Larry Red 1959

I have a 2002 that stopped running while I was driving down the road. The car will not start now. It is not showing any codes. I am trying to research what to do now. I do believe the problem is the fuel pump. How do I change it and is there one or two on the car?
Thanks,
Larry

C5kid

check for pressure at the rail first instead of assuming it's the pump.

take the cap off the end fuel rail and have some one turn the key and you press in the schreader valve.

WARNING!!! have a rag because it will spray fuel if your pump is working.

There is one pump, behind the drivers side. You will need to remove the wheel and there is a metal cover over the tank. Remove that cover and you can access the pump.

LoneStarFRC

Have you put gas in it?

dmarkshark

Check the fuse?

lucky131969

I agree with not making an assumption on the pump, the rest is poor advice. Pick up a fuel pressure gauge at your local autoparts store, and check safely......this will allow you to check for the correct pressure, and bleed down.

Larry Red 1959

yes there is gas in it. i remember a friend who was rebuilding his enging years ago and it would not start/run. it sounded starved for fuel. as he was taking thinkgs apart i kept aksing him if it had fuel. he told me more than onced it did. A few days and several $$$ later he discovered HE WAS WRONG. not a drop of fuel!!

Larry Red 1959

a little fuel comes out of the rail, not much. and i went and got a tester. it showed about 8 lbs.
also some assembly diagrams show a sender unit on both the right and left? [I am still confused about that]

Larry Red 1959

yes the fuses are good.

AND A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THAT HAVE HELPED!!!!

Jim in Mich

I think your fuel pressure should be 50 psi+ Also on a 2002 I think the fuel filter has a regulator in it, you might get lucky and only have a bad filter. It's on the driver side by the tank.

LoneStarFRC

Nominal pressure should be 58 psi.

Yes there are 2 senders. They are senders however and a sender is different than a fuel pump. Senders tell the PCM what the fuel level is in their respective tanks.

The only electrical fuel pump in the system - and the one that generates the fuel operating pressure - is in the driver's side tank. The pump and fuel level sender are combined into an assembly GM calls a "module".

There is a non-electrical pump in the right tank called a "siphon, or jet pump" that is used only for transferring fuel from the right (pass.) tank to the left (driver's) tank. ALL fuel going to the engine comes from the driver's tank.

I agree with Jim in Mich about considering the fuel filter/regulator as a possible source of trouble. It's fairly easy to replace too.

Larry Red 1959

Thank you LoneStar!! I am going to check the fuel regulator today.

Larry Red 1959

i am going to drain the fuel tank. is there a way to do this, other than sticking a hose down the spout?

LoneStarFRC

Disconnect the tank outlet line and quickly slip some clear vinyl hose over the end. Depending on the fuel level, you should get some drainage going, but it's better to attach a small hand pump. Goes much faster and gets more fuel out. I've seen the little plastic hand pumps at the AP stores for cheap.

Note: if you decide to remove the pump/sender module, remember to get it part way out and remove the sender part first and snake it (and it's attached float arm) out before trying to remove the remainder. I also strongly recommend you do NOT reuse the old module flange gasket and mounting screws. Serious. Get a new one. ACDelco part #G4 (GM part # 12458250). Order it from either Gene Culley or Fichtner Chev. Rock-Auto has it too. It comes with new, special attaching bolts (and 1 spare) and it ain't cheap. In the $55.00 range - $65.00. Don't be shocked at that price. List price from you local stealer will be over $100.00

Larry Red 1959

Everyone,
Thanks for all of the help!!! i ordered a new transfer pump from FICHTNER CHEVROLET! GREAT PEOPLE TO WORK WITH!!! it was about half the price of the local rip off GM distributor. They included the new bolts and gasket.
Before i ordered the pump i did one thing to check that it was the transfer pump going bad. i put about 1 1/2 gallons of fuel in the main tank and the car started. that helped me to determine that it was the transfer pump that was faulty!
Thanks again for all of the help and replies!!
Larry

LoneStarFRC

Not sure if I follow you here. If you put 1 1/2 gals of gas in the car and the car immediately started, it sounds more like your driver's side tank was empty. If it was empty, that can be a sign that the very low fuel pressure up front was due to an empty tank OR a malfunctioning pump OR a plugged fuel filter OR a combination of those things. A pump can't pump what isn't there. It's very possible you had a faulty sender telling you you had fuel when you didn't. It's happened to a number of people, including me. By replacing the entire fuel module on the driver's side, you are replacing not only the pump, but the sending unit for your fuel gauge as well which MAY have been the original "source" of the problem to begin with.

Remember: Your car has 2 fuel tanks, but ALL (100%) of the fuel going to the engine comes from the driver's side tank. Period. NONE comes from the right side tank.

I very much agree with you that Fichtner is a very good resource for all of us here. I have purchased a number of things from them over the years and have nothing but good experiences.