Growing up doesn't have to suck

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alpha_omega

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I tested the level sensor on the original fuel pump module. Full was 40.x ohms, as it should be. As I slowly lowered the float arm, the impedance increased fairly smoothly until it reached a maximum of 193.8 ohms with a considerable amount of travel left in the float arm. Moving the arm further resulted in an open circuit for the rest of its travel. It's supposed to operate on a 40 ohms (full) to 250 ohms (empty).

193 is 77.2% of 250. 100% - 77.2% is 22.8%, which is a little under 25% or 1/4 tank. Just under 1/4 tank (per the gauge) is where it really started acting up when accelerating.

So, this means that when my gauge read ~1/4, I actually had anywhere from just under 1/4 tank of fuel to fumes remaining.

What I don't get is why the gauge didn't just suddenly plummet to "E" soon after that ~1/4 tank mark. Perhaps the PCM has backup logic to override the analog sensor in case of a failure? It could estimate the fuel remaining by factoring the last known quantity and injector duty cycle.

I guess I'm gonna have to fill one of my race jugs and go for a drive to see where it stalls. I could put three gallons in the jug and when the Tahoe runs out of fuel, that three gallons plus whatever is still in the tank should put the gauge right around the 1/8th tank mark. I'd know the accuracy of my gauge as well as my "stall point".
I wonder how far you were from burning up the pump. A lot of people don’t realize that “normally” other than instances like yours, the only reason a fuel pump goes bad is from people driving their vehicles with low/no gas in them. Otherwise if the fuel pump is submerged it will keep on keeping on. My 02’ has 360k+ miles and never has had the fuel pump replaced. I changed the fuel filter quite often and tried my
best to not let it fall under 1/4 tank.

Nice work on the Big 3 cables. Did you wrap your starter cable as well? Mine was getting pretty hot, so I used a heat shield and wrapped not only the starter but also the harness running into it and the battery cable as well.

Hows the new rad holding up? Did you end up changing out the fan(s) yet or still running stock?
 
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iamdub

iamdub

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I wonder how far you were from burning up the pump. A lot of people don’t realize that “normally” other than instances like yours, the only reason a fuel pump goes bad is from people driving their vehicles with low/no gas in them. Otherwise if the fuel pump is submerged it will keep on keeping on. My 02’ has 360k+ miles and never has had the fuel pump replaced. I changed the fuel filter quite often and tried my
best to not let it fall under 1/4 tank.

Nice work on the Big 3 cables. Did you wrap your starter cable as well? Mine was getting pretty hot, so I used a heat shield and wrapped not only the starter but also the harness running into it and the battery cable as well.

Hows the new rad holding up? Did you end up changing out the fan(s) yet or still running stock?

Having 200K on it, I'd have to say that its days were numbered being treated like that. As I always have before, I have no problem running the tank to 1/8 or below, now that I know it's actually at that level and not on fumes. Even when on "E", the pump is still submerged in the bucket.

Thanks! I transferred the foil heat shield from the factory starter wire. It's kinda crappy so I'd like to add something more substantial and effective. But, I'm not seeing any issues with any of it at the moment.

The new rad, apparently, is doing great. I've never had a problem with the coolant or trans temps with the stock components, and they may be a degree or two lower since the new rad. I'm still running the stock fans. They're fine.

I'm one of the naysayers when it comes to making the engine run as cool as possible. When it comes to "upgrading" the system, I like a few degrees cooler than stock just to know I have the capacity to control it more. But I still prefer to keep it near its designed operating temps.
 
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iamdub

iamdub

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Haven't updated this in a while. Lemme see if I can catch it up...

Jenn's been driving the Tahoe since her car is still in surgery. A month ago, she wanted to do something nice and wash it, so she went through the automatic wash next to her work. She didn't think about the automatic wipers. I think I was out of state at the time when she sent me a pic of the wiper arms with the blade mounts still attached, but no blades. Mine has the oddball pinch tab blade mounts that aren't as easily found as the much more common J-hook style. My arms were needing paint, so I was waiting for when the (relatively expensive) blades were spent to get arms from a newer truck to swap on. Now it HAD to be done because I didn't wanna invest $50+ on another set of the oddball type and it had been raining almost every single day. I told Jenn to coat the windshield with Rain-X until I could get home.

At that time, I had been searching for a GMT900 SUV being parted out to look for parts for my neighbor's wrecked Tahoe. I happened by a 2013 Tahoe being parted out, so I grabbed him some pieces as well as the wiper arms (with nice Bosch Icon wipers) and the headlight switch assembly. I got all the parts so cheaply that my neighbor bought my parts (he insisted) as payment for me finding and retrieving his parts. So, free wiper arm upgrade with expensive wipers and free headlight switch repair/upgrade!


I swapped the headlight switch assembly cuz mine was down to one or two operating backlights:

IMG_6778.JPG


All lights on the new one work. Also, they added "DOME OFF" to the dome override switch:

IMG_6781.JPG


One thing that bothers me is the dimmer knob appears to not have any color filter on it. It's just the ugly yellow incandescent light color. Is this how they are or is mine missing a filter?
 
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iamdub

iamdub

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Also, since I took the Tahoe to New Orleans to haul back that car, took it to Texas and Mississippi and Jenn's been driving it daily, it hit the 5,000-mile service interval about eight months earlier than expected. Half a quart low after 5,000 miles- not bad! I actually felt wasteful for changing the oil when it was still this clean:

IMG_6841.JPG

My oil plug magnet had about the same amount of metal on it as last time. Nothing alarming. I'll just continue to monitor it:

IMG_6852.JPG


I never really gave it much thought, but I wanted to find a quality filter that had the larger case like the K&N I've been running, but with no bypass valve. I couldn't find one with no bypass, but this WIX had twice the bypass pressure rating (22psi vs. the K&N's 11psi), so I went with it:

IMG_6851.JPG


Catch can drained right at two ounces- same as last time:

IMG_6843.JPG
 

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