Consumer Complaint Detail

CHEVROLET / SUBURBAN / 1997

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
Yes Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 005058653 Incident Date: Aug, 30 2005
Consumer's City: BELVIDERE Consumer's State: IL
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: General Motors, LLC
Model Name: SUBURBAN Model Year: 1997
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Fuel system, gasoline
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: Yes Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 1GNFK16R2VJ Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Mar, 08 2006 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Oct, 21 2004
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 8 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: 1997 chevy suburban in-tank fuel sending unit fire: bought vehicle used with 88000 miles. events leading up to the failure / burn up of the unit included intermittent fuel pump and fuel gauge failure, had pump replaced by patrick gmc, problem persisted, had dealer wolf chevrolet check fuel pressure throughout system (ok). also noticed an intermittent burning smell. i then purchased from the dealer a replacement sending unit and another fuel pump, as soon as i took the sender out of the tank it was obviously charred and the modular connector burnt to a crisp, wires completely exposed with the insulation gone partially disintegrated the abs plug. this thing got really hot repeatedly. the lower explosive limit was luckily never reached within the tank or there could have been a spontaneous explosion, especially if the tank lost its seal and allowed outside air inside, (such as when the tank is empty and is pulling vacuum), for instance unscrewing the gas cap in ideal conditions next to a gas pump with a 44 gallon tank void sucking in as much oxygen in as the filler tube will allow, and hitting that glowing red hot sending unit. old part is in my possession and is the original factory sender. incident date is approx. when i performed the repair and discovered the burned up sender. *nm