Am I getting hosed by the dealer?

My 2000 alero completely just died in the middle of a busy highway the other day so I had the thing towed to Midas where they told me I needed to fix the Fuel Pump and that oil was leaking onto the manifold. Both problems were covered under my extended warranty so we had the alero towed to the dealership. They told me that it wasn't the fuel pump that needed to be replaced but rather the fuel pump relay (of course that is not under warranty). The dealership had replaced my fuel pump about three months ago, so I'm confused why they didn't see this problem before. They did agree to fix the intake, oil pan, timing case and steering rack at no cost which were all apparently leaking. They also mentioned I needed my front brakes fixed and my belt had a crack in it, I told them not to fix either of these because I didn't want them taking anymore of my money.
Anyone with any ideas/suggestions besides selling the damn thing please help! Today is Thursday 1/20/2005 and they dont even expect to have the parts until Tuesday. How do I know if it's the fuel pump or fuel pump relay? Please help me out! Thanks!
-Kimberly

Are there other GM dealerships around you? If so I would ask your service advisor if there is anyway they can get the parts from another dealer that way your can can be serviced more quickly. Here in Denver there are many GM dealers, so there are always parts somewhere in the metro area.

Jeremy

Your problem could easily be the fuel pump relay, and would not have been a detectable problem at the time of the fuel pump replacement. The fuel pump relay is nothing more than an electrically activated on/off switch. When you turn the ignition key to the "on" position, it electrically turns the fuel pump relay to the "on" position which causes the fuel pump to run and supply fuel to your engine. Relays going bad are a common electrical problem and it's nearly impossible to detect an impending failure before they go bad. They can go bad just like a light bulb. Works this time, but the next time you flip the switch, it may not work. There's no way to determine if, or when, a relay will go bad.

As for your other problems with the belt being cracked and the front brakes, if you've never had the belt replaced, spend the money to have it replaced. If it breaks you'll be stranded where it breaks, or very close to it. As for the brakes, it depends on exactly what's wrong with them. If you'll give me an idea of what they said was wrong with them, I can give you more info. You definitely want your brakes to work when you need them.

Sorry, I didn't reallly address your question about how you know it's the relay and not the fuel pump. The best thing I can tell you is for you to ask them how they know it's the relay and not the pump. The easiest way is for them to bypass the relay and see if the pump runs. They can also use a simple multimeter to test the functioning of the relay when electrical power is applied.

Unfortunately, there's no way that you can be sure, without them demonstrating the fault to you. Either way, tell them you want to see the old part when you pick up the car.

Let me know what they say.