Fuel Pump Not Seating Properly

I am in the middle of replacing the fuel pump in my 99 1500 suburban (old body style) 350. I have the tank off the vehicle but can't get the new AC Delco fuel pump to seat. It seems simple it's only the fuel pump, o-ring gasket and an almost full circle locking ring that slides under tabs along the circle. I really want to get this done. Is there a secret? Please help!

Just be sure you are installing it in the same position that it came out and it should fit ok.

Make sure the o-ring seat on the tank is clean. Use a good o-ring lube (Parker) on the o-ring and the tank seat.

Thanks for the information. I tried to do this myself but I broke down and took the tank to a mechanic. It took him 5 seconds to get the pump to seat after I worked on it for 2 hours. I asked him how in the Hades did he do that and he said "I do it for a living". I told him good point and gave him a twenty.

Yeah, it is kind of an art. Fixing it isn't a big deal if you have that knack. If there ever happens to be a next time, give a patient try starting from cranking her, to replacing the pump carefully. It could have just been the direction, or the angle that you tried to fix it, that turned out to be trouble here.

It is common to find difficulty in performing repairs . having some knowledge from prior repair experience helps reduce the time to complete a repair.

The issue here however is not complicated, and most that are familiar with working with tools , can do this simple task. also if this was removed by him, I find it hard to understand why he could not put the fuel pump back in.

Make sure the o ring is not streched i had the same proble went back to parts store and got new ring put it on the pump first and used a rubber malat and some pressure went right back in . The ring gets streched and it wont fit is should be tight when you put it around the neck of the pump.