Oregon mechanic/shop?

[JoeSpicoli]

Hey, my Av died while sitting at a stop light last night.  Acts like it ran out of gas.  It started a couple of times after that, but didn't run for more than a few seconds.  It seems to have plenty of cranking power.

After getting it towed home (I don't have a shop here in Oregon) I took the fuel filter off last night, made sure it passed fuel, and put it back on.  No dice.  The fuel pressure bleed valve under the Vortec cover didn't hiss when I went to bleed the pressure. 

I'm not sure how to test if there is spark or not.

Anyway, does anyone have a reputable shop they recommend?  I'll have to get the Av towed to get it there and since I had it towed once, I am not sure if my towing coverage will cover another tow or not.

Thanks,

-Joe

[Z66Modder]

Bummer Joe.

If you have an old spark plug around, you could pull a wire and place it on the old plug. Then ground the body and see if it arcs when turned over. Or if you have an old inductive timing light, you could put that on each wire and check for firing.

If you have spark, you could spray a sparring amount of MAF sensor cleaner in the intake tube with the filter removed to see if it reacts. Don't flood it, just enough to see if it fires.

Those two things should give you a better idea of where the problem lies.

[JoeSpicoli]

Tom,

I don't have any old spark plugs lying around but I do have an old inductive timing light...now just to find it.

I don't have MAF sensor cleaner, but I can ride my bike to a parts store tomorrow to buy some.

Thanks for the suggestions!

-Joe

[JoeSpicoli]

Update:

Didn't take long to find the timing light last night.  All 8 cylinders made it light up.  This morning, one of my friends brought over some starter fluid.  I took the intake off the MAF, sprayed a little in there and it started to fire.

So it totally seems like a fuel delivery problem.  Wonder if I shouldn't just change the fuel filter.  I have done in the last 3 years, so it's not that old.

One thing to note, before taking the fuel filter off, I pushed the bleed valve that runs along the intake and nothing came out...no air, no fuel, nothing.  That's another indication to me that it's a fuel delivery problem.

(This thread could probably be moved to the "Chevrolet Avalanche Problems, Questions & Answers" section...)

-Joe

[chAVey]

Yep, if its a fuel delivery problem, start checking into the fuel pump, so convienently located inside the fuel tank itself.  There are plenty of threads here on it.  Seems to be a known failure mode.

And sorry, can't recommend any mechanic in your area, but if you want to come down to Salem, I can recommend our West Salem Mechanic.  He did a good job on our suburban water pump a few years back.

[Z66Modder]

I'm with Chris on this one, does sound like a bad fuel pump. Not Fun. Probably more than you want to tackel. I would call around to a few places and ask what they would charge to replace it just so you know.

[JoeSpicoli]

Thanks, guys.  Yeah, what happened to the mechanical pump on the front corner of the block?

Stealership wants about $874.  That's ~$525 for the part & the rest labor.  It's a 3.5 hour job.  No way!  3.5 hours?!?  I think I can do it in 3.5 hours.

Called another place and they quoted me only about $20 less on the labor but more on parts because he said manuf. recommends a screen and fuel filter (little one at the pump) replacement along with the pump.  Plus .6 hrs to do that.  WTF?  What a racket.  This guy was really personable and went thru the things I had done to troubleshoot and he said it did sound like the pump.  But he gave me one last little thing to try...and it involved a rubber mallet.   But that didn't work either.

So...I'm trying to figure out what I am going to do here.  I can work from home tomorrow as well, but next week, it's gonna start to suck to not have a vehicle.

Of course, there is all sorts of mud on the underside of the Av cause I've been hunting.  Even with safety glasses on, I got dirt in my eye the other night...

-Joe

[Z66Modder]

Just for kicks, see if you have good power to it and the fuse did not blow.

[JoeSpicoli]

Tom,

I tested the power, it was good.  I also swapped the DRL relay with the fuel pump relay and got the same results.

So...off to the stealership.  I called around and the price was close to the same at one local place, a little cheaper at one, but with the stealership, I get a lifetime warranty (parts & labor) on the fuel pump.  Plus, they can come pic me up when it's done!

I have gotten a call back.  They did some troubleshooting to make sure it was the fuel pump.  They should have it done before they close today.  They also highly recommend changing the fuel filter for another $79 and gave me a list of other things to do.  Like over $800 isn't going to be enough.  I told 'em just the pump, thanks.

Note the one clean tire in the pic...from getting a flat fixed on Monday.

-Joe

[Z66Modder]

I get flats a lot when the tread gets low. Just put new rubber all around, so I should be good for a while.

Well glad you got it ironed out. You probably save some money T/S ing it yourself, as there would have been a diagnostic fee on top of the repair charges. 

[wildwil]

AHHH!!!! I wish you would have called me! I just did one on my AV about 3 months before this thread was started. It' took me about 2 hours to do it and it's SUPER easy. Bummer. I could have saved you like 500 clams. The pump was 250 when I got it, and it was a Delco part.

[JoeSpicoli]

Ah, bummer.  It would have been really nice to have saved some clams.  I will keep you in mind the next time it fails - LOL!

Was the pump only part of the assembly?  I called Napa and they had a part of the assembly for $250.  But of course the 2 shops that I called (one stealership, one private) both recommended replacing the whole thing.  Lifetime warranty on the one the stealership installed, tho.

How is the window is holding up? Just told my gf the story about that yesterday.

TTYL,

-Joe

[Z66Modder]

Speaking of that story, I did about the same thing once while hunting only I dropped my keys on the trail. Left the rig there after braking in with a coat hanger and discovering they were not inside. Drove back after work the next day and found them in the trail 50 yards from the truck. 

[wildwil]

it was the whole assembly, i paid like 250 for it, lifetime warranty. The window's holdin up good. @Z66 I hope that you remembered MY story when you had to break ito yours, so you did make the same mistake. :-)