Fuel pressure

Al C · August 9, 2005

Hi,

I have a '99 1500 Silverado 5.3L V8. Lately it has had trouble starting. Sometimes it doesn't have any fuel pressure when I go to turn it on. I think I have narrowed the problem down to the fuel pump somewhere. By crawling underneath and jiggling the electrical connections going into the top of the fuel pump and leaving the key in the off position I can get fuel pressure and the truck to start.

Could this be something wrong with the fuel pump? Bad connections? Bad contactors?

It runs perfectly fine once it starts. It also seems to be more affected by the hot weather.

Thanks,

-Chris

GM-Tech · August 9, 2005

The pump is down inside the tank... jiggling wires isn't going to transfer all the way to the pump. But, you certainly could have a connection problem right at the top of the sending unit.

71GMC_3/4T · August 9, 2005

Aw, Geez, now you probably got a million folks wondering if their pump was bad, or if it was a simple connection issue!

I know what I'm checking first if mine ever quits. Thanks GM-Tech!!

Al C · August 10, 2005

I went to my local GM dealer and was quoted $103 for the plug that seems faulty. I took the plug apart and replaced the contactors inside it ($8) This seems to have fixed the problem. One of the contactors appeared burnt, possibly causing this to make a faulty connection. I checked with one of the other guys who services our truck and he said that the previous fuel pump was drawing a lot of current, which might explain this.

It seems to have no problems now...

GM-Tech · August 10, 2005

I checked with one of the other guys who services our truck and he said that the previous fuel pump was drawing a lot of current, which might explain this.

This IS usually the cause of burned connectors. Seen it many times.

I should have added, the burned connectors we see are the ones that are inside, not outside, the sending unit. Can't say I've seen one on the external connector, but I see no reason why that couldn't happen too.