I used to be a mechanic for 12 years and have plenty of experience working on vehicles of all types, but I have moved on to a new career and have been out of the mechanic field for about 7-8 years now. We own a 2001 Pontiac Grand AM.
One morning while warming up the car, it quit running. The gauge indicated that there was 1/4 tank of gas in the tank. The car turned over but never started. I checked for spark at the spark plugs and there was, that indicated that the ignition system worked.
I then checked for fuel, and there was none going to the engine. So I checked the fuel filter and it was fine. I had changed it quite recently. I then figured that perhaps the gauge was faulty and I had simply run out of gas, so I went to the gas station and purchased 4 gallons of gas and added it to the fuel tank. I turned on the ignition and I could hear the electric fuel pump.
I turned the ignition on and off a number of times to get the fuel into the fuel lines and to the injectors. I then tried to start the engine and it never started up. I then checked and tested all the fuses and electrical systems that were associated with the fuel and ignition system, they were all fine and working properly.
I then figured that it was a faulty fuel pump. I then began to call numerous auto parts stores for quotes on fuel pumps. None of the main auto parts stores carried a fuel pump for this vehicle simply because the dealers had not released the part for after market manufacturing.
So this turned out to be a dealer item only. As we all know, getting parts from a dealer is very expensive. I called the dealer for a quote on a fuel pump for our vehicle, I was quoted well over $300.00 for a fuel pump! I had no choice but to purchase the fuel pump.
When I got back from the dealer and was ready to get busy on removing the fuel tank to replace the fuel pump, my sister inlaw who owns a Pontiac Sunfire, explained to me that she too had run out of gas with her car and did everything that I had done to remedy the problem with no sucess. She had it towed to a Pontiac dealership and they also said that she needed the fuel pump replaced.
When her vehicle was in the shop, one of the mechanics told her about a little know scam that Pontiac dealerships were doing. Pontiac knows of this fuel pump scam very well and performs it on a daily basis. When a Pontiac runs out of fuel, you "have to add at least 7-8 gallons of fuel" to the tank in order for it to start up. The mechanic put 8 gallons of gas in her vehicle and it started right up.
An honest dealership mechanic had saved my sister inlaw $100's of dollars in a needless fuel pump replacement. So to make a long story short, I grabbed my gas can and added an additional 4 gallons of fuel to my fuel tank. And just like she said, it started right up! Now I am on my way back to the dealership to return this $300 fuel pump and get my money back.
So, if any of you out there happen to run out of gas in your Pontiac, try adding atleast 6-8 gallons of gas to your tank before you spend $100's on a useless fuel pump replacement.
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