Fuel pump failure on the 2002 Chevrolet Suburban
When fuel pump failure gets reported
Owners of the 2002 Chevrolet Suburban report fuel pump failure at a median of 70,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 75,000 miles, from 11 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 75,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 69,587 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
18% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 miles | 53,200 miles | 69,000 miles | 74,587 miles | 74,587 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $600–$2,600 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 12 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2004, at a median of 20,000 miles, and latest on the 2010 at 155,000 miles.
By volume the 1997 carries the most reports, with 39; the 2002 has 18. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
2 seconds after starting the vehicle it stalled. Then, consumer restarted the vehicle, and the failure recurred within 2 seconds. Dealership indicated that they had a lot of complaints on this issue, and it could be due to fuel injection or fuel pump problems. Dealership performed a diagnostic test, but not failure was found. *ak
2 seconds after starting the vehicle it stalled. Then, consumer restarted the vehicle, and the failure recurred within 2 seconds. Dealership indicated that they had a lot of complaints on this issue, and it could be due to fuel injection or fuel pump problems. Dealership performed a diagnostic test, but not failure was found. *ak
(1) the engine stopped while on interstate in construction zone on slight hill, it would not restart. (2) the construction zone on interstate 10 was approximately 3 mile long with very narrow lanes and concrete construction barriers on each side & no shoulders. Bumper to bumper traffic and no way to clear the lane or get tow vehicle. (3) a good samaritan towed our vehicle about 2 miles to first point clear traffic. Chevy dealer confirmed fuel pump in tank had failed & replaced pump. This was second pump failure. The pump previously failed and was replaced on 30 aug 03. Previous failure dealer said keep fuel above 25% & engine would run. The tank was at 44% when engine quit. Fuel tank was topped off before pump tested, engine would run but no pump pressure. Someone will be killed if more failures occur in heavy traffic areas. The emergency good samaritan tow out of the construction area prevented a serious accident as it was getting dark.*ak
Also reported on the 2002 Chevrolet Suburban
ABS module or sensor failure
Loss of braking
Other wheel or tire problem
Parking brake failure
Other brake problem
Brake line, hose or caliper failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 18 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does fuel pump failure happen on the 2002 Chevrolet Suburban?
Across 11 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 70,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 75,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is fuel pump failure on the 2002 Chevrolet Suburban?
18 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed