1997 chevy suburban in-tank fuel sending unit fire: bought vehicle used with 88000 miles. Events leading up to the failure / burn up of the unit included intermittent fuel pump and fuel gauge failure, had pump replaced by patrick gmc, problem persisted, had dealer wolf chevrolet check fuel pressure throughout system (ok). Also noticed an intermittent burning smell. I then purchased from the dealer a replacement sending unit and another fuel pump, as soon as I took the sender out of the tank it was obviously charred and the modular connector burnt to a crisp, wires completely exposed with the insulation gone partially disintegrated the ABS plug. This thing got really hot repeatedly. The lower explosive limit was luckily never reached within the tank or there could have been a spontaneous explosion, especially if the tank lost its seal and allowed outside air inside, (such as when the tank is empty and is pulling vacuum), for instance unscrewing the gas cap in ideal conditions next to a gas pump with a 44 gallon tank void sucking in as much oxygen in as the filler tube will allow, and hitting that glowing red hot sending unit. Old part is in my possession and is the original factory sender. Incident date is approx. When I performed the repair and discovered the burned up sender.
1997 Chevrolet Suburban: fuel pump failure
24 of the 414 complaints about the 1997 Chevrolet Suburban describe fuel pump failure.
- owner complaints
- 24
- of this car's complaints
- 6%
- recalls
- 0
Fuel pump failure by model year
What owners say
1997 chevrolet suburban fuel tank safety concerns electric fuel pump failure, wiring harness inside tank melted per certified mechanics at motor car mall, peralta, nm is there no circuit protection?
Consumer states that fuel pump failed due to electrical connectors inside the gas tank melting against the pickup tube. The problem was made apparent because of constant fuses blowing out.
Fuel pump wiring inside the fuel tank short circuited, and could have caused my suburban to blow up, since I had just filled it with over 30 gallons of gas that morning. My fuel pump had to be replaced, along with a new wiring assembly and float mechanism. My mechanic said the short circuit was more than likely due to over amperage of the fuel pump. That in turn, caused the wires inside the fuel tank to melt together and short out the ECM fuse, twice. I believe chevrolet is very lucky that no one was hurt. I hope others are as lucky as I was! P.s. Power steering and brakes are also very poor!! Bad design...1997 was a lemon suburban, and should have been recalled and designed all over again!
Had fuel pump failure. When serviced, the electrical wires inside the gas tank were burned and the connector was melted inside the tank. The insulation on the gray wire was melted off and the wire was burnt. Was very lucky that it did not explode. If the tank had been empty, it would have because of the presnece of oxygen in an empty tank. Went to bob richards chevrolet in august,ga and they said it was not a safty issue and that they knew of the problem. Had to pay $700.00 out of my pocket because of this problem that chevrolet knows about and won't recall.
While driving the vehicle stalled due to a faulty fuel pump.
Engine quit just like shutting off of ignition switch. The problem turned out to be the fuel pump. While removing the fuel pump assembly noted that the attaching plug for the fuel pump had arced destroying the plug, and the wire supplying the power to the pump had all the insulation burned off and the wire was partially melted. This is a serious safety issue, as the arcing and melting of wires inside the fuel tank could cause and explosion if the fuel/air misture reached stoichiometric conditions.
When consumer dropped fuel tank out from under vehicle and started changing fuel pump noticed that contact wires for fuel pump were charred and melted. Dealership has yet to examine vehicle. Please provide any additional information / documentation.
Fuel pump assembly ran so hot that it melted the insulation on one of the leads and the connector going to it, that lead in turn had started to weld itself to the other wires, creating a potential direct short between these wires inside the fuel tank.
Fuel pump does not last as long as most other fuel pumps last. Consumer has already changed fuel pump twice. Contacted dealer, and dealer said that there is nothing they can do. *ak the premature and frequent failures of the fuel pump is a safety hazard.
The fuel pump and fuel sender had to be replaced. But what was troubling was the statement from the mechanic that we were lucky it did not explode. I kept the parts that were replaced and the evidence is clearly there that the vehicle could have exploded. I am very concerned that other owners of the suburban may not be as lucky to catch it in time.
The connection and wires that run the fuel pump had burned and melted, due to this failure the fuel pump was replaced.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 1997 Chevrolet Suburban fuel pump
Is fuel pump failure a common problem on the 1997 Chevrolet Suburban?
24 of 414 owner complaints about the 1997 Chevrolet Suburban (6%) mention fuel pump failure. The model year with the most reports is 2001.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 1997 Chevrolet Suburban?
There is no recall or service bulletin for this area of the car on record.
Other symptoms on the 1997 Chevrolet Suburban
Wipers 34ABS 27Pulling 20Brake failure 17Power steering loss 16Stalling 16Jerking 14Tire blowout 14Grinding brakes 11Loss of power 11Transmission failure 11Overheating 10Fire or smoke 7Harsh shifting 7Slipping 5
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