Can I tow my Tahoe home?

[Sean James]

'99 Tahoe 5.7 4x4 autotrak (4 wheel auto, with 4 push-buttons on dash and neutral light).

The fuel pump took a dump on me 12 miles from my house, lucky it was in the rear parking lot of a Walgreens. Wife got a ride home and came back with the Silverado, tow straps, flashlight, etc.

While waiting I looked through the owners manual and it says not to tow unless you put the Transfer Case in Neutral. ( I had to do this several years ago with the 95 Silverado that has the manual floor shift, just manually shift to neutral and off you go). But something about the Auto 4WD having a pump in the t/c that requires it to be in neutral?

Manual says how to put the t/c in neutral, but the engine must be RUNNING! Push the 2 wheel high button and the 4 Wheel low button at the same time, hold for 10 seconds until the neutral light comes on, then shift the trans into reverse for a second, then drive, then neutral.

Well, since the engine wont run without a fuel pump, do I have to pull the driveshaft (s)!! Really? I tried the procedure with just the key on and no luck....Darn! I know everything works perfect with the 4wd system, just went over it recently, and used it often in the deep snow in Utah the last few months. Oh well.

Question is: Can I just tow it home slowly for the 12 miles? It's still in the 50F. here in Utah during the day, so heat should not be problem. OR can I just disconnect the rear driveshaft and wire it up? OR do I have to disconnect BOTH front and rear driveshafts?

I can spin the front driveshaft by hand when parked, so shouldn't that mean that it is not connected/engaged to the t/c or AutoTrak system when in 2 wheel high? or does the front driveshaft spin when driving in 2 wheel high while going down the road, due to parasitic drag or the clutches engaged when rolling with the engine off?

Sorry if I seem lazy, but it happened at 9 at night, gotta go back in the morning and try to get this done asap. Already got the new pump and the garage set up to change the pump. Pulling, wiring up, towing, and driving home is going to eat up a lot of time, and I only have one day to do this or the wife has no car for a week and half. (I drive a truck, and home time is limited). Plus my other wives are getting testy about me spending so much time with my new one

Thanks guys for any opinions answers.

 

[swathdiver]

If nobody chimes in with direct knowledge, if it were mine I'd pull the rear driveshaft at least. The front axle should not be engaged while in 2HI so you can leave it.

 

[drakon543]

its only 12 miles do the driveshaft and take it slow. i think most 4wd vehicles after 2000 all say dont tow blah blah blah. picture i posted a while ago was an 04 f150 that said dont tow more than 20 miles or something with the wheels on the ground. the owner insisted it would be fine and i ended up doing a round trip of 140 miles.

 

[alpinecrick]

Tow it........

 

[RST Dana]

its only 12 miles do the driveshaft and take it slow. i think most 4wd vehicles after 2000 all say dont tow blah blah blah. picture i posted a while ago was an 04 f150 that said dont tow more than 20 miles or something with the wheels on the ground. the owner insisted it would be fine and i ended up doing a round trip of 140 miles.

Isn’t toward expected with a Ford?

 

[drakon543]

ya thats why the ford manual is so detailed when it comes to towing your vehicle. it has like a page and a half on methods and suggestions lol.

 

[BG1988]

'99 Tahoe 5.7 4x4 autotrak (4 wheel auto, with 4 push-buttons on dash and neutral light).

The fuel pump took a dump on me 12 miles from my house, lucky it was in the rear parking lot of a Walgreens. Wife got a ride home and came back with the Silverado, tow straps, flashlight, etc.

While waiting I looked through the owners manual and it says not to tow unless you put the Transfer Case in Neutral. ( I had to do this several years ago with the 95 Silverado that has the manual floor shift, just manually shift to neutral and off you go). But something about the Auto 4WD having a pump in the t/c that requires it to be in neutral?

Manual says how to put the t/c in neutral, but the engine must be RUNNING! Push the 2 wheel high button and the 4 Wheel low button at the same time, hold for 10 seconds until the neutral light comes on, then shift the trans into reverse for a second, then drive, then neutral.

Well, since the engine wont run without a fuel pump, do I have to pull the driveshaft (s)!! Really? I tried the procedure with just the key on and no luck....Darn! I know everything works perfect with the 4wd system, just went over it recently, and used it often in the deep snow in Utah the last few months. Oh well.

Question is: Can I just tow it home slowly for the 12 miles? It's still in the 50F. here in Utah during the day, so heat should not be problem. OR can I just disconnect the rear driveshaft and wire it up? OR do I have to disconnect BOTH front and rear driveshafts?

I can spin the front driveshaft by hand when parked, so shouldn't that mean that it is not connected/engaged to the t/c or AutoTrak system when in 2 wheel high? or does the front driveshaft spin when driving in 2 wheel high while going down the road, due to parasitic drag or the clutches engaged when rolling with the engine off?

Sorry if I seem lazy, but it happened at 9 at night, gotta go back in the morning and try to get this done asap. Already got the new pump and the garage set up to change the pump. Pulling, wiring up, towing, and driving home is going to eat up a lot of time, and I only have one day to do this or the wife has no car for a week and half. (I drive a truck, and home time is limited). Plus my other wives are getting testy about me spending so much time with my new one

Thanks guys for any opinions answers.

pay a tow truck never worth damaging parts that will cost more then a tow or rent a Tow dolly from uhaul

 

[89Suburban]

Did you try banging on the fuel tank with your fist or a hammer to jolt the pump into action? That usually works a dozen times before it totally strands you. At least in my experiences...

 

[Sean James]

Thanks Swathdriver and 89suburban and others. Darn it, I didn't try banging on the bottom of the fuel tank, I know that the pump assy rides on the bottom of the plastic tank and I can totally see how that would work, unfortunatley I didn't get this last post until I already towed it home. Here is how it went:

I dropped the rear driveshaft, only took about 20 minutes, marked it with tape/marker so it goes back the same way, duck tape on the bearing caps, wired it up with fence wire, being careful to not drive it into or out of the trans rear seal either way, I didn't want to trash the seal with dirty yoke shaft. Wired it up to a muffler hanger, easy. I put a piece of tape on the front drive shaft and towed it about a 1/4 mile, stopped, set the pkg brake, and crawled under, and checked the front driveshaft...it had not moved one bit. So I was sure the front shaft was not spinning while towing. Had the trans in neutral, but guess it could have been in park for all that mattered, since nothing was spinning. Wife and I both had our phones on speaker, and it was pretty easy to yell at her about using the brakes, and making wide turns.

Luckily it is Sunday, and everyone here in UT is in Church, hardly any traffic in my Rural town. 12 miles to home at 30 mph, piece of cake. Thanks to all who responded, it would have been an extra hassle to remove and wire up the front drive shaft. Plus I saved a bunch of time and money on a dolly, tow truck, etc. Now I'm wondering if I should just change out the rear U-joint while I'm at it, it's still good, but it's fun watching all that plastic stuff come gooing out of them little holes . Thank you Gentlemen!

 

[89Suburban]

Thanks Swathdriver and 89suburban and others. Darn it, I didn't try banging on the bottom of the fuel tank, I know that the pump assy rides on the bottom of the plastic tank and I can totally see how that would work, unfortunatley I didn't get this last post until I already towed it home. Here is how it went:

I dropped the rear driveshaft, only took about 20 minutes, marked it with tape/marker so it goes back the same way, duck tape on the bearing caps, wired it up with fence wire, being careful to not drive it into or out of the trans rear seal either way, I didn't want to trash the seal with dirty yoke shaft. Wired it up to a muffler hanger, easy. I put a piece of tape on the front drive shaft and towed it about a 1/4 mile, stopped, set the pkg brake, and crawled under, and checked the front driveshaft...it had not moved one bit. So I was sure the front shaft was not spinning while towing. Had the trans in neutral, but guess it could have been in park for all that mattered, since nothing was spinning. Wife and I both had our phones on speaker, and it was pretty easy to yell at her about using the brakes, and making wide turns.

Luckily it is Sunday, and everyone here in UT is in Church, hardly any traffic in my Rural town. 12 miles to home at 30 mph, piece of cake. Thanks to all who responded, it would have been an extra hassle to remove and wire up the front drive shaft. Plus I saved a bunch of time and money on a dolly, tow truck, etc. Now I'm wondering if I should just change out the rear U-joint while I'm at it, it's still good, but it's fun watching all that plastic stuff come gooing out of them little holes . Thank you Gentlemen!

Good job man!

 

[swathdiver]

Thanks Swathdriver and 89suburban and others.

Happy to help! Stick with AC Delco or GM OE for that fuel pump now.

 

[drakon543]

maybe he likes adventure and the challenge.

 

[Sean James]

Well, just finished the fuel pump, 10 hours with a few breaks for food, nightly dog walk, etc. Got a Delphi pump for $150 at auto zone, they wanted $299 for AC Delco (really?). But with the help of many of you here, I gathered that Delphi and Delco are the same or similar. I hope I made a decent decision. All went pretty well, but the darn fuel and return lines took the most work to get off. I had a package of the plastic fuel line removal gismos, did not work, and a set of AGM aluminum fuel line tools, that did not work. (due to the plastic re-enforcement part between lines) So, what the heck, fuel pump is shot so I just hack-sawed a little bit off the top of the plastic pump outlet lines and broke them off with pliers. Then had a fun time trying to find the disconnect for the charcoal canister. But after jacking up the rear axle, jack stands, and another floor jack with a 1X6 about 15" long on the bottom of the tank, I was able to lower it and follow that last part of the charcoal canister line and find the dis-connector at the front top of the tank and pull the line connector off.

The Fuel Gauge said a little over a 1/4 tank of fuel, but darn it was heavy as hell. I slid the tank out from the left side, and then drained the remaining fuel into my 5 gallon gas cans, knowing that it would make everything much easier. I dumped 7.5 gallons out of the filler tube into my cans until it seemed mostly empty, but there must be some type of baffles in the tank, because I could still hear/feel some fuel sloshing around when no more would come out of the filler tube stub, but way easier to work with when almost empty.

Once the tank was out of the way, I was able to chip off the plastic re-enforcement sections and get the push-in tool in the fuel lines and pull out what was left of the old plastic fuel pump ends clean. I was careful to not get any plastic chips in the tank, but I was taking a chance. Once the new pump was assembled, installed into the tank, and lock ring reinstalled, the rest went really fast. Plan was to solder the new wiring plug in with a mini-torch, but I decided that was probably a bad idea with all the gas fumes hanging out on the floor, so I just used the crimp connectors that came with the kit, but added my own shrink wrap tubing over them. I hate crimp connectors as I have had them come loose on my boats and other cars before, ( I have learned that twist connectors works WAY better, but they take up way more space) so I used small vise-grips to smash the heck out of the crimp connectors . I used my kids bic lighter to shrink the tubing which was probably stupid, but I had the garage door open and I know that gas vapors sink, and my dogs were not complaining about the fumes at this point. (Don't know why my kids have bic lighters, probably smoking weed in my house and time to kick them out, another story). Anyway, before I tightened everything down, I hooked the battery back up and hit the key for a quick second and waa-laa. Happy truck. Disconnected the battery again, hooked up fuel lines, fill hoses, and charcoal line, torqued down straps, reconnected battery, and she fired right up. I really took a chance as I did not know for sure it was the fuel pump. As we all know, it could have been a number of things, but the fuel pump was whining loud for a few months, so I was pretty sure that was it.

Then, I pulled out all the jack-stands, lowered the floor jack, fired her up again and warmed her up a little, everything perfect! Since my old-school Sierra lives in the garage, I had to back the Tahoe out and put the Sierra back in her warm spot.

I put the Tahoe in reverse and BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!...

Well, as I was pretty burnt out at this time, my back was giving me hell, I was half-covered in gasoline, inhaled a bunch of fumes (not the kind I think my kids are probably inhaling). I slammed her back into "Park" and shut her off... WTF!

How the hell could a fuel pump change make all that noise? What did I do wrong? Did I fry the Trans? or the Transfer case by towing it without disconnecting the front driveshaft? Should I have taken it to a dealer or shop and just paid the $400 for a new fuel pump? Paid for a tow truck? A flatbed? Oh no!

DAAA! Upon grabbing a flashlight and proceeding to climb under the tuck, my wife comes runnig into the garage yelling "what was that"!!! I told her that it was normal for a new fuel pump change it has to "break in" before you can drive it. She said "oh, o.k., that sounded kinda loud in the house. No worries honey, did you feed the chickens?

When I knew it was safe, I scooted under the truck assuming the worst, trans fluid everywhere, cracked transfer case, and maybe a IRS agent as it is almost April 15th. But no! A bunch of little pieces of steel greasy steel pins all over the floor! Oh hell! where did this all come from? what broke? What have I done?

Many of you have already guessed it. I forgot to put the rear driveshaft back in, the shaft was wired up in two places to a muffler hanger to tow her home, upon putting her in reverse the shaft spun, and the Chinese duck tape came off and the u-joint bearing caps flew off and spit a bunch of the needle bearings onto the floor, holy crap I'm a moron. No big deal I guess, the fence wire held the shaft where I had put it, but as many of you know, I will be finding needle bearings throughout my garage for the next 2 years.

Back to the parts store tomorrow for a new u-joint. I really wanted to see that hot, squishy nylon come squirting out of them little holes anyway, don't forget the map gas. Thanks again Guys! and oh, 99 Tahoe 5.7 4X autotrak

 

[RST Dana]

Well, just finished the fuel pump, 10 hours with a few breaks for food, nightly dog walk, etc. Got a Delphi pump for $150 at auto zone, they wanted $299 for AC Delco (really?). But with the help of many of you here, I gathered that Delphi and Delco are the same or similar. I hope I made a decent decision. All went pretty well, but the darn fuel and return lines took the most work to get off. I had a package of the plastic fuel line removal gismos, did not work, and a set of AGM aluminum fuel line tools, that did not work. (due to the plastic re-enforcement part between lines) So, what the heck, fuel pump is shot so I just hack-sawed a little bit off the top of the plastic pump outlet lines and broke them off with pliers. Then had a fun time trying to find the disconnect for the charcoal canister. But after jacking up the rear axle, jack stands, and another floor jack with a 1X6 about 15" long on the bottom of the tank, I was able to lower it and follow that last part of the charcoal canister line and find the dis-connector at the front top of the tank and pull the line connector off.

The Fuel Gauge said a little over a 1/4 tank of fuel, but darn it was heavy as hell. I slid the tank out from the left side, and then drained the remaining fuel into my 5 gallon gas cans, knowing that it would make everything much easier. I dumped 7.5 gallons out of the filler tube into my cans until it seemed mostly empty, but there must be some type of baffles in the tank, because I could still hear/feel some fuel sloshing around when no more would come out of the filler tube stub, but way easier to work with when almost empty.

Once the tank was out of the way, I was able to chip off the plastic re-enforcement sections and get the push-in tool in the fuel lines and pull out what was left of the old plastic fuel pump ends clean. I was careful to not get any plastic chips in the tank, but I was taking a chance. Once the new pump was assembled, installed into the tank, and lock ring reinstalled, the rest went really fast. Plan was to solder the new wiring plug in with a mini-torch, but I decided that was probably a bad idea with all the gas fumes hanging out on the floor, so I just used the crimp connectors that came with the kit, but added my own shrink wrap tubing over them. I hate crimp connectors as I have had them come loose on my boats and other cars before, ( I have learned that twist connectors works WAY better, but they take up way more space) so I used small vise-grips to smash the heck out of the crimp connectors . I used my kids bic lighter to shrink the tubing which was probably stupid, but I had the garage door open and I know that gas vapors sink, and my dogs were not complaining about the fumes at this point. (Don't know why my kids have bic lighters, probably smoking weed in my house and time to kick them out, another story). Anyway, before I tightened everything down, I hooked the battery back up and hit the key for a quick second and waa-laa. Happy truck. Disconnected the battery again, hooked up fuel lines, fill hoses, and charcoal line, torqued down straps, reconnected battery, and she fired right up. I really took a chance as I did not know for sure it was the fuel pump. As we all know, it could have been a number of things, but the fuel pump was whining loud for a few months, so I was pretty sure that was it.

Then, I pulled out all the jack-stands, lowered the floor jack, fired her up again and warmed her up a little, everything perfect! Since my old-school Sierra lives in the garage, I had to back the Tahoe out and put the Sierra back in her warm spot.

I put the Tahoe in reverse and BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!...

Well, as I was pretty burnt out at this time, my back was giving me hell, I was half-covered in gasoline, inhaled a bunch of fumes (not the kind I think my kids are probably inhaling). I slammed her back into "Park" and shut her off... WTF!

How the hell could a fuel pump change make all that noise? What did I do wrong? Did I fry the Trans? or the Transfer case by towing it without disconnecting the front driveshaft? Should I have taken it to a dealer or shop and just paid the $400 for a new fuel pump? Paid for a tow truck? A flatbed? Oh no!

DAAA! Upon grabbing a flashlight and proceeding to climb under the tuck, my wife comes runnig into the garage yelling "what was that"!!! I told her that it was normal for a new fuel pump change it has to "break in" before you can drive it. She said "oh, o.k., that sounded kinda loud in the house. No worries honey, did you feed the chickens?

When I knew it was safe, I scooted under the truck assuming the worst, trans fluid everywhere, cracked transfer case, and maybe a IRS agent as it is almost April 15th. But no! A bunch of little pieces of steel greasy steel pins all over the floor! Oh hell! where did this all come from? what broke? What have I done?

Many of you have already guessed it. I forgot to put the rear driveshaft back in, the shaft was wired up in two places to a muffler hanger to tow her home, upon putting her in reverse the shaft spun, and the Chinese duck tape came off and the u-joint bearing caps flew off and spit a bunch of the needle bearings onto the floor, holy crap I'm a moron. No big deal I guess, the fence wire held the shaft where I had put it, but as many of you know, I will be finding needle bearings throughout my garage for the next 2 years.

Back to the parts store tomorrow for a new u-joint. I really wanted to see that hot, squishy nylon come squirting out of them little holes anyway, don't forget the map gas. Thanks again Guys! and oh, 99 Tahoe 5.7 4X autotrak

View attachment 220527

I am rolling here. I had forgotten the earlier post about the drive shaft. You did mention it might be a good time for a new ujoint.....consider it a gift from the Easter Bunny, (except you are paying for it)

 

[89Suburban]

Well, just finished the fuel pump, 10 hours with a few breaks for food, nightly dog walk, etc. Got a Delphi pump for $150 at auto zone, they wanted $299 for AC Delco (really?). But with the help of many of you here, I gathered that Delphi and Delco are the same or similar. I hope I made a decent decision. All went pretty well, but the darn fuel and return lines took the most work to get off. I had a package of the plastic fuel line removal gismos, did not work, and a set of AGM aluminum fuel line tools, that did not work. (due to the plastic re-enforcement part between lines) So, what the heck, fuel pump is shot so I just hack-sawed a little bit off the top of the plastic pump outlet lines and broke them off with pliers. Then had a fun time trying to find the disconnect for the charcoal canister. But after jacking up the rear axle, jack stands, and another floor jack with a 1X6 about 15" long on the bottom of the tank, I was able to lower it and follow that last part of the charcoal canister line and find the dis-connector at the front top of the tank and pull the line connector off.

The Fuel Gauge said a little over a 1/4 tank of fuel, but darn it was heavy as hell. I slid the tank out from the left side, and then drained the remaining fuel into my 5 gallon gas cans, knowing that it would make everything much easier. I dumped 7.5 gallons out of the filler tube into my cans until it seemed mostly empty, but there must be some type of baffles in the tank, because I could still hear/feel some fuel sloshing around when no more would come out of the filler tube stub, but way easier to work with when almost empty.

Once the tank was out of the way, I was able to chip off the plastic re-enforcement sections and get the push-in tool in the fuel lines and pull out what was left of the old plastic fuel pump ends clean. I was careful to not get any plastic chips in the tank, but I was taking a chance. Once the new pump was assembled, installed into the tank, and lock ring reinstalled, the rest went really fast. Plan was to solder the new wiring plug in with a mini-torch, but I decided that was probably a bad idea with all the gas fumes hanging out on the floor, so I just used the crimp connectors that came with the kit, but added my own shrink wrap tubing over them. I hate crimp connectors as I have had them come loose on my boats and other cars before, ( I have learned that twist connectors works WAY better, but they take up way more space) so I used small vise-grips to smash the heck out of the crimp connectors . I used my kids bic lighter to shrink the tubing which was probably stupid, but I had the garage door open and I know that gas vapors sink, and my dogs were not complaining about the fumes at this point. (Don't know why my kids have bic lighters, probably smoking weed in my house and time to kick them out, another story). Anyway, before I tightened everything down, I hooked the battery back up and hit the key for a quick second and waa-laa. Happy truck. Disconnected the battery again, hooked up fuel lines, fill hoses, and charcoal line, torqued down straps, reconnected battery, and she fired right up. I really took a chance as I did not know for sure it was the fuel pump. As we all know, it could have been a number of things, but the fuel pump was whining loud for a few months, so I was pretty sure that was it.

Then, I pulled out all the jack-stands, lowered the floor jack, fired her up again and warmed her up a little, everything perfect! Since my old-school Sierra lives in the garage, I had to back the Tahoe out and put the Sierra back in her warm spot.

I put the Tahoe in reverse and BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!...

Well, as I was pretty burnt out at this time, my back was giving me hell, I was half-covered in gasoline, inhaled a bunch of fumes (not the kind I think my kids are probably inhaling). I slammed her back into "Park" and shut her off... WTF!

How the hell could a fuel pump change make all that noise? What did I do wrong? Did I fry the Trans? or the Transfer case by towing it without disconnecting the front driveshaft? Should I have taken it to a dealer or shop and just paid the $400 for a new fuel pump? Paid for a tow truck? A flatbed? Oh no!

DAAA! Upon grabbing a flashlight and proceeding to climb under the tuck, my wife comes runnig into the garage yelling "what was that"!!! I told her that it was normal for a new fuel pump change it has to "break in" before you can drive it. She said "oh, o.k., that sounded kinda loud in the house. No worries honey, did you feed the chickens?

When I knew it was safe, I scooted under the truck assuming the worst, trans fluid everywhere, cracked transfer case, and maybe a IRS agent as it is almost April 15th. But no! A bunch of little pieces of steel greasy steel pins all over the floor! Oh hell! where did this all come from? what broke? What have I done?

Many of you have already guessed it. I forgot to put the rear driveshaft back in, the shaft was wired up in two places to a muffler hanger to tow her home, upon putting her in reverse the shaft spun, and the Chinese duck tape came off and the u-joint bearing caps flew off and spit a bunch of the needle bearings onto the floor, holy crap I'm a moron. No big deal I guess, the fence wire held the shaft where I had put it, but as many of you know, I will be finding needle bearings throughout my garage for the next 2 years.

Back to the parts store tomorrow for a new u-joint. I really wanted to see that hot, squishy nylon come squirting out of them little holes anyway, don't forget the map gas. Thanks again Guys! and oh, 99 Tahoe 5.7 4X autotrak

View attachment 220527

Damn man you lucky you didn't rip something apart under there. Hopefully the balance of your driveshaft isn't jacked.

 

[HiHoeSilver]

Well, just finished the fuel pump, 10 hours with a few breaks for food, nightly dog walk, etc. Got a Delphi pump for $150 at auto zone, they wanted $299 for AC Delco (really?). But with the help of many of you here, I gathered that Delphi and Delco are the same or similar. I hope I made a decent decision. All went pretty well, but the darn fuel and return lines took the most work to get off. I had a package of the plastic fuel line removal gismos, did not work, and a set of AGM aluminum fuel line tools, that did not work. (due to the plastic re-enforcement part between lines) So, what the heck, fuel pump is shot so I just hack-sawed a little bit off the top of the plastic pump outlet lines and broke them off with pliers. Then had a fun time trying to find the disconnect for the charcoal canister. But after jacking up the rear axle, jack stands, and another floor jack with a 1X6 about 15" long on the bottom of the tank, I was able to lower it and follow that last part of the charcoal canister line and find the dis-connector at the front top of the tank and pull the line connector off.

The Fuel Gauge said a little over a 1/4 tank of fuel, but darn it was heavy as hell. I slid the tank out from the left side, and then drained the remaining fuel into my 5 gallon gas cans, knowing that it would make everything much easier. I dumped 7.5 gallons out of the filler tube into my cans until it seemed mostly empty, but there must be some type of baffles in the tank, because I could still hear/feel some fuel sloshing around when no more would come out of the filler tube stub, but way easier to work with when almost empty.

Once the tank was out of the way, I was able to chip off the plastic re-enforcement sections and get the push-in tool in the fuel lines and pull out what was left of the old plastic fuel pump ends clean. I was careful to not get any plastic chips in the tank, but I was taking a chance. Once the new pump was assembled, installed into the tank, and lock ring reinstalled, the rest went really fast. Plan was to solder the new wiring plug in with a mini-torch, but I decided that was probably a bad idea with all the gas fumes hanging out on the floor, so I just used the crimp connectors that came with the kit, but added my own shrink wrap tubing over them. I hate crimp connectors as I have had them come loose on my boats and other cars before, ( I have learned that twist connectors works WAY better, but they take up way more space) so I used small vise-grips to smash the heck out of the crimp connectors . I used my kids bic lighter to shrink the tubing which was probably stupid, but I had the garage door open and I know that gas vapors sink, and my dogs were not complaining about the fumes at this point. (Don't know why my kids have bic lighters, probably smoking weed in my house and time to kick them out, another story). Anyway, before I tightened everything down, I hooked the battery back up and hit the key for a quick second and waa-laa. Happy truck. Disconnected the battery again, hooked up fuel lines, fill hoses, and charcoal line, torqued down straps, reconnected battery, and she fired right up. I really took a chance as I did not know for sure it was the fuel pump. As we all know, it could have been a number of things, but the fuel pump was whining loud for a few months, so I was pretty sure that was it.

Then, I pulled out all the jack-stands, lowered the floor jack, fired her up again and warmed her up a little, everything perfect! Since my old-school Sierra lives in the garage, I had to back the Tahoe out and put the Sierra back in her warm spot.

I put the Tahoe in reverse and BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!...

Well, as I was pretty burnt out at this time, my back was giving me hell, I was half-covered in gasoline, inhaled a bunch of fumes (not the kind I think my kids are probably inhaling). I slammed her back into "Park" and shut her off... WTF!

How the hell could a fuel pump change make all that noise? What did I do wrong? Did I fry the Trans? or the Transfer case by towing it without disconnecting the front driveshaft? Should I have taken it to a dealer or shop and just paid the $400 for a new fuel pump? Paid for a tow truck? A flatbed? Oh no!

DAAA! Upon grabbing a flashlight and proceeding to climb under the tuck, my wife comes runnig into the garage yelling "what was that"!!! I told her that it was normal for a new fuel pump change it has to "break in" before you can drive it. She said "oh, o.k., that sounded kinda loud in the house. No worries honey, did you feed the chickens?

When I knew it was safe, I scooted under the truck assuming the worst, trans fluid everywhere, cracked transfer case, and maybe a IRS agent as it is almost April 15th. But no! A bunch of little pieces of steel greasy steel pins all over the floor! Oh hell! where did this all come from? what broke? What have I done?

Many of you have already guessed it. I forgot to put the rear driveshaft back in, the shaft was wired up in two places to a muffler hanger to tow her home, upon putting her in reverse the shaft spun, and the Chinese duck tape came off and the u-joint bearing caps flew off and spit a bunch of the needle bearings onto the floor, holy crap I'm a moron. No big deal I guess, the fence wire held the shaft where I had put it, but as many of you know, I will be finding needle bearings throughout my garage for the next 2 years.

Back to the parts store tomorrow for a new u-joint. I really wanted to see that hot, squishy nylon come squirting out of them little holes anyway, don't forget the map gas. Thanks again Guys! and oh, 99 Tahoe 5.7 4X autotrak

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LOL! Great job! Forget about your pothead kids for a minute, Clint Eastwood is stealing your truck!

 

[swathdiver]

Great story Sean and humility is always good! Feed the chickens... LOL

 

[asand]

Tommy Lee Jones is photo bombing your truck.

 

[petethepug]

Too late to call it for you since I was on holiday. Get AutoClub to tow it home via flat bed. It's an Auto Club because anyone you know who has it, means you're in the club too. No matter who is driving your truck, it gets a tow with AAA. Hypothetically when my buddy had no way to tow his car, I could meet him at the break down point and have the driver tow it anywhere and they'd drop it for him, ahem … me.