New to the forum, hope this in the right place.

So today my suburban was pulling an empty 24' enclosed trailer and 50 mph on the highway. All of a sudden it starts jerking and losing rpm and mph while giving gas. Pull off to side of highway and engine sputters and then dies. I tried turning it over and again and it runs up to 500 rpms, shakes violently, and stalls. Won't stay running. Tried putting transmission in neutral with same results. I'm not sure if its the fuel pump or pressure regulator or even MAF. Its a 2001 k1500 Suburban with a 5.3L. Any suggestions or help would be great.

 

Is the fuel pump original?

 

From what I know it may be original. There is about 150K on it and I bought it with 120K, no service records.

 

When you turn the key over do you hear the fuel pump running. I have a 2001 Suburban and had to put a fuel pump in it at 128,000. Take the gas cap off and put your ear to it and have someone turn key all the way over without trying to start it. If you do not hear the fuel pump kick on check all fuel pump related fuses and relays and if that checks out good then its probably the pump! If it is do not put a O.E. pump in it they are to expensive. Carter makes a fuel pump for them that are alot cheaper and are just as good, i have had mine in for 2 years without a problem! Good luck man!

 

Drew Maughmer Welcome to the forum...

I would agree, check for the sound of the pump, if you hear it check for fuel pressure

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I am trying to help my wife troubleshoot this while I'm stationed overseas. She has it at a shop to have them look at it and trust me, I'm not letting them put OEM fuel pump in there. I know that is expensive stuff. Had to replace on my 2001 Silverado. Again, thanks guys for your help.

 

Drew: Welcome to the forum. And thank you for your service.

Many others (including certified ASE techs) have posted here that non-OEM fuel pumps while cheaper than OEM, usually don't last as long. It's been about ten years since I had an in-tank pump replaced in my IROC/Z and it cost about $400. Probably more now. So it may be penny wise and pound foolish to not use an OEM pump.

 

In these year Chevy's the OEM pump is notorious for going bad, happens all the time! But once you put a carter pump in from my experience and everyone else i know that has this problem with the older Chevy's have alot better luck with the Carter pump. In my eyes your foolish to pay double for an OEM pump that's guaranteed to fail soon lol!

 

Carter and airtex pumps are the worst. I see an extremely high failure on those. In fact this is the only time I have heard someone talk good about those pumps. I have seen them fail out of the box. I would recommend only Delphi or AcDelco. Yes it will fail again but not for at least 80,000 miles. I have never had to replace a Delco or Delphi pump twice.

 

90% of the normal people changing their own pumps to save $ don't have the sense to change the fuel filter at the same time because they do not know that the fuel pump probably failed due to running the tank very low on gas causing the pump to over heat or a clogged fuel filter. Nothing wrong with aftermarket pumps if you know the steps you need to take to make it perform to it highest ability's! And since you do not know that anything electrically can fail at any time lol now you do! Look at how many recall's there are on new vehicles due to an electrical problem no matter the make! That is just the nature of the beast. There is a way to check and make sure it is working properly before installation lol.