Carl Kem

Ok, looks to me like it's telling you what the problem is. So I'm lost.

Replaced the fuel pump and...turns out it was the fuel pump after all. I'll be damned. Crazy thing behaved like it's always something else. Thanks for your help guys!

Well, I was right...and wrong. The fuel pump is bad, but....there is also a short. Checking the connector to the pump all of the connectors appear to be grounded out(?). I'll see of my friend can send me the details on this so I don't get it all mixed up.

Yeah, I think even more so now than before that it is electrical. Replaced the fuel pressure regulator, and it still has trouble starting. Last night it wouldn't start at all. I'll try again later. Sadly I can't crawl down there where the wires are so I can check them, and when I take it to a shop they won't deal with the problem, but they'll look at everything else. Last shop did that, however it's kinda my fault because I said if I'm paying $85 to evaluate it, might as well check the whole thing out. I think they may have checked everything but what I wanted checked.

A friend of mine came by and we dabbled with it. Everything is pointing at either the fuel pump or the fuel pressure regulator. A few days ago when we were looking at it, with the fuel pressure gauge hooked up, crank it over and after a few tries, the pressure would be around 10, then all of a sudden it's up to 50 psi. Yesterday I took it into a garage, and they diagnosed something different. They found this seal is bad, that gasket needs replaced, yeah my truck needs work, but...none of that KEEPS it from starting. And, of course, my truck started without a problem while there. We'll see later if it starts again or not. I think if it was the fuel pump it would show a lot of the stuff while running. I dunno.

Ok. I think I have brake cleaner, I know I have WD40. Gas tank is full. I have a tester, will have to hook it up and try it. I am pretty confident the line isn't being pinched as I was the one that put in the last pump. I think it was around 2016-2017 or so. Fiend had a cousin that had a backhoe, they removed the bolts holding the bed & unclipped the wires and lifted off the frame. I went in, cleaned it, checked everything, and the removed the old pump & installed the new pump. With the bed off I cranked it over, all went well. Made sure the bed wasn't pinching anything while putting it back. I expect to give it a try this evening & I'll let you guys know.

Ok, first off, my truck is a 2001 GMC Sierra SLE 5.3L Engine. I forget the mileage, I think around 255,000 or greater. It has been having starting issue for a long time, but now it is getting really bad. Some days it'll start without a problem. And some it's horrible. Yesterday it started just find, ran just fine, then when I was at a friends house it refused to start. Even got it pulled home because it wouldn't start. I remembered a thread somewhere in here where everyone was saying "fuel pump". Well, I don't think this is it. I went out an hour ago and was able to start my truck. Took it for a short drive, all went well. You see, it'll act as if it's starved for fuel. Sometimes I can crank until nearly the end of time, and nothing. Try it once more, and it starts up without any problem. I have had fuel pump problems before and this is nothing like those. A shade tree mechie I know was telling me about this sensor and that sensor and this and that, I got lost and didn't get anything written down. But I am confident this is more more than just the fuel pump. My question is, how will I know? What do I do to find this problem? I'd hire the mechie, but he also has a job elsewhere and the local GMC shop is scheduling things 2-1/2 months out. So I'm pretty much on my own.

This is why I have made it a point to have at least 3 fuel pumps. 1 for when the in-tank pump fails and two to back that one up. I've gotten them off of Amazon and eBay, and I usually get just the pump itself. Though I will have to cut a hole in the bed to fix it myself the next time, because the pump always fails me at the worst time or place (thank God I'm not a cop working in East LA).