BurbMan wrote:
Halmfamily wrote:
The mechanic said to not overfill the fuel tank, stop filling when it the pumps shuts off. Don't know of that had anything to do with the failure or the fact the van was a POS.
The reason for this is that overfilling can cause fuel to get into the evap vent lines and saturate the charcoal canister which in turn can cause emissions issues and check engine lights. Really nothing to do with the fuel pump.
Wiz, I don't know that you could take a fuel pump and mount it externally, it relies on fuel to keep it cool. Also any leaks/vapors are contained in the tank. An external pump would have to be engineered to withstand the heat and 100% duty cycles, so would likely cost a lot more for the OEM.
The 98 and 01 Grand Prixs I got for the kids both have access hatches in the trunk floor behind the back seat. I suspect other GM W bodies are the same. Pull the back seat out and you can work on the pump easily from inside the car.
It would be nice if you had a dash light for low fuel pressure or some indication that the pump was going south...the big issue with these pumps is not dropping the tank to change them, it's the "worked fine right up until it didn't" issue, where these things can quit with no warning regardless of where you happen to be.
I changed my fuel filter every year since new and mine still quit at 101k. I was in the middle of an intersection waiting to make a left turn, sitting there with my foot on the brake waiting for oncoming traffic to clear (not towing at the time.) When traffic was clear, I hit the gas and the engine died. Cop had to help me push the truck out of the intersection, it was blocking traffic (these 2500's are heavy!). Flatbed to the shop with diagnosis bad fuel pump.
Man, that would sure be nice if they all had access holes from inside the trunk! Another reason for not being mounted outside the tank (I think it may have been mentioned) is the pumps for injected engines put out high pressure but have poor suction. They need to be mounted in the liquid they're pumping.
My Blazer pump died just like your burb's. The only difference is I was able to start it long enough to make it through the intersection. No fun nonetheless.
