Fuel Pump/Relay problem...

99 Silverado Ext. Cab Z71 5.3 120k+ miles:



Ok, here's the situation... My fuel pumps been whining now for about 6,000+ miles. Now, about 3 weeks ago, when the weather here (South Jersey) started turning cold, i had a problem where I ran out to start the truck to warm it up, i noticed that the fuel pump didn't kick on. I then turned the key on and off about 10 or so times, and the fuel pump kicked on. It hasn't given me any problems until yesterday morning, and i'm getting the same problem where the fuel pump won't kick on. This time it seems like it's not going to kick on.

My guess is the relay because of the intermittent problem. I have a service manual with the relay testing procedures. I popped the cover off of the electrical area under the hood and located the relay, but i had a question about removing it. I pulled on it pretty good, and it didn't seem to budge. i also noticed that there are tabs on either side of it, but i think that they're just to hold the cover on. Any tips on how to remove the relay without damaging it? Also, any thoughts on anything else it could be? Thank you very much for reading and attempting to solve my problem!

use a pair of pliers, open them up enough so that you can grab the base of the relay (not the cover, if it´s an OMRON relay you´ll break the tabs off). But I haven´t seen intermittance issues on relays before, they either work or don´t work from what I´ve seen.

Ok, Thanks! It's one of the lighter gray ones, just like the relay for the DRL's... We just got 10+" of snow here, so i'll probably be doing it tomorrow or monday... Thank you very much!