ok i pulled the vaccuum hose on the fp regulator and it smells of gas, it seemed dry though. so does this mean my regulator is bad?

 

Sounds like it...they don't always spew fuel when they go bad, it may be just starting to rupture. If you have the original fp reg on a 99, it's more than likely on it's way out, mine went at around 37k if I remember correctly.

 

yeah i have 108k miles on original. any other way of testing besides smelling for fuel?

 

I guess you could pump the fpr up with a vacuum pump and see if it holds pressure or just bleeds down...might even suck some fuel through if it's NG. I'd pump it up around 20 in/hg.

 

what do i hook the pump up to?

 

Hook it up to the port on the fpr (I'm talking about one of those hand-held mityvac style pumps)

 

yeah i know i have one, ok so i just hook it up on the top of the fpr, seems easy enough. thanks man. oh also wheres a good place to get a replacement?

 

i could be wrong, but i thought only if fuel came out after unplugging the hose meant that the fpr was bad. not sure though.

 

I got mine at the dealership, not sure if it's available elsewhere.

That's usually the case, but when I originally checked mine (had a hard start and rough idle, accompanied by black smoke from the tailpipes), I pulled the hose a few times for poops and giggles to see if different conditions created fuel in the line (checked it cold, after a hot soak, etc.) A couple of times (usually after a hot soak), fuel was present and pouring out, a few other times it seemed dry as a bone, but I still could smell the gas, (this seemed to happen more over-night, when I checked it in the morining). I guess it depends on the conditions, ambient temp, fuel quality, etc....the gas may possibly evaporate if it sits for a while. I played with mine for about a week before I finally got a chance to get to the dealer to get the part (about $60-$80, depending on what kind of deal you get)...they had it in stock too, and mentioned how they replace them quite often.

 

awesome thanks for this info. the truck had been sitting for a few hours, i changed the oil and it was barely warm, so maybe by time i pulled the hose off it had evaporated. any idea the part number? i may just get it from gm parts direct, i hate going to the stealership.