NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE04-042: OVERHEATED FUEL PUMP WIRING
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE04-042 on May 3, 2004 and closed it on September 9, 2004. NHTSA's investigations file lists the Chevrolet Suburban and GMC Yukon XL for it and links recall 05V-155 to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE04-042 (also written PE04042)
- Investigation type
- Preliminary Evaluation The first stage of most defect investigations: NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation gathers basic information about a possible safety defect, including from the manufacturer.
- Status
- Closed September 9, 2004
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- General Motors, LLC
- Component
- Fuel System, Gasoline — Delivery — Fuel Pump
- Recall linked by NHTSA
- 05V-155: FUEL PUMP WIRES OVERHEAT, reported
- Vehicles and equipment
- Chevrolet Suburban and GMC Yukon XL
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE04-042.
THE FUEL PUMP WIRING AND CONNECTOR MAY OVERHEAT AND MELT A HOLE IN THE TOP OF THE FUEL PUMP MODULE.POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES INCLUDE FUEL TANK LEAKAGE AND ENGINE STALL WITH NO RESTART.FOURTEEN OF THE 20 COMPLAINTS TO ODI ALLEGE FUEL TANK LEAKAGE, INCLUDING ONE THAT REPORTED THAT A FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS CALLED TO THE SCENE AFTER A POOL OF GASOLINE WAS DISCOVERED BENEATH THE VEHICLE.MOST OF THE ODI COMPLAINTS REPORT INCIDENTS THAT OCCURRED WITHIN THE PAST YEAR. ACCORDING TO GM, FUEL LEAKAGE CAN OCCUR IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES IF THE HEAT IS SUFFICIENT TO MELT A HOLE IN THE PLASTIC CONNECTOR LARGE ENOUGH FOR LIQUID FUEL TO FLOW THROUGH.ON-BOARD EMISSIONS DIAGNOSTICS MAY DETECT HOLES THAT ARE APPROXIMATELY 0.040 INCHES OR MORE AND SET A SERVICE ENGINE SOON WARNING LIGHT.THE CONNECTOR POSITION IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES IS BELOW THE FUEL LEVEL WHEN THE TANK IS FULL.WHILE GM DOES NOT KNOW HOW MUCH FUEL COULD LEAK FROM A TANK WITH A MELTED FUEL PUMP CONNECTOR, SEVERAL CONSUMERS HAVE REPORTED SIGNIFICANT LEAK EVENTS.ENGINE STALL CAN OCCUR IF:(1) A SHORT OCCURS IN THE PUMP WIRING (BARE WIRE EXPOSED BY MELTED INSULATION SHORTS AGAINST A GROUND OR GROUND WIRE) AND THE FUEL PUMP RELAY FUSE IS BLOWN; OR (2) THE VEHICLE RUNS OUT OF FUEL DUE TO AN INACCURATE FUEL GAUGE READING RESULTING FROM AN ELECTRICAL SHORT BETWEEN THE FUEL PUMP WIRING AND THE LEVEL SENSOR WIRING. GM'S ANALYSIS OF FIVE ASSEMBLIES RETURNED FROM INCIDENT VEHICLES DETERMINED THAT THE CONDITION IS CAUSED BY ELEVATED RESISTANCE/ ARCING AT THE MRA UNDERCOVER B CAVITY TERMINAL OF THE FOUR-WAY 150 METRI-PAK CONNECTOR.GM ATTRIBUTES THE HIGH RESISTANCE AND ARCING TO A DEPRESSED CONTACT ARM AT THE 150 METRI-PAK B CAVITY FEMALE TERMINAL.GM IS CONTINUING ITS INVESTIGATION TO COMPLETE ITS ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS. MODULAR RESERVOIR ASSEMBLIES USING THE 150 METRI-PAK CONNECTORS WERE USED BY GM IN SEVERAL MILLION C/K-SERIES SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND PICKUP TRUCKS FROM MY 1997 THROUGH 2002, WHEN GM RELEASED A METAL MRA COVER AND A 280 METRI-PAK CONNECTOR IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.DURING PE04-042, ODI COLLECTED INFORMATION FROM GM CONCERNING MY 2000-2002 C/K SUV'S AND PICKUP TRUCKS.THE SUBJECT VEHICLES COMPRISE APPROXIMATELY 9 PERCENT OF PRODUCTION FOR THOSE VEHICLES AND ABOUT 39 PERCENT OF COMPLAINTS TO GM. THIS INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS TO FURTHER ASSESS THE SCOPE, FREQUENCY, AND SAFETY CONSEQUENCES OF THE ALLEGED DEFECT IN GM C/K-SERIES VEHICLES.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE04-042. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Chevrolet
All Chevrolet recallsGMC
All GMC recallsWhat an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Free VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for PE04-042
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.