'03 Suburban Fuel Pump/tank ?s

[CDR242]

This may seem redundant, but this is my first post and I didn't see another post with the exact same issues, so, here goes:

 

Vehicle:

2003 Suburban, 6.0L, 4x4, QuadraSteer, 3/4 Ton, 68K miles

 

Issues:

1. Ran out of gas with 1/8 of a tank left (per gauge). The idiot light didn't come on (the light worked the last time my son op-checked it - prior to this event). Verified that there was still about 5 gallons in the tank when it "ran out of gas."

2. Since the event, it takes a long time to get the last 5 gallons of gas in the truck when I fill up.

 

When I discussed the issue with the dealer, they advised that:

a. I needed a new fuel pump ($600 + labor)

b. The vehicle has two fuel pumps, one is for a 5 gallon reserve.

c. The reason that it takes so long to get the last 5 gallons in the tank is that the reserve pump isn't pumping the fuel back into the reserve portion of the tank - this didn't make any sense - how does it come out of the reserve portion of the tank if the pump is out? If it was gravity feed, then why did I run out of gas with 5 gallons left?

 

Questions (in addition to the issue above):

- Does the truck have two fuel tanks?

- Does it have two fuel pumps?

- Are the two pumps in one module?

- Is there a less expensive repair option?

- Did the pick up tube simply fall off and the dealer's assessment is incorrect?

- Why does it take so long to get the last five gallons of gas in?

 

Thanks!

[L29er]

I had heard of a system like that on the GM 1ton cab and chassis trucks that worked like that, not too sure (or have never heard of the system on your model) but another thing that is common is for the breather at the top rear of the tank getting plugged up, it is easily removed and cleanable, it usually is the casue of most of the slow fueling problems i`ve dealt with... a time ago. BUT this is for slow filling at any tank level, so i may be just just be blowing wasted air.....

[CDR242]

Any other ideas?

[bill190]

I would crawl under the vehicle and look to see if there were two tanks or not. Then I would look in the factory service manual to see how it worked (best "owners manual" there is). Then go from there.

 

If you don't have a service manual set (4 books) and don't want to buy one, maybe you could look under the vehicle and see something obvious to check?

 

Like maybe there are two tanks and a connecting hose and one hose is pinched? Or things of that nature. Wouldn't need a service manual for that.