2002 Tahoe Lemon....Help

To make a very very long story short....the first two years with our tahoe were fine. When it was almost 2 years old with 40,000 miles, it would not start, sounded like it wasn't getting enough gas. Had it towed to a Firestone, because it was a weekend and dealers were closed and we were on vacation. They changed out the fuel pump and everything was fine for a few weeks, then I was driving on a Houston loop with 5 lanes of traffic, doing 65 mph and the tahoe stalls. By the grace of God, I was able to coast across 3 lanes of traffic and put it in park and it started right up. The dealer said they could not find any problems, bring it back if it did it again...thanks alot....well it happened again 3 times in a 30 mile distance, including going up the steepest bridge in the south. Again, I could get over to the side of the road, put it in park and start it back up. This time the dealer tells us a bunch of garbage about reformulated gasoline, which we do not have any our area, then after keeping the car for two days,tell us we need to take it back to Firestone. So, Firestone changed the fuel pump again, saying they have been having problems with the manufactures of fuel pumps....that last a few months or so, then my husband drove it to work, it would not start, had it towed to Firestone, this time they changed out the fuel pump relay, under the hood. We thought for sure that was the end of our problems. That last about 4 months. Yesterday, it stalls out on me again. When it stalls, it does NOT spit or sputter, it just stops like someone has turned off the key. We have also not been able to let it get down to a 1/4 of a tank of gas, we have trouble starting it or it will not start until we get more gas in it,and it should have at least 10 gallons of gas in it, at this point. It also has a very strong gas smell when you start it, especially first thing in the day. I have made this as short as possible, we have a lot of heart ache over this. I have 2 more payments, so I really don't want to trade it in. I love the looks and the comfort of the tahoe and I feel like if we could just find someone that knows what the heck they are doing, we will be fine. Please someone have any ideas......the computers at the shops, show nothing....thanks

Do you know if Firestone installed an original equipment fuel pump, or did they install an aftermarket pump. The aftermarket pumps don't hold up. You probably need to get the fuel pickup in the tank looked at for the fuel level problem. Did that problem start after the fuel pump was replaced?

I'm pretty sure it was original equip. fuel pump, they bought it from dealer. I will check on that. The fuel level started before the pump problem, in fact, it has been a problem since we bought it and the dealer had no idea's on that either. Appreciate any help.

The only thing I can think of, is maybe the wrong fuel pickup was installed at the factory. I sounds like it doesn't reach the bottom of the tank. This might explain why you had an early fuel pump failure.

If you are suffering repeat fuel pump failures and intermittant stalling, I would tend to look at the wiring and grounds for the fuel pump.
A loose or damaged terminal will cause a situation where the fuel pump could loose power and diagnostics will lead to a faulty pump..when the connector is disturbed (IE: replacing the pump) the connector will make contact again and everything will be "fine" for a while. Also the vibrations from driving could cause the connector to intermittantly loose contact.
The problem with intermittants are they are difficult to diagnose..the fault must occur to perform the necessary diagnostics to pinpoint the problem..usually most mechanics or technicians will drive the vehicle on their normal roadtest and if the problem does not occur then they move on to the next vehicle (customers find it difficult to pay someone like me to drive their vehicle around until the fault occurs...time is money and I don't work for free...do you?)
With good information from the customer, diagnostics can be narrowed down some because the customer is in tune with their vehicle and can tell you when the fault occurs..hot,cold after driving 30 miles and so on.

Merlin, I realize a mechanic cannot drive the car around all day. We have explained over and over again, to the fine detail. Firestone has been the biggest help, they have a wonderful mechanic that works on it when we bring it in. He is really worried about it stalling out on me and possibly getting me killed. The dealer told us not to drive it when it stalls out, so when it would not start at work, it was towed to Firestone, apparently after being jiggled around on the wrecker, it started. So, of course the computer is showing no problems. When we called GM about it, all they could say, is don't you have the extended warranty? Well, yes we do, but that doens't help me the 7 times it has stalled in traffic and I could have been rear-ended and killed or someone else. The GM Service man told us one time, its the reformulated gasoline causing the problem, number one we do not have that gas in our area, number 2 it is a cleaner gasoline and number 3 the car manufactures do not make cars different to run on that type of gas. The same GM service manager told me when my tires were wearing in 3 weeks time, that it was the way I back out. I feel like we have gotten a bad dealer service man and am not downing all dealer mechanic's and techs. Sorry if I offened you. I will print your reply out and take it to the dealer this week. We are going to try another dealership, unless it falls under the warranty parts from Firestone. And to the end of your reply, there is no set time it has stalled, once I had been driving 2 hours, another time about 10 minutes and sometimes it just want start after setting all night. I do appreciate the reply, it will be something else they can at least check into. Thanks

Silverado, thanks for your help. Is the fuel pickup the same as the float. They tell us the float is part of the fuel pump and it all gets changed. I keep saying, it has something to do with a float of some sort, something seems to stick to make the car think its out of gas. I forgot to mention the same GM service man told us, if its the fuel pump we can take a hammer and a tap the gas tank it will make the fuel pump start working. Well, that what I bought a 40,000 dollar vehicle for, so I could carry a hammer around. Needless to say we have just gotten a hold to the wrong serviceman, so we are going to change dealerships. Keep the ideas coming, anything will help...Thanks a million

On the newer models, I think the the float, pump and pickup are all one assembly. Maybe your gauge is inaccurate, and the tank is empty when the gauge indicates 1/4 fuel. Good luck with the new dealer, I hope they get you fixed up.

Silverado, thanks for your input. Its nice to know people are interested in trying to help. I think the gauge is right, because when I fill it up at a 1/4 of tank, it will take about 18 gallons and we have a 28 gallon tank. So, I think it's pretty close. I had even thought of that too. I will let you guys know what happens. Anyone else have any ideas, I will be more than happy to hear them. Thanks for your time.

Merlin, I realize a mechanic cannot drive the car around all day. We have explained over and over again, to the fine detail. Firestone has been the biggest help, they have a wonderful mechanic that works on it when we bring it in. He is really worried about it stalling out on me and possibly getting me killed. The dealer told us not to drive it when it stalls out, so when it would not start at work, it was towed to Firestone, apparently after being jiggled around on the wrecker, it started. So, of course the computer is showing no problems. When we called GM about it, all they could say, is don't you have the extended warranty? Well, yes we do, but that doens't help me the 7 times it has stalled in traffic and I could have been rear-ended and killed or someone else. The GM Service man told us one time, its the reformulated gasoline causing the problem, number one we do not have that gas in our area, number 2 it is a cleaner gasoline and number 3 the car manufactures do not make cars different to run on that type of gas. The same GM service manager told me when my tires were wearing in 3 weeks time, that it was the way I back out. I feel like we have gotten a bad dealer service man and am not downing all dealer mechanic's and techs. Sorry if I offened you. I will print your reply out and take it to the dealer this week. We are going to try another dealership, unless it falls under the warranty parts from Firestone. And to the end of your reply, there is no set time it has stalled, once I had been driving 2 hours, another time about 10 minutes and sometimes it just want start after setting all night. I do appreciate the reply, it will be something else they can at least check into. Thanks


You did not offend me at all. If you are not satisfied with the service you recieve at your dealer, try another one.
Just remember that you are talking to a service consultant (not the technician)..most service consultants have no formal training in automotive technology and if they hear or read something that is technician specific, they will repeat it to make themselves look smarter to the customer.
(a sidenote..I am a GM certifed service consultant also, so I know what kind of training they have..if any)
Usually this information is used as a "catch all" for many problems.

Let me state that there is no "magic computer" that will tell you what is wrong with a vehicle. That is a misconception of the driving public.
The problem is you have to have your test equipment with you to determine the cause when the fault occurs.
The 2 areas I look at first are spark and fuel. Once I determine which one of these 2 elements are missing, I can narrow my search to if this is a control problem or a parts failure.
Since what you describe does not seem like a heat related problem, this makes it a little more difficult to diagnose (but not impossible)
One area I would check is the amperage draw of the fuel pump..this would help determine if I have a loose connection, bad pump or a bad ground.
I also watch the vehicles PCM (powertrain control module) for schewed data or sensors changing values irregularly.

Hope this helps you

Thanks, Merlin. I will print this out and ask the mechanic if any of these things have been checked. I have been so stressed, I just hope they can fine the problem and we are through with this. A year is way too long to have the same type problems. I really do not want to trade in on something else. Thanks again.

Hey, guys. A wonderful thing happened. I emailed someone at gm.com. The next morning the manager of customer services called us. She was very apologetic for all our problems and for getting hold to a customer service person last year that was rude and of no help. Anyway, she told us to take the Tahoe to the dealer of our choice and she would take care of everything. We took the Tahoe in a few hours later to our new dealer. They were wonderful. The girl that was writing everything up, knew exactly what I was talking about, she had some similar problems and it all stemmed back to the GM fuel pumps. There is some metal that corrudes on the pump, due to the sulpher in the gasoline. GM has known about this for some time, they have been having problems for years. This dealer had received the bulletin on the problem, months ago. I also told her about a knocking in the steering column, the other dealer kept saying it needed greased, but it never helped. They changed the intermitten something.....sorry, can't remember the name of it, but they are suppose to do a recall on that. We are now on our fouth fuel pump, but hopefully this is the end of it. The dealership we went to this time was wonderful. The girl even stayed late so we could pick it up after my husband got off of work, also gave me her company cell phone number. The lady from GM is suppose to call us again tomorrow, to see if everything was done to our satisfaction, which it was. Now if they will re-imburse me for our deductibles on the first pump and the rent car, I will be in hogs heaven. I appreciate you guys helping. I hope now my Lemon is a Peach...thanks

I'm glad to hear you got your Tahoe fixed. You probably won't have any more trouble with it. GM makes great vehicals, yours just had an intermittent problem. Those are the most difficult too find.

Beargrammy
Your post has been helpful to me, I am fighting the same thing on my 02 tahoe. It started around 30,000 miles. It will not start with less than a 1/4 tank of fuel, shuts down at will on the highway when fuel is around 1/4 tank but starts back up quickly.A local gm dealer told us they were aware of the problem but did'nt have a fix.
I will try the GMC dealer tomorrow with this print out.
Thanks I was hunting to see if anyone else was having this problem, glad I found this site
Dwayne

Dwayne, I am so glad I could help you. We have had a very frustrating year over the same problems as you. The dealers do have bullentins on these faulty fuel pumps, sometimes they don't get around to reading all their bullentins. If we would not have changed dealers, we would probably still be going in circles.....or I should say still setting on the side of the road. If your dealer doesn't help, try another one or go to gm.com and send them an email. Good luck to you....Beargrammy

Hey, guys. A wonderful thing happened. I emailed someone at gm.com. The next morning the manager of customer services called us. She was very apologetic for all our problems and for getting hold to a customer service person last year that was rude and of no help. Anyway, she told us to take the Tahoe to the dealer of our choice and she would take care of everything. We took the Tahoe in a few hours later to our new dealer. They were wonderful. The girl that was writing everything up, knew exactly what I was talking about, she had some similar problems and it all stemmed back to the GM fuel pumps. There is some metal that corrudes on the pump, due to the sulpher in the gasoline. GM has known about this for some time, they have been having problems for years. This dealer had received the bulletin on the problem, months ago. I also told her about a knocking in the steering column, the other dealer kept saying it needed greased, but it never helped. They changed the intermitten something.....sorry, can't remember the name of it, but they are suppose to do a recall on that. We are now on our fouth fuel pump, but hopefully this is the end of it. The dealership we went to this time was wonderful. The girl even stayed late so we could pick it up after my husband got off of work, also gave me her company cell phone number. The lady from GM is suppose to call us again tomorrow, to see if everything was done to our satisfaction, which it was. Now if they will re-imburse me for our deductibles on the first pump and the rent car, I will be in hogs heaven. I appreciate you guys helping. I hope now my Lemon is a Peach...thanks
Hi I have also been having the same problems, but mine stalls in low speeds when i let go of the gas, it is so fraustrating, i have been hesitating to take it to the dealer because i don't want to get the run around, everytime i call the dealer they always tell me they have never had heard of the problem, and just to take it in. i was wondering who you emailed at gm? i have a 2001 chevy tahoe lt. and i notice that it stalls more when i have 1/4 of gas left. please help, having baby soon i do not need this problem when i have my baby in the truck, very scary.

Hi, Psanchez.....If you will go to gm.com on the very bottom of the page on the left it says "Contact Us". Go there then click on Chevrolet and it will bring up a web page, to email, phone or mail them. The hardest part is telling them all your problems in 2500 words or less. The dealer ship told me, when you email like that, that normally a manager will contact you. I am pretty sure I was told the fuel pumps on 2000-2004 all have this faulty part. The only thing I can't figure out, is why all Tahoe's aren't having problems. But, the gasoline is corroding the metal on the fuel pump, because it is in the gas tank, so it can affect the gas gauge, causing the stalling and also keep it from starting. I am so glad, I finally found out something and can help others. Your dealer should have that bullentin, but email, Gm. It is very scarey, I have my grandchildren alot, I also told GM, that someone was going to get killed, if not in my car in another, because mine stalled and caused the problem. It makes me so mad, they they are not doing a recall. It will take someone getting hurt or killed for them to do that and that is so sad. The best of luck to you and best wishes with the coming of the new baby...Let me know if I can do anything else.

Hi, Psanchez.....If you will go to gm.com on the very bottom of the page on the left it says "Contact Us". Go there then click on Chevrolet and it will bring up a web page, to email, phone or mail them. The hardest part is telling them all your problems in 2500 words or less. The dealer ship told me, when you email like that, that normally a manager will contact you. I am pretty sure I was told the fuel pumps on 2000-2004 all have this faulty part. The only thing I can't figure out, is why all Tahoe's aren't having problems. But, the gasoline is corroding the metal on the fuel pump, because it is in the gas tank, so it can affect the gas gauge, causing the stalling and also keep it from starting. I am so glad, I finally found out something and can help others. Your dealer should have that bullentin, but email, Gm. It is very scarey, I have my grandchildren alot, I also told GM, that someone was going to get killed, if not in my car in another, because mine stalled and caused the problem. It makes me so mad, they they are not doing a recall. It will take someone getting hurt or killed for them to do that and that is so sad. The best of luck to you and best wishes with the coming of the new baby...Let me know if I can do anything else.
Thank you so much for replying I am so glad that you posted your problem, because it is so fraustrating, especially when you buy a $40k truck and don't expect things like this to happen. I will definetly email gm, because everytime i call the dealer all they say is you have to bring it in for us to check. oh and that problem that you stated with your steering wheel i had the same problem i brought it in when it was still under warranty, all they did was grease it up. thank you again.