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Hi, I'm Mike from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and next time you need parts for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks.
In this video, we're going to show you how to replace the fuel pump and sending unit on this 2003 Chevy Monte Carlo. It's the same part and similar process on these Monte Carlos from 2000 to 2005. The items that you'll need for this include a new fuel pump and sending unit from 1AAuto.com, 10mm socket and ratchet, flat blade screwdriver, hammer, wire pliers, wire cutters and regular pliers.
We're going to purge the system. We have the vehicle running, and we're going to pull out the fuel pump relay so the engine stops. On our vehicle, this repair fixed the nonworking fuel gauge, and you can see we just put the relay in there, if your fuel pump's not working, then obviously that's not going to work. All right, you really don't need to do that.
Disconnect the center belt and then pull your seats forward. This works in both the Monte Carlo as well as the Impala, Grand Prix, and things like that it's the same. Then you pull the trim and carpet, and there are a series of 10mm nuts that hold a plate. We're going to fast-forward here as we remove all those.
Using a flat blade screwdriver, just pry up on the panel. Then pull the panel up and off those studs. Now on your sending unit, you want to pull up on this pin, disconnect this harness, lift up on this tab, and disconnect this harness. Then, to remove these fuel lines, you want to push them in, then push down on the tab, and then pull them free. That's what you do on the two outside fuel lines.
On the center one, there's actually two tabs on either side of it, so after you've removed the two outside ones, you can then just push the tabs on the center one and pull it free. Using flat blade screwdriver and a hammer, you want to line up the screwdriver on one of these pins and hammer it so it turns that ring. Once the ring unclips, you can lift it up and off the sending unit. You will have to angle it and spin it around a bit until you can find a way to pull it up and off.
Now pull the sending unit up and out. You'll hear it start to drain, and you do want to make sure that it's entirely drained so you don't spill gasoline all over the inside of your car. Once you're sure that all of the gas is out it, just lift it up and out. Take your new one and then just apply this level sensor to it.
On the left is the old one; on the right is the new sending unit from 1A Auto. You can see they're identical, and they'll fit exactly the same. You will need to take these fuel line clips off of your old sending unit and put them onto your new one. To do that, you just pry out on the tab on them, pull them free, remove these packing caps, push that clip into place, and repeat the process with the other one.
Okay, so GM uses these very small connectors and they were susceptible to problems, so most of our new fuel pumps come now with a different connector that has larger contacts. You have to cut the old connector off. I mean, you couldn't leave it on there, but cut the old connector off.
It comes with a new connector which is all color coded, purple, gray, black, and black with a white strip. We've cut these four off, and we'll strip about a 1/4 of an inch off. Then these connectors are two different sizes. The blue ones are a little larger, so I'm going to use a blue one on the gray and the black wire. You put the connector on, there's metal inside, make sure the metal gets down over where you've stripped crimping pliers.
Actually, put the pliers on. We'll just fast-forward that as we repeat the same process for the other four wires. We're just crimping the connectors onto the vehicle side of the harness first. Now take the wires, match up the colors, and push them into those splices. Then just clamp it to lock the wire in. We'll fast-forward as Mike does the rest of the wires. Now wrap those splices in electrical tape. You want to make sure that you close off the ends really well to seal the connections from dirt and moisture.
Feed your new fuel pump and sending unit back down into the fuel tank. You're obviously taking care and making sure that the wires are out of the way and the fuel lines pull them out of the way as you feed it down in. Fit this ring back down under the fuel lines, and then line up those slots with the tabs. You want to make sure that none of your harnesses get pinched underneath this ring.
Once you have it lined up, push it down. Then you have to twist this ring clockwise. To do that you just use a flat blade screwdriver and a hammer, and you can use these tabs to help to turn it. Once the ring's on all the way, you will have to remove one of these posts, and we just use a pair of pliers. Ours is corroded enough where it wasn't really much of a problem to remove it. You will have to remove it for this new larger harness to fit, and then just reconnect that harness.
Then reconnect this other harness to your pressure sensor and push the fuel lines back into place. Our fuel gauge on this car didn't work before and this ended up being the problem. When you start the car, just make sure you can hear it all working, and you can see here on our fuel gauge it's showing the proper level. Now just replace this pan and those 10mm nuts that hold it into place and tighten those up. Now put your seats back up and you're all set.
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