Rotted fuel pump/sender assembly + pipe ends stuck in fittings....

[sspeedguy]

Hi All!

First post on this great, very useful site.

I have an 07 silverado 1500 classic 4x4 ext cab 6.5ft bed with a 5.3 flex fuel motor.  I started getting a fuel smell after driving and noticed a few drips from under the tank, this appeared to be coming from the top and running down so i dropped the tank.

This is where everything went bad fast!

The first thing I see as I am lowering the tank is the two frame tubes above it were rusted almost completely through where they touch the tank... (now the rest of the frame on this truck is very good with no discernible rust to see). They honestly looked like they had been in the sea for 3 years! One has a section around 8 inches that's just gone! apart from about an inch of the top still left!

The next thing I see once the tank was down is the fuel delivery tube rusted out of the assembly floating loose and also very very corroded and leaking (pretty much disintegrated when i touched it).

That's the leak found then.

The larger return pipe is not allot better and also breaks off when examined, the small vent pipe on the side of the return pipe does the same and also breaks off.

Finally got the rusty old ring removed together with the (too large to fit back through the hole!@#??*&) whole pump sender assembly removed ready to replace with new.

Now my biggest issue. How do I get the old very rusted broken ends out of these 3 quick connect fuel/vent line fittings without trashing the fittings as I don't seem to be able to replace these fittings or the preformed pipes anywhere?

Who has had this same issue? and how did you get over it?

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by sspeedguy

[Big_kid]

I had same issue. Both of those lines go up further and disconnect. 
the fuel supply into a steel fuel line and the bigger into a vent/canister of some sort. I was able to get mine out with a few choice words and needle nose pliers. They make repair kits for the fuel tank support/crossmember. A cheap eBay no name fuel pump module is still working. I removed the bed for access to all this…

[richard wysong]

I agree with Big Kid, taking the bed off is the way to go. if you can't dig the rotted ends out you may have success carefully drilling them out. I believe there are repair kits available for this also. new fuel pumps are plastic so they won't rust. I'm surprised the top of the fuel tank isn't rotted

[sspeedguy]

Hi guys thanks for the reply's!

i have the whole tank and line assembly completely removed from the truck and have the pipes in hand i will need all 3 that connect to the top of the tank they all went the same way.... so will try the pliers n vice idea first, i did think about using something that dissolves rust as that would completely remove all the rusty ends left in the pipes.

I will look for repair kits for those cross members if not i will hit pick n pull with a saws-all and cut a couple of repair sections from other trucks lol! that's probably a job for the spring and will definitely be a bed off job. I went rockauto in the end and got a new pump assembly together with new locking ring coming for it. Both tank straps are rotted too so will be replacing those as well, I was thinking how lucky i was that the steel tabs in the tank that the locking ring locks into is not too rusty otherwise i would be looking at a new tank!....

 

Its a plastic tank on the 07, The original pump inside the tank is all fine its just that top piece where the pipes n sensors plug in that's rotted but its not sold separately otherwise this would be a cheap repair. i did think about drilling but could easily damage the fitting, i will look for the repair kits for them if not will hit the pick n pull tomorrow n see if i cant snag a set there.

Edited October 8, 2021 by sspeedguy

[sspeedguy]

Well, update on the pick n pull is they don't have anything with the same fittings I have....... removed tanks from all sort of year trucks and they all have different fittings, Looks almost like model year specific set of pipes!.. maybe because it's flex fuel? sooo getting them out is what I'm gonna have to do as I don't want to even think of the organs I need to sell in order to buy oem pipes.

[sspeedguy]

Well the new pipe as expected was over $120 from GM lol! Soo for now until I can get a new one made-up I am using std fuel injection hose and clamps as we always used to before quick connects were a thing. Works great!