Fuel Pump Gone....... Big Question

[krumenauer]

Hey guys I am brand new to this site! Thanks for having me! Now to the good stuff:

 

My fuel pump went out on my 1992 Silverado 1500. I luckily made it home and parked it just outside of the garage up here in Wisconsin. The tailgate is to the back of the garage door. My big question is, can I just cut a hole in my box(I have a heavy duty bedliner already) above the fuel pump, to replace the fuel pump much easier instead of dismounting the box and all that jazz?

 

Let me put it this way, the disc for the die grinder, 3", is warming up and getting ready to cut.

 

If I can get your opinions on how to then reinstall the the part I cut off that would be great. I also don't have an exact location inside the box, but I mean I could get close. If anyone has the exact dimensions and an Opinion on this, that would be excellent. Please let me know......asap.

[chevylobo]

if you dont have a full tank of gas its prob easyer to drop the tank its only 2 bolts on the straps lower it with a jack disconnect the wires and hoses and fuell filler neck and over flow and lower it all the way down .

 

took me 20 mins tops on my 88 if you have the plastic tank sheild id lift the tank out of it and cleanup inside of it as i had rocks and all kinds of nasty stuff in mine that had worn the tank down in a few spots.

 

iv had bad experances and seen the bad out come of just cutting beds

[rickpilgrim]

You don't need to remove the box etc for this. Open fuel door, unbolt fuel fill and ground wire from box side. Under truck next, place floor jack under tank and unbolt tank straps and assorted bracketry that hold tank on. Lower tank slowly only as far as needed to reach wiring and fuel lines out of tank. Disconnect the lines and wires with care as not to damange them. Lower tank down and out from under truck and you will see a ring that locks the pump, fuel level sender assembly in, tap that ring with hammer and punch to rotate about 1/3rd turn and you can pull thepump out and replace it. Install in reverse order.

I would NOT cut holes in the box. 1st- I believe there is a support brace there you will have to cut. 2nd- I live in WI also, and with those nice fresh cuts in the box how long before rust sets in?. 3rd- It would be all to easy for dirt and crap to get in your tank with the "hole" method and that would really give you headaches in your fuel system. Either way, I would put a new "sock" on your fuel pickup while replacing the pump.

I'm assuming here that you checked for 12 volts at the fuel pump wire on top of the tank. If you don't have power at the tank from the relay you could have other problems. Good Luck, this is all easier than it sounds.

[Dooner]

Gotta love those in-the-tank GM fuel pumps...

[krumenauer]

WOW GUYS! I'm going to load it on my buddies trailer and take it to his car hoist. I'm going to drop the tank like you said.

 

How do I test the power. It was slowly running out of gas. I would give it some gas (1/4) throttle and it would be fine. Any more and it would start sputtering and lose speed. It started at 3/4 then 1/2 throttle all the way down to it not starting sitting in my driveway. I havn't verified that its a worn fuel pump, but no gas is getting to the carb. When I'm standing outside and a buddy turns the key, he nor I can hear the fuel pump click on or anything. How do I verify that it is the fuel pump......

 

Thanks,

[Wingnut]

Don't drop the tank!

 

It's about 300 times easier to just take the bed off.

 

It's either 6 or 8 bolts, wiring for tail lights, and the fuel filler neck...The lift the bed off. You can then comfortably sit on the frame rail and take your time replacing the pump. It's way easier than removing the tank (to me anyway).

 

Or you can take the bolts out of one side of the bed, loosen the bolts on the other side...Then just jack it up sideways (the bed, not the truck) and get enough clearance to do it that way.

[krumenauer]

I can use there car hoist, transmission jack, but we'll look at jacking up the bed. Do I need to disconnect the tail lights, bumper. Thanks for all the help guys. I just wish there was a magical way to fix it . We race stock cars, atv's, and sleds, but those generally don't have 18 year old rusted bolts on them!!!!!!! It should be fun.

[Wingnut]

Tail lights and fuel filler neck. Maybe a couple of other little things that I'm missing. The bumper is attached to the frame and should stay.