Van down

[mxzane933]

Need some help. Stopped at gas station to get gas and took a nap sitting there and when i woke the van had ran out so i pushed it to the pump got gas. It wouldnt start i added a fuel additives as well and it turns over but wont fire. I called chevy and they dont want to help.They just wanted me to get the van towed. And look at it. JUST money hungry anyone have any tips of stuff to try.?
Sent from my DROID BIONIC

 

[cableguymn]

Need some help. Stopped at gas station to get gas and took a nap sitting there and when i woke the van had ran out so i pushed it to the pump got gas. It wouldnt start i added a fuel additives as well and it turns over but wont fire. I called chevy and they dont want to help.They just wanted me to get the van towed. And look at it. JUST money hungry anyone have any tips of stuff to try.?
Sent from my DROID BIONIC

Gas or Diesel? If it's gas it should start if you cycle the key a few times. Turn the key on so the warning lights come on and wait a few seconds. then turn it off. Do this a few times to prime the system then it should start.

If that does not do it, it might not have ran out of gas but something else might have happened.

If it's a diesel you may have to pump prime the system. The owners manual should have a section on what to do if you ran out of fuel.

 

[zorry]

When you run out sometimes you get garbage from bottom of tank. If previous posts don't do it check into changing the fuel filter.

 

[chefdennis]

Gas motor chevy??? if it sat running and ran out of gas, chances are good that the "in the gas tank" fuel pump sucked up "crap" in the bottom of the tank, overheated and went bad...it is never good to run a GM gas motored van below a 1/4 of a tank of gas, just for this reason....

As pointed out above, cycling the key on and off a few times should start the fuel pump, you should hear it hum...if you don't, chances are the pump is burnt up...I hope your checking account has a few bucks in it if you have the dealer fix it....They will try to get you to pull the gas tank....a good shop will cut a hole in the floor to access the tank pickkup, sending unit and fuel pump...

NEVER RUN THAT VAN BEFORE A 1/4 TANK OF GAS....

 

[Jenny]

If you were that low on gas before you took your nap shouldn't you have taken the 5 minutes to fill it??

 

[blizzard2014]

If you were that low on gas before you took your nap shouldn't you have taken the 5 minutes to fill it??

Maybe he has narcolepsy! lol

 

[LDB]

The best and most important information to share is this. Sitting behind the wheel, looking through the windshield, lower your eyes and look behind the wheel. You will see several gauges. The furthest lower right gauge will have the word FUEL near it. You will see a total of 9 hash marks, the one at the 3 o'clock position having an F near it and the one at the 9 o'clock position having an E near it. When you fill the van completely the needle should point toward the F. Now, here's the most important part. You keep the needle pointing at the F marking or one of the next 5 marks, NEVER letting it go any closer toward that E than the 5 marks nearest the F.

That is VERY important. It keeps enough fuel in the tank to cool the fuel pump. It keeps enough fuel in the tank to lubricate the fuel pump. It keeps enough fuel in the tank to eliminate picking up contaminants with the fuel pump. It also keeps from the embarrassment and potential expense of running out of fuel.

 

[scottm4211]

Dude you really need to get your *•¥# together.

 

[chefdennis]

Well...he has posted in other threads since we have posted here...yet no reply....

 

[asjssl]

Muffler bearings.....definitely muffler bearings...

Sent from my ADR6300 using EO Forums

 

[greg334]

Need some help.

What?

Again?

Didn't you learn your lesson with the thing sticking down your pants?

Stopped at gas station to get gas and took a nap sitting there

OK how often do you do this?

Why would you sit at the pumps and fall asleep?

and when i woke the van had ran out so i pushed it to the pump got gas.

OK I guess you weren't sitting at the pumps. BUT really ... ??

It wouldnt start i added a fuel additives as well and it turns over but wont fire.

OK out of all the professional motocross people I know, you are the only one who would put additives in the something and expect it to start, or did I miss something?

I called chevy and they dont want to help.

What did you expect them to do?

Send out a group of mechanics to troubleshoot the problem?

Seriously,

They just wanted me to get the van towed. And look at it.

Well of course, they don't travel around with a hoist in their back pocket. It could be a number of things, like the driver, or the fuel pump (which it easily could be) or even the ECM.

JUST money hungry

Dealing with people who fall asleep at gas stations makes one get a bit apprehensive about trying to trouble shoot a complex machine over the phone. I am of the adage, make them pay and they'll think twice - which I have done on several occasions, like the $50 gallon of oil.

anyone have any tips of stuff to try.?

Take advice from people who can tell you what you need to do and listen to them.

My advice is not to fall asleep in a van in a gas station but sleep regular hours because I honestly don't care if you fall asleep and hit a bridge (other than the traffic jam if I'm in it) but rather concerned about the people around you.

 

[Doggie Daddy]

#1 rule of expediting, take care of the truck/van before you take care of yourself...j/s.

 

[RETIDEPXE]

"because I honestly don't care if you fall asleep and hit a bridge"

Greg,

How would you feel if you just learned he did just that and is no longer here to post a reply? I don't care who it is, that comment was not called for in my opinion. Shame on you.

 

[Dreamer]

Just a lil harsh there? Glad you never made any mistakes at 22...


Dale

 

[cheri1122]

Just a lil harsh there? Glad you never made any mistakes at 22...

A lot of 'mistakes' are [in hindsight] amusing [for us, anyway], but this one is pretty scary: falling asleep when the fuel level is that low suggests a level of fatigue that is unacceptable for a driver.
Unless the nap was more than 12 hrs [a whole nother problem], this young man needs to learn to pace himself, or to accept loads he can do without extreme fatigue, or something other than whatever made him tired enough to fall asleep before filling the tank. In a gas station, no less.
Just sayin.....

 

[usafk9]

#1 rule of expediting, take care of the truck/van before you take care of yourself...j/s.

Could not have said it better myself.

 

[greg334]

Well I am stressing safety with my comments. If he is too inclined to not get enough sleep and has an accident, what can I say - I can't control his actions.

With that said, I had a near miss yesterday with a van driver who fell asleep while he went through a red light. He fell asleep after driving from laredo non-stop and started the trip with 4 hours sleep. I didn't have an issue with him hitting me but the car that was going through the intersection a little ahead if me in the next lane had three kids and a grandmother driving. If I didn't use my horn to get him to wake up, the they would have been hit too.

He got a ticket, I called his company and told them what happened and the lady said she will complain to the company too. He had the nerve to tell me not to call the cops which I told him I didn't, the old lady did.


So how would I feel if one of the kids got killed if I didn't react to the driver?

You may think I'm harsh but I hope Zane there listens and learns - which I think he is doing just that.

 

[zorry]

Sounds to me like Vanners need log books. Anyone hauling freight for compensation needs to log. Just not enough common sense to do it any other way,

 

[cableguymn]

The best and most important information to share is this. Sitting behind the wheel, looking through the windshield, lower your eyes and look behind the wheel. You will see several gauges. The furthest lower right gauge will have the word FUEL near it. You will see a total of 9 hash marks, the one at the 3 o'clock position having an F near it and the one at the 9 o'clock position having an E near it. When you fill the van completely the needle should point toward the F. Now, here's the most important part. You keep the needle pointing at the F marking or one of the next 5 marks, NEVER letting it go any closer toward that E than the 5 marks nearest the F.

That is VERY important. It keeps enough fuel in the tank to cool the fuel pump. It keeps enough fuel in the tank to lubricate the fuel pump. It keeps enough fuel in the tank to eliminate picking up contaminants with the fuel pump. It also keeps from the embarrassment and potential expense of running out of fuel.

while it did take GM Engineers a while to figure this out. They did address cooling the pump. On newer (early 90's?) in tank pumps they built the hanger to hold fuel around the pump when the level gets low. This fuel is replaced with fuel returned from the engine so it's always in the loop so it can't over heat.

However, going to bed low on fuel is a bad idea no matter how you cut it.


OP.

Can you hear the pump prime? Yes? Does it run with a shot of starting fluid down the intake? If not. it's something more than fuel delivery. If it does run for a few seconds on starting fluid your pump is shot, the sock is clogged or the fuel filter is plugged.


The large white cup holds the pump and cooling fuel.

The old style pump in the wind model.

 

[greg334]

Cableguy, Delphi engineers were the one who designed the pump and gm knew the problem but didn't care enough to ask for an improvement because of the cost of redesign vs. the cost of replacing them under warantee. The fix came about as part of the componet life cycle.