle can really get to be a large amount of money. That very same logic also works when you add a dollar to every vehicle you make/sell. If they raise the price by one dollar per vehicle, and they manage to move a million vehicles, that is an easy one million dollars.

Dropping the price of a $40k vehicle by any amount of money under $500 is not even noticed by the consumer. Take a look at your bill of sale and make note of all the add-on fees they get you for. I begrudge every one of those fees, but, if there was a $500 fee for "adding various access panels to make servicing easier" I would pay it every time.

A drain plug in the bottom of the tank would be handy as well. And while we are at it, put one in transmission pans, torque convertors, manual transmissions, transfer cases, and diff covers. Wonder how much environment damage occurs in one year from all the spilled oils from having these various items serviced or rebuilt.

Doug_Scott · April 18, 2015

I did a quick search for the term "self balance fuel pump" and it appears to be related to dual fuel tanks. Do you have the exact term that is listed in the diagram? Not trying to be funny, but, I have found that taking exact terminology and searching with it, it will return enough information to be able to explain the term.