I had to fix the bliwè harness at the blower motor. Melted it.
CK5
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2003 Silverado 1500
- Thread starter fourwheelerjeff
- Start date
in July 2024 I was driving it and I am pretty sure the fuel pump went out going across a bridge. I coasted to the other side and called around and the only one able to come pick me up and take me to my house was my ex-wife. 
so I get home and turn around in my dually to go borrow a trailer and pickup my pickup and take it home. I got impatient waiting on help to unload it and and when I did the winch rope broke and the pickup slammed into another pickup. so it sat out beside the house for 18 months or so. last October I bought a bed to replace the bent one. which should be noted this is the second bed I put on this truck. when I inherited it there was rust above the rear fender wells and I happened across another bed in a junk yard same color, same year in perfect shape; well, good enough for me.
anyway, I moved it in the driveway a couple of weeks ago to work on it. I have the bed slid back so I could see if I had a 1 or 2 connector pump.
my question is, I know a lot of guys use Spectra; how are their fuel pumps? I have been on Rock Auto looking at pumps and Spectra seems to be a brand I can afford.
so I get home and turn around in my dually to go borrow a trailer and pickup my pickup and take it home. I got impatient waiting on help to unload it and and when I did the winch rope broke and the pickup slammed into another pickup. so it sat out beside the house for 18 months or so. last October I bought a bed to replace the bent one. which should be noted this is the second bed I put on this truck. when I inherited it there was rust above the rear fender wells and I happened across another bed in a junk yard same color, same year in perfect shape; well, good enough for me.
anyway, I moved it in the driveway a couple of weeks ago to work on it. I have the bed slid back so I could see if I had a 1 or 2 connector pump.
my question is, I know a lot of guys use Spectra; how are their fuel pumps? I have been on Rock Auto looking at pumps and Spectra seems to be a brand I can afford.
I can tell you my experience has been that anytime I bought any fuel pump cheaper than a Delphi or AC Delco it failed within a year or 2.in July 2024 I was driving it and I am pretty sure the fuel pump went out going across a bridge. I coasted to the other side and called around and the only one able to come pick me up and take me to my house was my ex-wife.
so I get home and turn around in my dually to go borrow a trailer and pickup my pickup and take it home. I got impatient waiting on help to unload it and and when I did the winch rope broke and the pickup slammed into another pickup. so it sat out beside the house for 18 months or so. last October I bought a bed to replace the bent one. which should be noted this is the second bed I put on this truck. when I inherited it there was rust above the rear fender wells and I happened across another bed in a junk yard same color, same year in perfect shape; well, good enough for me.
anyway, I moved it in the driveway a couple of weeks ago to work on it. I have the bed slid back so I could see if I had a 1 or 2 connector pump.
my question is, I know a lot of guys use Spectra; how are their fuel pumps? I have been on Rock Auto looking at pumps and Spectra seems to be a brand I can afford.
Spectra's fuel tanks are good, but I know nothing of their pumps.
I'd also probably recommend Delco as a mid-priced pump. Probably still going to be made in China, but hopefully with better quality control. If budget is a concern, I would probably be looking for the cheapest pump I could get locally that has a lifetime warranty.
I see little value in paying decent money for a mediocre part that has no warranty, while at least if I buy a cheap part with a warranty, when it fails I don't have to buy it again. Depends on your use, if you need it to get to work daily and so on where failure is more than an inconvenience, going for better quality (as if that can be guaranteed just by price, which it cannot) just makes sense to me. The cost of needing a tow or whatever will easily exceed the cost of the better part.
I'm not sure if my next pump will be Delco or something pricey like AEM or whoever has a great reputation at the time I need the pump. But I'm not overly concerned with price, more what is going to last. I'd rather hedge my bets against having to drop the tank again by paying more for a pump in the hopes that the reputation and price are warranted.
I'd also probably recommend Delco as a mid-priced pump. Probably still going to be made in China, but hopefully with better quality control. If budget is a concern, I would probably be looking for the cheapest pump I could get locally that has a lifetime warranty.
I see little value in paying decent money for a mediocre part that has no warranty, while at least if I buy a cheap part with a warranty, when it fails I don't have to buy it again. Depends on your use, if you need it to get to work daily and so on where failure is more than an inconvenience, going for better quality (as if that can be guaranteed just by price, which it cannot) just makes sense to me. The cost of needing a tow or whatever will easily exceed the cost of the better part.
I'm not sure if my next pump will be Delco or something pricey like AEM or whoever has a great reputation at the time I need the pump. But I'm not overly concerned with price, more what is going to last. I'd rather hedge my bets against having to drop the tank again by paying more for a pump in the hopes that the reputation and price are warranted.
If it fits a EP381 is good or a AEM 50-1000
Dropping the tank on these trucks is no picnic.
I did my 97 jimmy it took me 3 hours a year later it died, I got the good one and it's going on 7 years.
I did my 98 van and got the good one, my buddy got a 99 van and had a problem with the pump he cheaped out against my suggestion, 3 months later on the road he started getting bad noises from the pump, he stopped the next day at a napa store and got a better one and lasted him till he sold it to pick n pull running 4 years later.
My time is worth more than the $100-200 savings on the cheap pump, no matter what the warranty is.
Spectra is lifetime warranty.
Cutting a hole in the floor is not everyone's favorite thing but it sure does make it easier to deal with a part that seems to be getting more and more problematic. I haven't looked for any sort of cheap solution to monitor fuel pressure but that might be a way to manage using a cheaper pump too. If it gives you any warning, at least you would have a chance of seeing it.
I stick with Delco or Delphi pumps. I will say I’ve had my share of failure, but I think the last two were probably more due to me neglecting to change the fuel filter at the same time of a prior pump replacement.
On a pickup it’s far easier jack the bed up vs dropping a tank. Even more so since murphy’s law dictates if you have a fuel delivery problem the tank is gonna be full. Even without a lift I’ve been able to jack up the side of the bed on two trucks with nothing more than a floor jack and a couple of two by fours. Use common sense to support the bed safely so you can work under it or get a couple of buddies to just lift it and slide it backwards enough to access the pump.
Unfortunately on a 2003 truck, the pump is not typically serviced outside of the fuel module assembly. So an ep381 pump by itself won’t work on that truck.
On a pickup it’s far easier jack the bed up vs dropping a tank. Even more so since murphy’s law dictates if you have a fuel delivery problem the tank is gonna be full. Even without a lift I’ve been able to jack up the side of the bed on two trucks with nothing more than a floor jack and a couple of two by fours. Use common sense to support the bed safely so you can work under it or get a couple of buddies to just lift it and slide it backwards enough to access the pump.
Unfortunately on a 2003 truck, the pump is not typically serviced outside of the fuel module assembly. So an ep381 pump by itself won’t work on that truck.
Another problem is people running the tanks low all the time.
The pump needs the fuel to cool it down.
I tell people to try and get fuel half way, but never let it go below a quarter
I was able to move the bed back on the frame. this is a 2003 truck and the fuel pump has never been changed.
in July 2024 I was driving it and I am pretty sure the fuel pump went out going across a bridge. I coasted to the other side and called around and the only one able to come pick me up and take me to my house was my ex-wife.
so I get home and turn around in my dually to go borrow a trailer and pickup my pickup and take it home. I got impatient waiting on help to unload it and and when I did the winch rope broke and the pickup slammed into another pickup. so it sat out beside the house for 18 months or so. last October I bought a bed to replace the bent one. which should be noted this is the second bed I put on this truck. when I inherited it there was rust above the rear fender wells and I happened across another bed in a junk yard same color, same year in perfect shape; well, good enough for me.
anyway, I moved it in the driveway a couple of weeks ago to work on it. I have the bed slid back so I could see if I had a 1 or 2 connector pump.
my question is, I know a lot of guys use Spectra; how are their fuel pumps? I have been on Rock Auto looking at pumps and Spectra seems to be a brand I can afford.
so here are some pics of the damage:
I was upset that this happened and was busy with life and this pickup sat for over a year; off and on I would look for another bed for it. In November of 2025 I found another bed in Plainview TX and went and bought it
after I replaced the fuel pump and started looking at the beds I got to thinking maybe I had jumped the gun on buying another bed. the one on the truck wasn't as bad as I originally panicked over. I had been talking to a guy in Childress about painting the truck. I had already taken him the bought bed and when I took him the truck I left the bed on so he could decide which one was in better shape (spoiler: the bed that was on it was in a lot better shape, didn't have as many dents). so I took the front end off and the tail lights and harnesses out so he wouldn't have to try to mask stuff off. also one pic is the passenger side cab corner he is going to replace. he is pretty cheap so I know it will not be show quality but hopefully the dents will be out.
he sent me this picture; he has started on it. I have new headlights, turn signals, taillights, plastics for the upper and lower front bumper, grille, and will pick which rear bumper is in better shape. I have a Magnaflow exhaust to put on it. I would like to lower it 2" and put some chrome snowflakes on it with 20" tires.
