tickerguy

Prepping to drop the tank and replace the fuel pump -- has starvation problems on inclines when less than 1/2 full, seen this movie before (see my other thread on my '02 Suburban) so down comes the tank.

I got the fuel and purge lines disconnected in the front and it appears it's the same basic deal as the Suburban otherwise; drop it a little way, reach in and disconnect the electrical connectors, then pull it out. The rear fill does not want to come off; it appears to be never-removed since the truck was new. No big shock it's unhappy.... :-)

The easiest way forward appears to be to cut the hose, drop the tank and then replace it but I need the correct size. It's old enough that I can't see any markings on it at all. The fill neck and jump pipe at the frame look to be in good condition so I see no reason to play with them; just the fill hose on the tank itself.

(Any other hints on "gotchas" taking the tank down would be appreciated as well.)

Thanks!

Triaged

Be careful cutting that filler hose. Even the straight stuff is over a dollar an inch. See what a new one from the dealer costs before you cut it.

tickerguy

Yeah, I saw that..... a foot of that stuff is $20!

So.... maybe not. I got the intermediate pipe end free so I can get that end off with the tank still in, drop the tank and then work the other end off. Which is now "Plan A" -- if the freaking pump gets here (gotta love supply chain disruptions and the shipping delays they are causing!)

Triaged

I've dropped a few tanks. My plan a is to cut a hole in the floor if I ever need to replace it.

tickerguy

The nice thing about vehicles that are not from (and have never lived) up north is that you can get things apart without destroying them. It's a whole different world when you have to drill out mounting bolts or air-chisel off hardware; fortunately, this is (as is mine) a southern vehicle and is remarkably clean underneath.

Fortunately the tank is pretty close to empty (low-fuel light is on); without being able to get the fill hose off you can't get the screen at the inlet out either, so siphoning the fuel out FIRST is off the table.

There are things I find particularly annoying about GMs and this is one of them; my other-brand vehicles (not-trucks) have access plates under the rear seats that make this sort of job very easy.