97 Lumina fuel pump

[Pattymac07]

There was a "whirring" sound coming from near the gas tank and the car choked and stopped. Guy in tire store (right where car quit) told me it was fuel pump...cost to replace over $800. Car cooled down, started and got me home.
Husband would like to replace the "in tank" fuel pump with an electric pump mounted somewhere other than inside the tank. Is this possible or advisable? If we do that will the "whirring" sound quit and the old pump allow gas to be brought to the engine by a new electric pump?

Help...I need to have car fixed in a short time. Thank you.

[tblake]

I guess in all actuality, it would be possable to buy an aftermarket pump and wire in it, and run a couple new fuel lines, althought, I wouldnt advise it as the gas in the tank helps cool the fuel pump (scarry thought I know), which is why you should always keep at least a quarter of a tank of gas in your car to keep that pump submerged and cool. Um, fuel pumps do make some sort of a "whirring" sound while pumping gas. Have you ever stood next to oh, say a suburban. you can really hear those pumps. Um, I myself am not totally convinced that your pump is to blame. The fact that it started up and got you home makes no sence to me, as a pump is an electric motor, and if it dies, chances are its not going to work ever again. I'm leaning towards an ignition problem. Classic "it dies when it warms up and wont start till cools off" problems are usually signs of a failing ignition module or crank position sensor. Do yourself a favor before jumping to the fuel pump as your problem. Next time it stalls out and wont start, check for spark, buy a cheap spark tester from like wall mart, and use that. If you dont get spark when warm, take the ignition module in for testing. Or i guess you could do that right now. You said 97 lumina? The module is the thing under the coil packs (3) (and those are the things that all the plug wires run to). Its usually towards the back top of your motor. I think you can remove 4 bolts and take out the module with coil packs all in one shot, and then remove the coil packs. A place like autozone should be able to test this for you at no cost. Good luck.

[Pattymac07]

Thanks, ironically my dad said the same thing about the fuel pump...once they go, they're gone. It might be that they overheat? I had under a quarter tank of gas at the time but once it cooled off I immediately filled the tank; the "whirring" didn't stop but it did get me home, about 10 miles.

I printed out your reply and am giving it to the mechanic who's going to look at the car on Monday. If it's something else instead of the pump, I hope it's cheaper.

[cadgear]

Usually once the pump overheats, it burns up and is toast. Hence why some people who run their gas tank dry find that when they fill it up on the side of the road, it doesn't crank.

I'm also leaning towards the ICM; they're really funny creatures that, when hot and going bad, can give you all sorts of trouble. In my Cutlass, the ICM went out right as a stoplight turned green. I gave it gas and the engine missed wildly, and my cluster started wigging out like mad (I had a digital cluster). Something that you could try would be to grab a hairdryer and heat up the ICM then try cranking, see if that speeds up the problem condition.

I can -almost- guarentee that the ICM replacement would be cheaper then a fuel pump. What's even better, you could probably run to the parts store and put one on yourself. If you can change your oil, you can swap ICMs.

Side note, when my 1999 is running, its a constant high-pitch whine thats noticable but not annoying. Just food for thought.

[tblake]

ok, you said you filled the tank after it stalled and wouldnt start? You were below a quarter tank? were you by chance parked on an incline? The fuel guage in the lumina is wilely inaccurate, and maybe if you were parked on an incline, your pump might not have been able to suck gas in, and when you filled it, it could. Does that make sense? My lumina gets roughly 130 to 150 miles out of the first quarter tank of gas, then drops very quickly after half. tank must be tapered or something. Hard call here, dare I say drive it again to see what happens, but stay close to home? I dont want to leave you stranded somewhere. Also the pump will be louder when its not submerged in gas. hence the "whirring". Please everyone who reads this, save yourself a fuel pump problem and keep at least a quarter tank of gas in your car at all times, eespecially in cold weather when moisture can build up in your gas tank.

[Pattymac07]

The gas gauge read about 1/4 tank. As the car started to choke for fuel, I pulled into a Tire shop just to get off the road. It totally died as I pulled into a parking spot. I tried to start it again but no go. The guy in the tire store said it was the fuel pump and they do other work besides tires and he gave me an estimate of $859 to replace it.

About 45 minutes later it started again and fortunately there was a gas station right next door. The car took 9.056 gallons of gas and I really topped it off. If it's a 15 gallon tank (and I don't know) I had about 6 gallons or less in the tank.

I drove about 30 miles that day and the "whirring" sound wasn't present when I started out. It started after about 20 miles. Normally, I don't hear it at all and never have. I know the gas mileage has been getting crappy lately too.

So, I'm taking it to a mechanic who's done well by me and he's going to check the other things you guys suggested before replacing the fuel pump. He's a real nice guy. I got a price of $358 from CarQuest but the mechanic gave the number of a friend of his who works for a Chevy dealer and told me to call him and ask for a lower price. The guy at the dealership said the pump listed for over $500 but he'd give it to me for $350 including the filter etc. and it's a GM part. The mechanic is charging $200 for labor - that's if it really is the fuel pump.

I'll let you know how this turns out. Many thanks to all of you.