The internet fixed my truck

Jeff · August 30, 2008, 09:06:46 AM

A couple years ago we had the fuel pump quit on our Chevy truck. It aint easy or cheap to fix. After having it replaced, it ran good for a little over a month, then it started starting hard after it warmed up and on occasion would chug. It would start instantly with a cold engine, but crank and crank to start after it had run a few moments. So, back to the the same shop. They claimed the fuel pump was defective and replaced it again. They changed filters as well. The problem remained. They said nothing was wrong with it. We had it several other places for diagnosis that could find nothing. This summer it seemed to be getting even worse. Cranking longer to start, even smelling of fuel at times after starting. When Onewithwood was here he mentioned it, as he could smell the fuel, thinking it was like an automatic choke.

That got me thinking and researching. I got on google and typed in the trucks symptoms. In return I got several posts on forums with the exact same problem, and the exact same thngs happening to them at shops trying to figure it out. That's where I found the cure. Its apparently a part that doesn't always show up with the electronic diagnosis. Its a $60 dollar part and can be changed in 10 minutes. The fuel injector pressure regulator. Its located on the drivers side fuel rail on the 5.3 and has a vacuum hose hooked to it. Its no bigger in diameter then a 50 cent piece. I find it funny that after having the truck in for this problem several times that we found the problem and cured it ourselves using a search engine.

The truck starts better and runs better then it has in years. Its also getting better fuel mileage.

Rocky_J · August 30, 2008, 09:30:23 AM

Good deal, Jeff! Glad it's running correctly now. 8)

Roxie · August 30, 2008, 11:52:29 AM

There are so many wonderful things about having all that information at your finger tips. When it's used correctly, the internet is an awesome tool.

Radar67 · August 30, 2008, 12:03:40 PM

That's cool Jeff. I used the internet to change my auto locking 4 wheel drive hubs to manual, when the gear exploded. It sure saved me a bunch of money and the job was a lot easier than I thought.

sawguy21 · August 30, 2008, 12:46:10 PM

That is how I found the correct hub kit for my truck too. There is a lot of garbage out there but there is also an incredible amount of useful information on every subject imaginable.

Warbird · August 30, 2008, 03:30:22 PM

Hey Jeff, that's awesome! Wanna come up and help me fix my old Chevy pickup? ;D It is having somewhat similar issues but is carburetted, not fuel injected.

Tom · August 30, 2008, 06:33:23 PM

It probably also helps to have a bunch of grey cells between your ears, like you do. Most wouldn't question the dealer or their fixes. It takes a little bit of pugnacity to stick with something until it's fixed and even more to listen someone else on the way.

Tim L · August 30, 2008, 06:44:41 PM

my friend just had his pump changed for the second time in a year . Hmmm ? His is a 2000 chevy truck.

logwalker · August 30, 2008, 07:15:11 PM

Yes, since the advent of fuel injection, the FPR is one of those items that should be changed routinely. At least every 50k in my opinion. The real question is why the service mechanics couldn't find it. What passes as training these days? :(

Joe

Jeff · August 30, 2008, 07:31:58 PM

Quote from: Tim L on August 30, 2008, 06:44:41 PM
my friend just had his pump changed for the second time in a year . Hmmm ? His is a 2000 chevy truck.

Mine is a 1999. Find out if he has the same symptoms. When my fuel pump actually went, it went. Had to tow it home. The pressure regulator has just been a bugger. I should have mentioned the problem when I had the truck at Eggimann's this spring where they have top notch mechanics. There was so much other stuff going on with it at the time that that problem slipped my mind. I got a picture of the things tore down to put a heater core in it. Looks like it's been opened up with the jaws of life.

Tim L · August 31, 2008, 09:15:31 AM

on the same truck we are going to weld the frame . The body looks great but the frame went near the back of the cab. Jeff, the symptoms sound identical .

Jeff · August 31, 2008, 09:42:33 AM

I'll bet thats the problem.

Mooseherder · August 31, 2008, 10:23:27 AM

Quote from: Jeff on August 31, 2008, 09:42:33 AM
I'll bet thats the problem.

Things we'll do to get to a heater core.

Good thing it wasn't a serious problem. :D

KnotBB · August 31, 2008, 12:08:59 PM

You might want to check just behind the steering wheel. Might be a loose nut that needs tightened. :D :D :D

stonebroke · August 31, 2008, 03:22:12 PM

Remember when the heater was on the firewall in the engine compartment. You could change it in maybe ten minutes. Ah the good old days.

Stonebroke

rebocardo · August 31, 2008, 10:12:40 PM

> Its apparently a part that doesn't always show up with the electronic diagnosis.

That is the difference between a tech. and mech. A tech only knows what the computer tells him.

> When Onewithwood was here he mentioned it, as he could smell the fuel

What happens is it leaks after being shut off because the pressure has no where to go and it evaporates on the hot engine when it leaks. I tracked this down on a 2000 Olds mini-van for a customer. What a messed up design from GM to change that puppy (FPR).

A real mechanic would have put a fuel pressure gauge on it before he changed the filter, then if the pressure was not 35+ psi and higher at WOT, or held steady, he would have changed the FPR too.

FWIW: Yours was a classic symptom or either the fuel filter, FPR, or low pressure pump/check valve (loses prime) being bad. Especially with the extended cranking issue.

Jeff · August 31, 2008, 10:16:16 PM

Well it sure is better now. I dont get out and do much stop and go driving. I am either here at the house, or up north, where I usually go with my sister. Tammy drives the truck 95% of the time. Today we had to do some errands and I was driving. It sure is a totally different truck then it had been.

pigman · August 31, 2008, 10:29:32 PM

QuoteIt sure is a totally different truck then it had been.

Are you sure you didn't steal the neighbor's Dodge? Maybe you ment the truck is running a lot better. ;D

OneWithWood · September 03, 2008, 12:08:01 PM

Glad you got to the source of the problem. I bet your mileage has increased noticeably.

'automatic choke'...showing my age again ;D

rebocardo · September 03, 2008, 08:55:02 PM

Yes, usually after you replace a bad FPR it has more pep and the MPG goes up a tad too. Helps to not leak gas too. At $4 a gallon, more MPG isn't a bad thing, I bet bet the return to normal MPG will pay for the repair within a year easy.

metalspinner · September 04, 2008, 09:32:48 AM

Jeff,
I'm glad the truck is running great.

The pic of your dismantled truck reminded me of something I went through last year. It was "bring your pet to school day" at my son's elementary school. We elected to bring in the pet gecko.

Well, I had to stop at the doctors office before going to school with the gecko. On my return to the truck guess who was not in his traveling case. >:( By the end of the day, the truck looked like your pic. He had made his way behind the rear seat and behind the plastic facade that snaps onto the cab of the truck. Some of you may question my determination to find that little bugger, but the thought of that lizard dying and stinking up the truck was too much for me to bear. :D That and the broken heart of my youngest, of course. ;)

Jeff · February 03, 2014, 11:30:57 PM

What did we do before the internet? I know one thing, today it saved me some money. Yesterday during the attempt to cook some goodies for the super bowl, our oven quit. I looked at it briefly last night, but more thoroughly today.

The ignitor would come on and glow brightly, but the oven would not light. no gas. I figured there must be an oxygen sensor, or thermocouple or perhaps it was even the digital controls. Couldn't really figure it out because I couldn't find any sensors in the system. So, I got on google and searched the problem for our make of stove. I got an answer right away, and I never would have considered it as the problem. It was the ignitor. Even though it was glowing red hot, it is wired in series to a bi-metal switch that opens the gas valve. If enough amps are not flowing past the ignitor to the switch, the gas valve doesn't open. I wouldn't have ever considered the ignitor because it visibly worked well, so I would have had to call a repairman to have them trouble shoot it and fix it. Armed with the information of what the problem more than likely was, we found the part at an appliance store in the next town south, it took me about 15 minutes to change it, and the oven was ovening again. 8)

Magicman · February 04, 2014, 10:03:07 AM

Nice fix.

I was dealing with a problem with our Daughter's clothes washer or maybe I should say that it was dealing with me. She walks in with the laptop and asked "if this would help"?? Say what?? She had Googled and had the whole thing laid out.

No way would I have ever fixed it without her help. (And I would not have thought to Google it either.)

thecfarm · February 04, 2014, 10:05:39 AM

ovening again. I must say, I like that phase. ;D

Crow99 · February 04, 2014, 01:15:31 PM

Same thing here.. A couple of years ago the AC in my wife's 2003 Camry started going on and off. Estimates ran from low on refrigerant (not!!) to needing a new compressor. Turned out it was a relay to the magnetic clutch and cost me $25 to fix it myself. The net even showed the faulty part # which I had and the new replacement part #. Saved several hundred $$ there..

drobertson · February 04, 2014, 01:28:50 PM

you tube has helped on several occasions, the last being the washer, easy fix once you know where to look ;D
david

Roxie · February 04, 2014, 02:09:50 PM

On the other hand, I had a problem with my 2006 Explorer and intermittent bucking. If you Google that problem, you get a lot of suggestions that are mostly from the Ford Forums. I tried every suggestion, but still the Explorer would buck with no rhyme or reason and no dash lights would come on.

The beginning of November, I took the Ford to get four new tires. Good, gripping, Cooper tires all the way around. A few weeks went by, and the bucking never happened. My son and I were talking, and I asked him how getting new tires could possibly stop the bucking, and he pointed out to me that my Explorer had 'on demand' four wheel drive. Apparently, my tires were so bad they were slipping, and the four wheel was trying to come on, which on dry pavement caused a bucking action.

Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction. :D

GAB · February 04, 2014, 03:36:12 PM

If they added the new words I've seen on this site like "ovening" the dictionary would grow by a few pages a year. Keep 'em coming. Gerald

m wood · February 04, 2014, 03:42:42 PM

I so totally agree Jeff. I used to have the Chiltons aroung ther garage so very many years ago. drobertson took the words out of my mouth...youtube is amazing for how-to's. One better though, I now borrow my teenagers kindle and have it while I'm working. I'm usually a mess so thats all I ask my helper to do; use there clean hands and look up this and look up that, now go back, now pause right there :D. OK got it.

Jeff · February 04, 2014, 05:05:44 PM

Roxie, actually, I don't think the tires were actually slipping. What was happening is, that a worn tire becomes a smaller diameter than a new tire. Most newer vehicle computers are programmed with the required tire specifications and certain limits. Once the tire became very worn, and because of the now smaller circumference, the computer was sensing that the tire was slipping because it was not traveling the proper distance within the limits programed per rotation of the tire. So, the tire was rotating faster than it was supposed to, thus it must be spinning, thus, time to kick in the auto 4 wheel drive.

Magicman · February 04, 2014, 05:34:24 PM

Some of that anti-slipping stuff can mess you up too. Sometimes you want the tires to actually spin and the computer will prevent it. There are buttons to override the computer but you have to remember to press it. :-\

SwampDonkey · February 04, 2014, 06:11:17 PM

I've saved time ($$) and actual money (still in my pocket) from information from the internet regarding my saws. I didn't know anything and completely rebuilt a saw 4 years ago and used it ever since for 100's of acres. 8) 8)

Bill Gaiche · February 04, 2014, 08:38:33 PM

I looked up a u tube video on installing new mirrors on my 04 silverado. Found the exact thing for my replacements. Not that I couldn't have done it without it, but it gave me all the tools,and insight to change them out. This makes things a lot easier when you have a clear picture of what you are getting into. bg

r.man · February 15, 2014, 10:14:39 PM

I really like checking out a problem on the net and since I always drive older vehicles the work arounds and diy fixes are numerous for most problems. The one I like best was an intermittent fuel problem that saw the car towed twice. Checked different things but then found a suggestion on the net. The European fuel pump relays are known for micro cracks in their solder so I removed the relay, touched each solder joint with a hot iron and the problem never re-occurred. The actual fix took about 15 minutes and the relay was 80 dollars and a trip to the next town to pick one up.