Well, that was a fun way to spend my Friday morning. I decided to drop the tank early this morning so when my part came in at 11:00am at Autozone, I would be all ready to put it in. First, I tried to siphon the gas out of my tank and put it in my other car, but there was a screen on the tank that would not let me. So, I flexed my muscles and said screw it, lets do this with just over a half tank. This is not a good idea if you can drive and burn it all, but if your pump dies, you really have no choice.
I tried to disconnect the black evap flex fuel plastic box thingy, and that did not work out to well. The bolts were easy, but the three lines sucked. There was not enough room for the quick connect tool on the two little lines. I decided to just remove the bolts and leave everything connected since it looked like it would stretch far enough to get the tank out from under the truck for the pump removal. I used jack stands to hold up the tank and put my oil pan underneath to catch fuel if it came out, and boy did it come out. I disconnected the fill line and vent line in the back of the tank. and removed the two metal straps holding the tank. Well, I started to let down the back of the tank and the fuel started pouring out the back (of course). At least the pan caught most of the fuel, but it was filling up fast, so I hurried and grabbed some rubber bands and two plastic sandwich bags and wrapped them around the two holes. This was about the only smart thing I did. I would recommend doing this before letting down the tank.
I then reached up front of the tank and was able to get one fuel line off by just pinching the plastic clip. The other line was similar to the evap black box lines and called for the quick disconnect. Fortunately this one I could easily get with the tool. I was now ready to drop the back of the tank and remove the fuel pump.
As I lowered the back of the tank, I was trying to keep an eye on the evap lines I left connected. All was good until I started pulling the tank out from under the truck on the driver side. I heard the horrifying snap of plastic.... I managed to snap the plastic nipple off the evap black box
Hoping the line would stretch didn't work out very well. I will now probably need to buy a new black evap box, but super glue would have to do for the time being.
I then disconnected the wiring harness. That was a pain since they were rotted with brittle plastic. I was able to get the fuel pump out fairly easy (I would recommend cleaning the top of the tank before removing the old pump to refrain from getting crap in the gas tank). I then cleaned the rest of the tank and went and picked up my new AC Delco fuel pump (J Cat's recommendation). I get to Autozone and they ring it up at $270???? I was sooooo freaking ticked off. After arguing for a few minutes because I was quoted $170, I handed over my credit card (makes me mad just typing about it now because I could have got this same pump online for $160).
Anyway, I went home and dropped the new pump in. I could not get the ring locked on for the life of me. I lubed the crap out of the gasket, but still no luck. I then had a bright idea and slid the tank back under the truck. I lined up the top of the pump with the frame of the truck. I used a metal spacer and my Tahoe's jack to press the fuel pump down while I twisted on the ring. It quickly went on with the help of channel locks. I then put the tank back up the way I got it out. I got to the black evap box for the last challenge. I tried to repair the nipple with JB weld, but it will not hold for very long, so I will need to drop more money on this thing and buy a new evap box, or whatever it is called. I decided to go test drive the truck with the broken evap box (not sure if this is safe, but I couldn't wait to see if the pump worked and no leaks).
I primed the pump and lines by just turning the key to the on position twice. The engine fired up and runs good. I took it for a test spin and have no surging. The truck actually feels allot more responsive then before. I can feel the power increase when going up hills.
A big shout out to Jcat and your mountain of knowledge. If I learned one thing out of this big pain in the butt, it would be to never trust a dealership. Befriend a mechanic if you really want honest answers. Now all I need to do is buy another evap box. Anyone have an idea what the part name for this is actually called?