I purchased a 2001 Blazer 2door 4wd last month. I was told that the fuel guage did not work properly so I know I've got to replace the Fuel pump. Last week while driving home from a hunting trip my SES light comes on. I drive by Auto zone and had them read the code. which was a low air at the catalytic converter. I figure since the truck has 150xxx miles that the cat would be original. After looking under the truck it looks like its been replaced before. I guess what I need to know is what Cat's to look at for best longivity and what could be causing it to go bad so quickly. Also need to know which fuel pump to get. I've heard through some friends that there are certain ones to steer clear from unless I want to be replacing it again in a couple of years.

Thanks for any info

The new Guy
Bear

 

If you have code po420,its indeed the cat. Someone could of installed the wrong one and said forget it.

as for pumps,ac delco or delphi only. get it online,its alot cheaper. rockauto has them for about 240 with shipping +/-.

matter a fact,heres the part # for the pump you need
ACDELCO Part # MU1755 $226.79+ shipping (12 bucks or so)
DELPHI Part # FG0072 223.79+ shipping

plus if you look around you can get a 5% discount code for em as well.

 

Thanks Chris. I have found the same pump on Amazon for alot cheaper. I had planed on useing the AC/ Delco Fuel Pump and was hoping to use a Magnaflow Catalytic Converter. I don't remember what the code was. Was just hoping some one would give me a little more guidance on it.

 

Was the cat just replaced or was the entire crossover / catalytic converter assembly replaced?
If just the cat, very likely it was a cheap one that do not last very long.

I just installed the entire assembly from Walker #50542. Only a few miles on it, hope it lasts 100k.

 

Not real sure how long ago it was put on but whoever changed it out just welded one back in.

 

If its not showing signs of bogging a couple of bitchin hard drives. Couple of times zero to 70 at wot will sometimes clear that. Only if you feel the trucks up to it, nice clean oil and all that good stuff.
You might want to look into why its gumming up cats. A lazy o2 sensor can make it run rich and not toss a code.

Also those fuel gages work on ground. You might want to get under there and follow the ground wire back from the pump to the chassis and make sure you have a real clean ground. Would be a shame to put in a new pump plug it in and have the same problem.

 

Another thing that could cause a problem with the cat failing is if the injectors were leaking previously and put too much fuel into the system. It wouldn't be a bad idea to do a fuel pressure and leakdown test just to verify there's no longer a problem.

 

Thanks for the info Guys. I'm just hoping its not a intake manifold going bad. Thats what happened to my 3.8 Grand Prix. Manifold went bad.My daughter was driving it back from school down in south Ga. when she got home she drove it a couple of days then BAMlock down city. Blowed the heads. I eneded up putting a rebuit engine back in it and a complete Magnaflow exhaust system from the engine back. Expensive but well worth it to me.

 

Have never heard about an intake going bad on the 4.3L engine. But what is common is for the spider fuel injector assembly needs replaced due to leaking or sticking nozzles. Replacement is something you can do yourself; cost is not too bad; takes about a day to do.
As said above the fuel gauge not working could just be a dirty ground connection...check that before dropping the tank and spending $200 for a new pump assembly.

 

Always check the simple, easy and cheap things before going to the more complex and expensive items. For example on the 'fuel gauge doesn't work properly' doesn't necessarily mean the fuel pump needs to be replaced. That could be the problem---the sender float arm is bad--- but it could be so many other things that can be checked first. A bad ground on the fuel pump wiring. It could be a sticking float arm that could be freed by a Techron treatment. This was happening to my '03 Blazer. When I first cranked up the engine, the fuel gauge would stay at the 'E' position. Sometimes as I was driving, it would free itself and other times it would stay on 'E'. I used a bottle of Techron and it freed the sticking float. That beats dropping the gas tank and replacing the pump and sending arm.