howiek1227

I have a 99 Chevy Express Conversion. In the past few months I had problems with the van running like crap. Sputuring alot. I have changed the Plugs, cap, wires and the coil. The problem is still there. The check engine light is not on. My brother has a scanner and nothing showed up.
I had a 98 Camaro with similar problems and i ended up taking it to the dealership and it turned out to be the Fuel Pressure regulator.
What kind of job is this on the Express Van? I searched the web and could not find any info on the Express. How big of a deal is this? Is the regulator located on the extorior of the engine?, possibly near the fuel rails or do I have to do a lot of tear down?
Any help would be appreciated

thundermug47

if you van has regulator under manifold you should check fuel pressure and fuel volume first

LAVO

Just had my fuel pressure regulator changed on my 97 G3500 and is running fine. Apparently the shop had to R & R the intake to get to it. They had to replace gasket etc. It's a bit involved apparently.

hfl67

Do you have the 5.7 or the 454?

It's not throwing any codes, but it is connecting, right? Need to be sure of that first before you throw parts at it.

As for the regulator, there's a schrader valve on the hard lines that come up to the pump, you can see them if you pull the doghouse (engine cover that's inside the van). The first step is to see if you have good fuel pressure there with a gauge, upon turning the ignition key as well as running. If you have good, constant, steady pressure there, you'll have to get inside the upper intake to change the fuel pressure regulator (which is a cheap part, actually, but you'll probably want to replace the seals for it and the throttle body, which costs a little more).

Also, the 99 will probably have the old SFI pump, which the individual injectors tend to get clogged up with cheap fuel and time. Chevy will recommend you upgrade to the MFI unit after performing the high-pressure + high price injector cleaning. The MFI is normally almost $400 but I found one on amazon for closer to $200. It is better; better starting, slightly better gas mileage but may not be needed. It's also under the upper (composite) intake, and can be changed at the same time without much more work, if you have the cash.