Suburban quirk

the previous owner said that he never let the gas fall below 1/2 tank.

I'm thinking of running it out with some injector cleaner in it then putting some fresh gas in it.

He didn't drive it much when he had it, so...it may just need some driving...
 
andrewlail76 said:
i won't go dealership if it comes to that cause eBay rocks...
fuel injector cleaner will be my step 1
Click to expand...

LOL...that sentiment explains a lot of your trouble.
What if that ebay pump is DOA? Who ya gonna return it to? Shipping cost? Now is it still cheaper?

BTW when you get it and cant figure out how to get the lock ring open on your existing tank, who is gonna help?

buy it from your local dealership and they will probably even be nice enough to chat with ya about how to install it.

I'm sorry if I sound like an ass, but this entire board listen to you whine and moan for 3 months looking for the perfect vehicle that you could trade for. You finally found it, and it has a few problems, now we listen to you whine about how its not fixed yet and ask for opinions. Meanwhile you post that someone else is fixing it. If you have taken it to someone else to fix you dont need our advice. you are not going to take your truck to someone to fix and then say, my buddy said the problem is "X"....You are not THAT guy are you?+

On some things you dont need 15 people to give you advice, you need to make a decision and pull the trigger and buy it.

You know Autozone carries AC DElCO parts as well, and Im sure they are the same ones your local GM dealership carries, right?

The ebay mind set is just aggravating for me, hell I use ebay. I bought battery for a 5 year old cell phone there. But if I need something new that is available local that $10 I spend extra is well worth the human interaction....never know when that local may solve your next problem.
 
Yikes...a moderator tearing me apart...
You want the story, I'll give you the story...

The mechanic my dad uses, loves him. He has days on and days off so he takes it to them. They usually cut him a pretty good deal. So far they have made NO effort to try and troubleshoot anything. All they have done so far is burn out my gas running to get parts for other vehicles and wait for it to possibly do it again. They haven't checked pressure from the fuel pump or anything that anyone on here has suggested. Dad has had ultimate faith in them, until I raise hell at him because they were using it for a runner. I appreciate his efforts, but not theirs.

I got a good story about them recharging the A/C I can tell you...it involves them discovering it had rear A/C and not turning it on while charging it and claiming something was wrong with the dryer because it wasn't getting cold or sweating...
I turned on the rear air on the drive home and the freon completed the full cycle and the dryer got cold and sweated...
also they want to charge me $20 per can for putting the freon in...it's going to take almost 6 cans to charge

They pay $3.50 for the freon and I can go get it for $4 at Big Lots...

anyway...


I understand that typically you need a vehicle to repeat a problem before you can fix it, but obvious stuff that I think should be checked isn't being done...so I am driving it now in hopes that it will do it again...and not leave me stranded anywhere.

This is what we were planning to take the family of 6 to the beach in and I have a 4 year old and a 9 month old, so I am scrambling to get this thing fixed since the mechanic isn't try very hard. I was hoping that someone on here has a Suburban that has done the same thing, but undoubtedly they don't. I am asking for advice from my peers while it was sitting at the mechanic, not being troubleshooted by the mechanics so I can check it myself.

No worries though...i'm not really WHINING about it...I'm just looking to you guys for advice and insight. People here own so many different types of vehicles, I thought that this was definitely the place to ask questions.

My truck had the pump go bad, and I got a pump from eBay with a no DOA guarantee. It worked, we installed it and had no more problems...I don't rely on eBay, but I have had good luck with it. If I can find the same thing at a reasonable price here, I get it.


I've never owned a vehicle with the TBI...I know a carb and I know fuel injection, and this seems to be in between the 2.

I am trying to learn.

Again...my apologies
 
SkyHiK5 said:
LOL...that sentiment explains a lot of your trouble.
What if that ebay pump is DOA? Who ya gonna return it to? Shipping cost? Now is it still cheaper?

BTW when you get it and cant figure out how to get the lock ring open on your existing tank, who is gonna help?

buy it from your local dealership and they will probably even be nice enough to chat with ya about how to install it.

I'm sorry if I sound like an ass, but this entire board listen to you whine and moan for 3 months looking for the perfect vehicle that you could trade for. You finally found it, and it has a few problems, now we listen to you whine about how its not fixed yet and ask for opinions. Meanwhile you post that someone else is fixing it. If you have taken it to someone else to fix you dont need our advice. you are not going to take your truck to someone to fix and then say, my buddy said the problem is "X"....You are not THAT guy are you?+

On some things you dont need 15 people to give you advice, you need to make a decision and pull the trigger and buy it.

You know Autozone carries AC DElCO parts as well, and Im sure they are the same ones your local GM dealership carries, right?

The ebay mind set is just aggravating for me, hell I use ebay. I bought battery for a 5 year old cell phone there. But if I need something new that is available local that $10 I spend extra is well worth the human interaction....never know when that local may solve your next problem.
Click to expand...


....Kinda rough dontcha think? I mean this is a forum to learn and gather ideas/opinions from others who have experienced problems.. I agree, I have seen all Andrews posts on ALL the vehicles he was inquiring about but isnt this site to learn..... and poke fun at others? :rolleyes: But when you say someone is whining when they are only asking questions then thats a little rough and would make any newbie not want to ask questions in fear of persecution. So take it easy on some people, heck if you dont like whining, dont read the post. Your the moderator, you can do that. Cheers :beer:
 
Ron (SkyhiK5), you took the words right out of my mouth !!!

You have a 16 year old vehicle with unknown history ( I don't care WHAT the previous owner told you, and reciepts can be mis-leading as well.)

given this vehicle has some major miles on it, and is 16yrs old, EXPECT TO SPEND MONEY ON IT !!!

if you nickle and dime it, it'll nickle and dime you back, and you will never be happy about owning it. PERIOD

REPLACE the whole pump and sending unit, with QUALITY parts, it's a bitch to do the first time, and worse if ya have to go in again, just do it !

Ok, so the problem persists, guess what, you KNOW the chance of having to pull the tank out and replacing the pump is pretty slim, so the rest of the suggestions still are viable.

Autozone, Advance Auto, unless you spend some coin, you are gonna get cheap ass parts, ( sometimes even IF you spend you'll get them) I learned long ago, to actually get the high priced part and the low priced part side by side, I found many times, for the higher price you are getting the same part in a more pretty package, and a warranty, it's the same fawking part.

When it comes to parts on a GM vehicle that you need to count on, AC Delco parts are the first choice, I found more vehicles with inferior parts where the owner cheaped out, and it cost them to do it again ( some times multiple time, they didn't want to listen)

If it were a Ford, I'd use Motorcraft.......

And as for your asking advise here, thats great, if you are gonna use it and actually do the work, if you came to me and said, "My buddy told me this is how to fix it..." I'd hand a bill for the time I already have in it, and suggest you let your friend fix it.

I've been keeping quiet on this whole deal, til someone else opened it up, so here it is.

And BTW, it has nothing at all to do with being a Mod, I'm quite certain there are other folks who feel the same way.
 
"LOL" stand for Lots of Love Andrew? Cause I dont think your gettin any ha ha...
 
Just good that I can take it...

Another day and it is cranking fine and running like a top. I shot 2 more cans of Freon in the A/C and it is cooling like a champ now and no leaks...

I guess I can abandon this post now...I don't want to come off as an impatient jerk begging for advice that they believe I won't take.
 
burban is in Mooresville getting body work and paint...depending on a possible second trade, it is going to either get painted, or pimped a bit...

still waiting for a random occurance of a no start...
 
I still vote for the fuel pump. Its an electric motor kinnda like a starter. It doesnt work one time you hut with a hammer it works for a couple months but sooner or later......
 
I posted my thoughts in your paint thread, but Id exorcise these demons before any :huggy:ing
 
What is so hard about dropping a fuel tank?
 
89wrangler said:
What is so hard about dropping a fuel tank?
Click to expand...


Im going to assume by this post you have never dropped one of these?

Suffice to say, it is easier to jerk the bed off then get the fuel tank down....
 
even more fun when there is a trailer hitch in the way !!!!

Oh, and don't wait for it to die, have a plan, and drive the tank to damn near empty, dropping a full fuel tank it the least fun of most anything I have done automotive, the newer 'burbs are even worse, as they have 2 tanks feeding from one filler, and the pump ALWAYS dies when it's full.
 
Once I get it back..I should be at 1/2 tank, and I will drive it about dry then swap the pump. Dad did it on the F150, but that was a small taknk...not this 42 gallon beast...
and there is a trailer hitch on this one too...
I wonder if I could cut a hole in the floor...
:lol:
 
Too bad your all the way in H-Vegas Andrew or i would help ya out. Let us know how much of a bitch it is to change out. Post up some new pics of the ride too with that fresh paint.
 
If you wanted to drag it down to york/lake wylie one weekend Id jump in and help out also....

The size of the tank wont be your biggest problem.
The straps are one of them, and the fact that the wires and hoses arent long enough to get the thing to the ground, and it is impossible to get your hand on top of the bitch to remove the retaining ring when its against the chasis is the other
 
Make sure you have a brass hammer and flat chisel/punch before you start
 
Im going to assume by this post you have never dropped one of these?
Click to expand...
You are correct, not one of these, but a lot of others. Put a hose in the tank, pull the fuel out (assumming it has gas in it) and go from there. Yea it is not the most fun thing to do, but it is not like pulling the motor, trannny or something? That was my only point. Hell, if it were easy, we would have nothing to bitch about.
 
89wrangler said:
You are correct, not one of these, but a lot of others. Put a hose in the tank, pull the fuel out (assumming it has gas in it) and go from there. Yea it is not the most fun thing to do, but it is not like pulling the motor, trannny or something? That was my only point. Hell, if it were easy, we would have nothing to bitch about.
Click to expand...


I could probably take the tranny out of his burban, and put a new one in in the amount of time it takes to get the tank down, if you plan to re-use the tank....
 
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