97 Silverado problem, need help!!!

Well, my wife sold me up the river on this one. She had her friend bring over her 97 silverado (5.7L Vortec) for me to take a look at. The truck would bog down on medium to hard acceleration, and practically stall out. I hooked up the ODB tool and there was a P1153 code stored, but not turning on the Check engine lamp. As I'm pulling on to my street, I decided it would be a good idea to let it bog all the way down and stall out, to see it the P1153 came back. Well, it did... with a vengence! The truck stalled and will no longer start. When I turn the key the fuel pump does not run to prime. It hit the schrader valve at the motot and had some fuel piss out. I put my meter leads across the pins for the coil and I am getting no voltage for the Fuel Pump relay when I first turn the key. Couldn't find a specific fuse for the fuel pump, so I checked them all, no problem found.

So here I am, looking like an idiot in front of my wife and her friend (who is hot by the way)....(not that it makes a difference, but I thought it nicely showed the proper level of my humiliation)

I'm going to get a chilton's manual tomorrow for this thing, but if any of you out there can give me a push in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated.

Let me also say that I am an elevator mechanic by trade, I deal with up and down, not horozontal. I know just enough about working on cars to get myself into trouble. Feel free to be as descritive as possible when telling me what to look for.

Thanks!!!!

Sounds like the fuel pump is sticking, I have had some luck with getting it going again by having someone crank the engine while I banged on the gas tank with a mallet.

This is not a fix but it could let you drive it into the garage where you can drop the gas tank and change the pump.

My thought was a fuel pump. Intank pump isn't going to be fun to change

you can also check the fuel pump relay. The relay kicks the pump on and off as needed to keep it going. Is the truck getting fire when it turns over. Check the filter as well.

you can also check the fuel pump relay. The relay kicks the pump on and off as needed to keep it going. Is the truck getting fire when it turns over. Check the filter as well.
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Hi,
There is a short pigtail wire I believe it's red under the brake master cyl that you jumper 12v to and the pump will run if it is able to. This bypasses the relay and oil pressure switch direct connection to the pump.
The relay box just above it has two big connections at the rear of it that are 12v so it only takes a short jumper.
When you are using the key to test the three seconds of pressurization, the shop manual has something abour A/C off and wait 10 or so seconds before re trying.
The jumper will run forever.
If the relay is failing, it only does the 3 seconds. After it has a small amount of oil pressure, the pressure switch will take over and send voltage to the pump. So if the relay is failing, the engine cranks for a few minutes, the oil pressure goes up and the pump should run.
I like the jumper a lot because I've lost three pumps in 3 years. It makes testing a lot easier.

Bob B

Hi Whaler,
How are you doing?
Any luck with it?
Bob B

ecm b fuse runs the fuel pump. p1153 is a lazy upstream o2 sensor.
check spark, will it run on ether? o2 sensors will not kill an eng. in theory
but have seen it kill a 2.5L ford even though its not supposed to be that way. :2cents:

Bob B is on the right track, use the prime pigtail, also keep in mind that a running fuel pump isn't always a good fuel pump. It must be able to pressure up to 60 psi and stay at 60+ while engine running. Even a 5-8 psi drop will leave you dead. I had a fuel pump that ran fine, pushed fuel at a good rate, but engine would not start or run. I pressure guaged it, and found that 46 psi was maxium I was getting.

I think I figured out what happened.... I stress "think". Had my meter lead in the wrong pin for the relay, relay was getting juice, and picking after all. Pulled the plug next to the tank, getting 12vdc there too, checked ground, it was good too. Fuel pump is shot. I called the girl's hubby and asked him when the last time he had changed the fuel filter, he replied "there's a fuel filter?", which pretty much gave me my answer. Pulled the filter off, extremly restrcitive. Replaced that and began dropping the tank. What a pain in the a@#! Still haven't gotten the tank fully out yet. Frequent spouse related distractions have inhibited my progress. Probably get that done tomorrow. Now that I have the tank about 80% out, I can't help but wonder.... 8 bolts and few harnesses and I could take the bed off, would that have been easier?

Thanks for all your help guys!

I have taken the bed off my 96 twice now, can do it in about an hour by myself. First time was to replace fuel pump and the second time was to replace a section of brake line at the rear that had rusted and burst