Expert: Sean Halliday - 8/4/2009

Question
I own a '98 5.4L Chevy 1500.  I had the fuel pump replaced about a year ago.  I'm not sure if this specific problem I'm experiencing now is related or not.  Situation:  Over the past couple of days I've experienced difficulty restarting my vehicle after about 20 min. of driving.  The outside temp. is approx. 98 degrees for fyi.  So, I wait approx. 20 min. or so and it starts up no problem.  We took the vehicle to Advance Auto Parts to check a few things (battery, alternator) and eliminated as a possible cause.  Vehicle seems to drive fine once started.  Just restarting is a problem without sufficient cool-down time, which leads me to believe it's vapor lock.  We popped the top to the carborator and sprayed starter fluid and could tell it wanted to start but couldn't due to quick burn off and evaporation.

Answer
With the chevy trucks it is possible.It depends on the type of pump which was installed.I have heard of the pump failing in a short time because the pump is in the tank and is cooled by the fuel.If the truck is allowed to run low or out of fuel frequently,it can cause the pump to overheat and hence fail prematurely.The filter on this truck must be changed every 10000 miles as it is a badly designed filter which is way too small for this truck.Job security, as the engineers who designed it must have known this.What happens is the filter gets clogged and burns out the fuel pump.There is a company in Florida which sells pump repair kits at a fraction of the cost,Global automotive and they sell the oem parts.A/C DELCO is the proper pump for your truck.Or Airtech.