Do You Have a 2005 Suburban or Avalanche with 5.3L?

DC3

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 9, 2008
Messages
332
Location
Lubbock Texas
Fuel System Leak Warning - 2005 Suburban or Avalanche with 5.3L V8

A couple of weeks ago I started smelling gas on occasion while driving my '05 Suburban. Nothing obviously wrong so dismissed it as other people's cars.

Then, on occasion, I would smell gas when pulling into the garage at night. Still couldn't find anything wrong and the smell was not present in the morning when leaving. So, I dismissed it as being the Vette since I had parked it with a full tank of gas and the afternoon temps were much warmer than the morning temps.

Then I smelled gas when I parked in parking garage at work. At that point, I knew I had a problem but a fairly thorough inspection turned up nothing.

I then turned to the internet and got several hits on 2005 Suburbans and Avalanches with the 5.3L engine.

Turns out there are two short flex hoses on the frame rail directly under the driver's mirror (where the fuel filter would normally be but these models didn't come with a frame mounted filter). Those two flex hoses are crossed and rub holes in each other. When I went to inspect it this time, I moved the two hoses and a very tiny stream of fuel shot out and hit the nearby catalytic converter. Yikes!

The two hoses were crimped onto the hard lines at both ends. I didn't have time to tackle it so took it the dealer in hopes they would help with an obvious design/installation defect. Nope - the Suburban was too old (i.e. pre-bailout). The hoses were not available as a separate item so they had to replace the hard lines as well. $300 in parts plus another $350 in labor. Another Yikes! Wish I'd had the time to do it myself, I would have found a way to install a filter and hoses that had threaded connections.

Oh well, the good news is I didn't have a disastrous fire. Basically just wanted to give anyone with one of these vehicles a heads up and to put another source out here on the web for others to find.

DC
 
I thought emissions and safety stuff had a 10 year warranty? Seems like gas leaking on your cat con is BOTH!
 
I thought emissions and safety stuff had a 10 year warranty? Seems like gas leaking on your cat con is BOTH!

The dealer said no warranty was left on my Suburban but the service writer was new so I think I'll follow up on this one with some more research. Thanks.

DC
 
A safety issue like that shoulfd be subject to a recall.
If the dealer wouldn't take care of it, maybe you should have just left it running in the service department as the fuel leaked out on the floor. Then ask if they think it's a safety issue.
GM really disgusts me with their chronic problems they deny or ignore.
 
I'm not sure about texas but a fuel leak in california is an emissions issue and subject to emissions warranty. That is federal and GM must repair.
 
I followed up on the possibility of this being an emissions related warranty item. Turns out it would have been but the warranty term was 8 years or 80,000 miles. I'm within the 8 years but the 80,000 miles got me so no relief for me this time.

DC
 
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