Can I tow my Tahoe home?

[swathdiver]

Thanks Swathdriver and 89suburban and others.

Happy to help! Stick with AC Delco or GM OE for that fuel pump now.

 

[drakon543]

maybe he likes adventure and the challenge.

 

[Sean James]

Well, just finished the fuel pump, 10 hours with a few breaks for food, nightly dog walk, etc. Got a Delphi pump for $150 at auto zone, they wanted $299 for AC Delco (really?). But with the help of many of you here, I gathered that Delphi and Delco are the same or similar. I hope I made a decent decision. All went pretty well, but the darn fuel and return lines took the most work to get off. I had a package of the plastic fuel line removal gismos, did not work, and a set of AGM aluminum fuel line tools, that did not work. (due to the plastic re-enforcement part between lines) So, what the heck, fuel pump is shot so I just hack-sawed a little bit off the top of the plastic pump outlet lines and broke them off with pliers. Then had a fun time trying to find the disconnect for the charcoal canister. But after jacking up the rear axle, jack stands, and another floor jack with a 1X6 about 15" long on the bottom of the tank, I was able to lower it and follow that last part of the charcoal canister line and find the dis-connector at the front top of the tank and pull the line connector off.

The Fuel Gauge said a little over a 1/4 tank of fuel, but darn it was heavy as hell. I slid the tank out from the left side, and then drained the remaining fuel into my 5 gallon gas cans, knowing that it would make everything much easier. I dumped 7.5 gallons out of the filler tube into my cans until it seemed mostly empty, but there must be some type of baffles in the tank, because I could still hear/feel some fuel sloshing around when no more would come out of the filler tube stub, but way easier to work with when almost empty.

Once the tank was out of the way, I was able to chip off the plastic re-enforcement sections and get the push-in tool in the fuel lines and pull out what was left of the old plastic fuel pump ends clean. I was careful to not get any plastic chips in the tank, but I was taking a chance. Once the new pump was assembled, installed into the tank, and lock ring reinstalled, the rest went really fast. Plan was to solder the new wiring plug in with a mini-torch, but I decided that was probably a bad idea with all the gas fumes hanging out on the floor, so I just used the crimp connectors that came with the kit, but added my own shrink wrap tubing over them. I hate crimp connectors as I have had them come loose on my boats and other cars before, ( I have learned that twist connectors works WAY better, but they take up way more space) so I used small vise-grips to smash the heck out of the crimp connectors . I used my kids bic lighter to shrink the tubing which was probably stupid, but I had the garage door open and I know that gas vapors sink, and my dogs were not complaining about the fumes at this point. (Don't know why my kids have bic lighters, probably smoking weed in my house and time to kick them out, another story). Anyway, before I tightened everything down, I hooked the battery back up and hit the key for a quick second and waa-laa. Happy truck. Disconnected the battery again, hooked up fuel lines, fill hoses, and charcoal line, torqued down straps, reconnected battery, and she fired right up. I really took a chance as I did not know for sure it was the fuel pump. As we all know, it could have been a number of things, but the fuel pump was whining loud for a few months, so I was pretty sure that was it.

Then, I pulled out all the jack-stands, lowered the floor jack, fired her up again and warmed her up a little, everything perfect! Since my old-school Sierra lives in the garage, I had to back the Tahoe out and put the Sierra back in her warm spot.

I put the Tahoe in reverse and BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!...

Well, as I was pretty burnt out at this time, my back was giving me hell, I was half-covered in gasoline, inhaled a bunch of fumes (not the kind I think my kids are probably inhaling). I slammed her back into "Park" and shut her off... WTF!

How the hell could a fuel pump change make all that noise? What did I do wrong? Did I fry the Trans? or the Transfer case by towing it without disconnecting the front driveshaft? Should I have taken it to a dealer or shop and just paid the $400 for a new fuel pump? Paid for a tow truck? A flatbed? Oh no!

DAAA! Upon grabbing a flashlight and proceeding to climb under the tuck, my wife comes runnig into the garage yelling "what was that"!!! I told her that it was normal for a new fuel pump change it has to "break in" before you can drive it. She said "oh, o.k., that sounded kinda loud in the house. No worries honey, did you feed the chickens?

When I knew it was safe, I scooted under the truck assuming the worst, trans fluid everywhere, cracked transfer case, and maybe a IRS agent as it is almost April 15th. But no! A bunch of little pieces of steel greasy steel pins all over the floor! Oh hell! where did this all come from? what broke? What have I done?

Many of you have already guessed it. I forgot to put the rear driveshaft back in, the shaft was wired up in two places to a muffler hanger to tow her home, upon putting her in reverse the shaft spun, and the Chinese duck tape came off and the u-joint bearing caps flew off and spit a bunch of the needle bearings onto the floor, holy crap I'm a moron. No big deal I guess, the fence wire held the shaft where I had put it, but as many of you know, I will be finding needle bearings throughout my garage for the next 2 years.

Back to the parts store tomorrow for a new u-joint. I really wanted to see that hot, squishy nylon come squirting out of them little holes anyway, don't forget the map gas. Thanks again Guys! and oh, 99 Tahoe 5.7 4X autotrak

 

[RST Dana]

Well, just finished the fuel pump, 10 hours with a few breaks for food, nightly dog walk, etc. Got a Delphi pump for $150 at auto zone, they wanted $299 for AC Delco (really?). But with the help of many of you here, I gathered that Delphi and Delco are the same or similar. I hope I made a decent decision. All went pretty well, but the darn fuel and return lines took the most work to get off. I had a package of the plastic fuel line removal gismos, did not work, and a set of AGM aluminum fuel line tools, that did not work. (due to the plastic re-enforcement part between lines) So, what the heck, fuel pump is shot so I just hack-sawed a little bit off the top of the plastic pump outlet lines and broke them off with pliers. Then had a fun time trying to find the disconnect for the charcoal canister. But after jacking up the rear axle, jack stands, and another floor jack with a 1X6 about 15" long on the bottom of the tank, I was able to lower it and follow that last part of the charcoal canister line and find the dis-connector at the front top of the tank and pull the line connector off.

The Fuel Gauge said a little over a 1/4 tank of fuel, but darn it was heavy as hell. I slid the tank out from the left side, and then drained the remaining fuel into my 5 gallon gas cans, knowing that it would make everything much easier. I dumped 7.5 gallons out of the filler tube into my cans until it seemed mostly empty, but there must be some type of baffles in the tank, because I could still hear/feel some fuel sloshing around when no more would come out of the filler tube stub, but way easier to work with when almost empty.

Once the tank was out of the way, I was able to chip off the plastic re-enforcement sections and get the push-in tool in the fuel lines and pull out what was left of the old plastic fuel pump ends clean. I was careful to not get any plastic chips in the tank, but I was taking a chance. Once the new pump was assembled, installed into the tank, and lock ring reinstalled, the rest went really fast. Plan was to solder the new wiring plug in with a mini-torch, but I decided that was probably a bad idea with all the gas fumes hanging out on the floor, so I just used the crimp connectors that came with the kit, but added my own shrink wrap tubing over them. I hate crimp connectors as I have had them come loose on my boats and other cars before, ( I have learned that twist connectors works WAY better, but they take up way more space) so I used small vise-grips to smash the heck out of the crimp connectors . I used my kids bic lighter to shrink the tubing which was probably stupid, but I had the garage door open and I know that gas vapors sink, and my dogs were not complaining about the fumes at this point. (Don't know why my kids have bic lighters, probably smoking weed in my house and time to kick them out, another story). Anyway, before I tightened everything down, I hooked the battery back up and hit the key for a quick second and waa-laa. Happy truck. Disconnected the battery again, hooked up fuel lines, fill hoses, and charcoal line, torqued down straps, reconnected battery, and she fired right up. I really took a chance as I did not know for sure it was the fuel pump. As we all know, it could have been a number of things, but the fuel pump was whining loud for a few months, so I was pretty sure that was it.

Then, I pulled out all the jack-stands, lowered the floor jack, fired her up again and warmed her up a little, everything perfect! Since my old-school Sierra lives in the garage, I had to back the Tahoe out and put the Sierra back in her warm spot.

I put the Tahoe in reverse and BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!...

Well, as I was pretty burnt out at this time, my back was giving me hell, I was half-covered in gasoline, inhaled a bunch of fumes (not the kind I think my kids are probably inhaling). I slammed her back into "Park" and shut her off... WTF!

How the hell could a fuel pump change make all that noise? What did I do wrong? Did I fry the Trans? or the Transfer case by towing it without disconnecting the front driveshaft? Should I have taken it to a dealer or shop and just paid the $400 for a new fuel pump? Paid for a tow truck? A flatbed? Oh no!

DAAA! Upon grabbing a flashlight and proceeding to climb under the tuck, my wife comes runnig into the garage yelling "what was that"!!! I told her that it was normal for a new fuel pump change it has to "break in" before you can drive it. She said "oh, o.k., that sounded kinda loud in the house. No worries honey, did you feed the chickens?

When I knew it was safe, I scooted under the truck assuming the worst, trans fluid everywhere, cracked transfer case, and maybe a IRS agent as it is almost April 15th. But no! A bunch of little pieces of steel greasy steel pins all over the floor! Oh hell! where did this all come from? what broke? What have I done?

Many of you have already guessed it. I forgot to put the rear driveshaft back in, the shaft was wired up in two places to a muffler hanger to tow her home, upon putting her in reverse the shaft spun, and the Chinese duck tape came off and the u-joint bearing caps flew off and spit a bunch of the needle bearings onto the floor, holy crap I'm a moron. No big deal I guess, the fence wire held the shaft where I had put it, but as many of you know, I will be finding needle bearings throughout my garage for the next 2 years.

Back to the parts store tomorrow for a new u-joint. I really wanted to see that hot, squishy nylon come squirting out of them little holes anyway, don't forget the map gas. Thanks again Guys! and oh, 99 Tahoe 5.7 4X autotrak

View attachment 220527

I am rolling here. I had forgotten the earlier post about the drive shaft. You did mention it might be a good time for a new ujoint.....consider it a gift from the Easter Bunny, (except you are paying for it)

 

[89Suburban]

Well, just finished the fuel pump, 10 hours with a few breaks for food, nightly dog walk, etc. Got a Delphi pump for $150 at auto zone, they wanted $299 for AC Delco (really?). But with the help of many of you here, I gathered that Delphi and Delco are the same or similar. I hope I made a decent decision. All went pretty well, but the darn fuel and return lines took the most work to get off. I had a package of the plastic fuel line removal gismos, did not work, and a set of AGM aluminum fuel line tools, that did not work. (due to the plastic re-enforcement part between lines) So, what the heck, fuel pump is shot so I just hack-sawed a little bit off the top of the plastic pump outlet lines and broke them off with pliers. Then had a fun time trying to find the disconnect for the charcoal canister. But after jacking up the rear axle, jack stands, and another floor jack with a 1X6 about 15" long on the bottom of the tank, I was able to lower it and follow that last part of the charcoal canister line and find the dis-connector at the front top of the tank and pull the line connector off.

The Fuel Gauge said a little over a 1/4 tank of fuel, but darn it was heavy as hell. I slid the tank out from the left side, and then drained the remaining fuel into my 5 gallon gas cans, knowing that it would make everything much easier. I dumped 7.5 gallons out of the filler tube into my cans until it seemed mostly empty, but there must be some type of baffles in the tank, because I could still hear/feel some fuel sloshing around when no more would come out of the filler tube stub, but way easier to work with when almost empty.

Once the tank was out of the way, I was able to chip off the plastic re-enforcement sections and get the push-in tool in the fuel lines and pull out what was left of the old plastic fuel pump ends clean. I was careful to not get any plastic chips in the tank, but I was taking a chance. Once the new pump was assembled, installed into the tank, and lock ring reinstalled, the rest went really fast. Plan was to solder the new wiring plug in with a mini-torch, but I decided that was probably a bad idea with all the gas fumes hanging out on the floor, so I just used the crimp connectors that came with the kit, but added my own shrink wrap tubing over them. I hate crimp connectors as I have had them come loose on my boats and other cars before, ( I have learned that twist connectors works WAY better, but they take up way more space) so I used small vise-grips to smash the heck out of the crimp connectors . I used my kids bic lighter to shrink the tubing which was probably stupid, but I had the garage door open and I know that gas vapors sink, and my dogs were not complaining about the fumes at this point. (Don't know why my kids have bic lighters, probably smoking weed in my house and time to kick them out, another story). Anyway, before I tightened everything down, I hooked the battery back up and hit the key for a quick second and waa-laa. Happy truck. Disconnected the battery again, hooked up fuel lines, fill hoses, and charcoal line, torqued down straps, reconnected battery, and she fired right up. I really took a chance as I did not know for sure it was the fuel pump. As we all know, it could have been a number of things, but the fuel pump was whining loud for a few months, so I was pretty sure that was it.

Then, I pulled out all the jack-stands, lowered the floor jack, fired her up again and warmed her up a little, everything perfect! Since my old-school Sierra lives in the garage, I had to back the Tahoe out and put the Sierra back in her warm spot.

I put the Tahoe in reverse and BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!...

Well, as I was pretty burnt out at this time, my back was giving me hell, I was half-covered in gasoline, inhaled a bunch of fumes (not the kind I think my kids are probably inhaling). I slammed her back into "Park" and shut her off... WTF!

How the hell could a fuel pump change make all that noise? What did I do wrong? Did I fry the Trans? or the Transfer case by towing it without disconnecting the front driveshaft? Should I have taken it to a dealer or shop and just paid the $400 for a new fuel pump? Paid for a tow truck? A flatbed? Oh no!

DAAA! Upon grabbing a flashlight and proceeding to climb under the tuck, my wife comes runnig into the garage yelling "what was that"!!! I told her that it was normal for a new fuel pump change it has to "break in" before you can drive it. She said "oh, o.k., that sounded kinda loud in the house. No worries honey, did you feed the chickens?

When I knew it was safe, I scooted under the truck assuming the worst, trans fluid everywhere, cracked transfer case, and maybe a IRS agent as it is almost April 15th. But no! A bunch of little pieces of steel greasy steel pins all over the floor! Oh hell! where did this all come from? what broke? What have I done?

Many of you have already guessed it. I forgot to put the rear driveshaft back in, the shaft was wired up in two places to a muffler hanger to tow her home, upon putting her in reverse the shaft spun, and the Chinese duck tape came off and the u-joint bearing caps flew off and spit a bunch of the needle bearings onto the floor, holy crap I'm a moron. No big deal I guess, the fence wire held the shaft where I had put it, but as many of you know, I will be finding needle bearings throughout my garage for the next 2 years.

Back to the parts store tomorrow for a new u-joint. I really wanted to see that hot, squishy nylon come squirting out of them little holes anyway, don't forget the map gas. Thanks again Guys! and oh, 99 Tahoe 5.7 4X autotrak

View attachment 220527

Damn man you lucky you didn't rip something apart under there. Hopefully the balance of your driveshaft isn't jacked.

 

[HiHoeSilver]

Well, just finished the fuel pump, 10 hours with a few breaks for food, nightly dog walk, etc. Got a Delphi pump for $150 at auto zone, they wanted $299 for AC Delco (really?). But with the help of many of you here, I gathered that Delphi and Delco are the same or similar. I hope I made a decent decision. All went pretty well, but the darn fuel and return lines took the most work to get off. I had a package of the plastic fuel line removal gismos, did not work, and a set of AGM aluminum fuel line tools, that did not work. (due to the plastic re-enforcement part between lines) So, what the heck, fuel pump is shot so I just hack-sawed a little bit off the top of the plastic pump outlet lines and broke them off with pliers. Then had a fun time trying to find the disconnect for the charcoal canister. But after jacking up the rear axle, jack stands, and another floor jack with a 1X6 about 15" long on the bottom of the tank, I was able to lower it and follow that last part of the charcoal canister line and find the dis-connector at the front top of the tank and pull the line connector off.

The Fuel Gauge said a little over a 1/4 tank of fuel, but darn it was heavy as hell. I slid the tank out from the left side, and then drained the remaining fuel into my 5 gallon gas cans, knowing that it would make everything much easier. I dumped 7.5 gallons out of the filler tube into my cans until it seemed mostly empty, but there must be some type of baffles in the tank, because I could still hear/feel some fuel sloshing around when no more would come out of the filler tube stub, but way easier to work with when almost empty.

Once the tank was out of the way, I was able to chip off the plastic re-enforcement sections and get the push-in tool in the fuel lines and pull out what was left of the old plastic fuel pump ends clean. I was careful to not get any plastic chips in the tank, but I was taking a chance. Once the new pump was assembled, installed into the tank, and lock ring reinstalled, the rest went really fast. Plan was to solder the new wiring plug in with a mini-torch, but I decided that was probably a bad idea with all the gas fumes hanging out on the floor, so I just used the crimp connectors that came with the kit, but added my own shrink wrap tubing over them. I hate crimp connectors as I have had them come loose on my boats and other cars before, ( I have learned that twist connectors works WAY better, but they take up way more space) so I used small vise-grips to smash the heck out of the crimp connectors . I used my kids bic lighter to shrink the tubing which was probably stupid, but I had the garage door open and I know that gas vapors sink, and my dogs were not complaining about the fumes at this point. (Don't know why my kids have bic lighters, probably smoking weed in my house and time to kick them out, another story). Anyway, before I tightened everything down, I hooked the battery back up and hit the key for a quick second and waa-laa. Happy truck. Disconnected the battery again, hooked up fuel lines, fill hoses, and charcoal line, torqued down straps, reconnected battery, and she fired right up. I really took a chance as I did not know for sure it was the fuel pump. As we all know, it could have been a number of things, but the fuel pump was whining loud for a few months, so I was pretty sure that was it.

Then, I pulled out all the jack-stands, lowered the floor jack, fired her up again and warmed her up a little, everything perfect! Since my old-school Sierra lives in the garage, I had to back the Tahoe out and put the Sierra back in her warm spot.

I put the Tahoe in reverse and BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!...

Well, as I was pretty burnt out at this time, my back was giving me hell, I was half-covered in gasoline, inhaled a bunch of fumes (not the kind I think my kids are probably inhaling). I slammed her back into "Park" and shut her off... WTF!

How the hell could a fuel pump change make all that noise? What did I do wrong? Did I fry the Trans? or the Transfer case by towing it without disconnecting the front driveshaft? Should I have taken it to a dealer or shop and just paid the $400 for a new fuel pump? Paid for a tow truck? A flatbed? Oh no!

DAAA! Upon grabbing a flashlight and proceeding to climb under the tuck, my wife comes runnig into the garage yelling "what was that"!!! I told her that it was normal for a new fuel pump change it has to "break in" before you can drive it. She said "oh, o.k., that sounded kinda loud in the house. No worries honey, did you feed the chickens?

When I knew it was safe, I scooted under the truck assuming the worst, trans fluid everywhere, cracked transfer case, and maybe a IRS agent as it is almost April 15th. But no! A bunch of little pieces of steel greasy steel pins all over the floor! Oh hell! where did this all come from? what broke? What have I done?

Many of you have already guessed it. I forgot to put the rear driveshaft back in, the shaft was wired up in two places to a muffler hanger to tow her home, upon putting her in reverse the shaft spun, and the Chinese duck tape came off and the u-joint bearing caps flew off and spit a bunch of the needle bearings onto the floor, holy crap I'm a moron. No big deal I guess, the fence wire held the shaft where I had put it, but as many of you know, I will be finding needle bearings throughout my garage for the next 2 years.

Back to the parts store tomorrow for a new u-joint. I really wanted to see that hot, squishy nylon come squirting out of them little holes anyway, don't forget the map gas. Thanks again Guys! and oh, 99 Tahoe 5.7 4X autotrak

View attachment 220527

LOL! Great job! Forget about your pothead kids for a minute, Clint Eastwood is stealing your truck!

 

[swathdiver]

Great story Sean and humility is always good! Feed the chickens... LOL

 

[asand]

Tommy Lee Jones is photo bombing your truck.

 

[petethepug]

Too late to call it for you since I was on holiday. Get AutoClub to tow it home via flat bed. It's an Auto Club because anyone you know who has it, means you're in the club too. No matter who is driving your truck, it gets a tow with AAA. Hypothetically when my buddy had no way to tow his car, I could meet him at the break down point and have the driver tow it anywhere and they'd drop it for him, ahem … me.