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TBI fuel pump swap...

Avery4jc

Avery4jc

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I have a friend whose truck left him stranded across town with fuel issues so I went over and tried to see what's up with it.

It's a '91 Chevy 1500 all stock.

It will barely start if you put your foot in it and even then it just dies after a few seconds. I pulled the air cleaner off and there is hardly any fuel coming through the injectors. I checked the fuel pump relay and it clicks on with the key so I know that's good.
Then it hit me I didn't hear the angry hive of bees these trucks are known for. :D

I crawled under and put my hand on top of the tank and when he keys it on you can feel the fuel pump trying to pump but it's really quiet and you can feel it struggling.

Soooo.... after a trip home to get the trailer and a trip back and forth the truck is now in my garage. We're going to tackle the fuel pump tomorrow after work.

Anything I should know out of the ordinary? I'm contemplating dropping the tank vs. pulling the bed but he has a camper shell which adds an extra pain.

Does it take a special tool to pull the fuel lines off the pickup? I watched a movie on youtube and it took a special tool but it was a '97 truck so Vortec, not TBI.

Just looking for tips since I figured one of you guys had done this before.

Thanks.
 
dropping the tank isn't a bad way to go about it but just to state the obvious, siphon out as much gas as you can before

no special tools needed, just metric wrenches iirc, or two crescents do the job well too for the fuel lines, they should be different sized threads too so no need to worry about getting them switched

all other fittings are a hose clamp of some variation

one thing to note is there are two small o-rings on each fitting attached to the pump end and a good idea to replace these while it's apart, they may or may not be included with the pump depending on how complete a replacement he's buying

is he getting an entire sender w/ pump assembly or just the pump?
 
hd44blazer said:
dropping the tank isn't a bad way to go about it but just to state the obvious, siphon out as much gas as you can before

no special tools needed, just metric wrenches iirc, or two crescents do the job well too for the fuel lines, they should be different sized threads too so no need to worry about getting them switched

all other fittings are a hose clamp of some variation

one thing to note is there are two small o-rings on each fitting attached to the pump end and a good idea to replace these while it's apart, they may or may not be included with the pump depending on how complete a replacement he's buying

is he getting an entire sender w/ pump assembly or just the pump?
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info. His sender works fine so I'd imagine he'll just grab the pump by itself. I told him to get a new filter too and we'll try that first before the pump. He recently bought this truck so who knows how old that filter is.
 
Replaced the in line filter, dropped the tank and changed the pump and filter there and it runs like a champ. Seems to idle and run better than when he got it so maybe the pump has been on the way out this whole time.
 
Oh and on this note I think the next time I have to do this on a truck I'm pulling the bed. Seems like it would be a heck of a lot easier than dropping the tank. The lines only had about 6" of slack coming off the frame and were REALLY tight, I'm thinking this is the first time the tank had been dropped since new.
 
I may have been a bit biased since I extended the lines on mine, but I have done both methods on my dad's '01 Silverado 2500 and seemed to be about the same difficulty wise, although the lines on that one are quick disconnect rather than threaded fittings which made it slightly easier as well
 
Avery4jc said:
Oh and on this note I think the next time I have to do this on a truck I'm pulling the bed. Seems like it would be a heck of a lot easier than dropping the tank. The lines only had about 6" of slack coming off the frame and were REALLY tight, I'm thinking this is the first time the tank had been dropped since new.
Click to expand...


How'd you drop the tank?

I screwed some 2x4's across a harbor freight trans jack, and dropping the tank in my burb really wasn't that bad. Yes, lines were a bit tight, but doable.

I couldn't imagine removing the bed being easier....
 
dhcomp said:
How'd you drop the tank?

I screwed some 2x4's across a harbor freight trans jack, and dropping the tank in my burb really wasn't that bad. Yes, lines were a bit tight, but doable.

I couldn't imagine removing the bed being easier....
Click to expand...
I just used a floor jack and a block of wood. It wasn't the physical dropping and raising that was a pain, it was just the short line length that made it a pain because you had to lower it a couple inches and get up in there to disconnect the lines before going any further.
This tank is wedged between the drive shaft and frame, isn't your burb tank out back kinda behind the rear axle?

I'm not sure why guys think pulling the bed is a pain. I've pulled a couple over the years, just a few bolts, a plug or two back by the tail lights and some screws around the filler neck and yank it off.
 
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