Long Story Over The Last Few Weeks. Please Help

cbknight · July 27, 2011

Here's the cliff notes from the last few weeks. Not sure if all are related but up until this point I had zero problems with this truck. As info, it is a 2007 Z71 1500 Chevrolet. Also, check engine light has been on for about a year. I figured it was the gas cap issue since I believe I had a message about checking gas cap once before it came on. Never had the codes pulled to see if that was. But the rest of the story:

About two weeks ago. Went out to leave and battery seemed dead. Wouldnt start. Jumped right off. Battery meter showed charging just above 14.

A few days later, same thing but battery not as dead. Tried to start but would barely turn over. Turned ignition off, tried again and it started....barely. Battery meter showed charging just above 14.

No issued till a week later. Would have bought a battery but it was doing fine. No issues for a week or so. But went to start after hasn't been ran for about 36 hours and was completely dead. Dead enough the radio presets were gone and check engine light was reset. Jumped it off and ran fine till two days ago. (I was still confused as to why the battery was fine for several days or a week then would be dead or nearly dead). Check engine light comes back on within a day or so.

Two days ago I was driving to Dallas. Two hour trip up....no issues. Leaving Dallas on way back home, the alternator/battery gauge drops to about 11-12, down from 14+. It did this for about 20 miles then slowly climbed back to 14+. Ran fine. About an hour later, it does the same thing again. Still ran fine. Got to my home town and pulled into NAPA Auto . By this time the charging was back up to 14+. NAPA Checked alternator and said it was charging at about 14.7. Went to a mechanics shop because right after leaving NAPA, it did the same thing...dropped to about 12. He checked it and said it was still in acceptable range. Also load tested the battery. Said it was fine. I drove home, about 15 minutes, no issues.

Yesterday, when I went to start it, I noticed it turned over several times before starting (first time for this ever). But ran fine. Never dropped below 14 on charge. Parked it, went to work. 9 Hours later I tried to start it and it was even slower starting. Turned over fine, just took it about 2 seconds to start. Charging fine and ran fine until I got about half way home (8 of 15 mile trip) and it acted like it was going to die. It went all the way down to idle (about 1000 rpm) and "limped home", 4-20 mph depending if I was uphill or down. I didnt notice whether the screen showed "Reduced Power". I dont think I even looked. It could have, or it may not have. I just dont know. I didnt know it would till I started googling. Anyway, I killed it. Started up fine. Then I killed it to come inside.

All help is appreciated.

Thank You

cbknight · July 27, 2011

Update. Put on new battery. Changed oil (just in case it was bad oil filter or something). New air filter.

Started it up and drove it to town (15 miles). Ran fine. No issues. Half way home, acted like it was running out of gas. Suddenly and violently. Let off gas. Tried to give gas and spit and sputtered. Eased down on the gas again. Ran 50-60 the remainder of way home. No warning lights. Nothing. Killed it. Started it back up. Sputtered and barely ran. But did idle.....roughly. Any ideas?

jro909 · July 29, 2011

fuel pump......otherwise go the dealer, they are trained to work on GM vehicles and really they are alot better bang for your buck..i love my dealer, they treat me and my wallet good

rdnkcpa · July 29, 2011

Before you throw a fuel pump at it, pull the codes and go from there. After you get the codes, go through the trouble shooting procedures outlined in the GM shop manual for your truck.

Or you can start throwing parts at it and hope it gets fixed.

To test the fuel pump you will need to buy a fuel pressure guage, that will tell you if your pump is bad or not.

You have a couple of options:

1. Take it to your local GM dealer and have them scan the truck and repair. Be prepared to have pretty deep pockets.

2. Buy a code reader and shop manual and see if you can get some help here.

3. Post symptoms here and start putting new parts on until the problem is fixed.

jro909 · July 30, 2011

a good honest dealer is really not expensive, i went to a local dealer for an oil change after i bought my truck private on a wim.. and honestly i've been happy every since, if you can build good raport with a dealer then its no different then going to a mom and pap shop