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On the left of the picture is a stock GM fuel pump harness connector and the one on the right is the aftermarket “upgraded” harness connector.
The experience I’ve had to this point indicates that the harness upgrade is pure bullshit. For every GM fuel pump I’ve diagnosed and replaced in the last couple years, I’ve only once seen an issue with the connector itself. That one instance where I did see a problem was a meltdown of the connector from the pump shorting out. Almost every pump I’ve replaced where I’ve had to splice in this connector has failed somewhere between immediately or within six months of installation. The cure to all those bad pumps was to get an OE/AC Delco pump and then splice an OE style connector back into the harness. At minimum, if I could find a brand that I could plug in the original connector, I didn’t have to warranty a pump nearly as often.
Far too many of those failed pumps were Airtex pumps. I tried other aftermarket brands, but they all had that same connector upgrade and the pumps failed just as badly as the Airtex pumps. For what I could see, the majority of the different brands were just the same lousy pumps from the same lousy manufacturer. To me, the new connector initially wasn’t a problem by itself, but did serve as a clear indicator that I was getting another shitty pump.
As I understand it, aftermarket manufacturers have to abide by a 70% rule to avoid paying licensing fees or royalties to the OE manufacturers. That means the aftermarket needs to show that their parts have a 70$ difference in design and build. To me, that upgrade is just a contributor to qualify on the rule. Granted, I have found a couple Delco boxes with that same upgrade connector. I’m still not willing to put stock into this connector as a legitimate upgrade. If you know something about its legitimacy, I’d love to hear about it.
With all that said, I’d like to get a consensus going with this thread. What’s your experience been with the “upgraded” pumps? Have you likewise had better luck with a pump that retains the OE connector? Most importantly, how do those OE connectors look to you when you’re changing out those OE GM fuel pumps?
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I don’t know, the fuel pump on my Silverado lasted a long time, but when it died, it did look as though they negative pin of the terminal had gotten hotter. Pretty sure the original connector was prone to moisture and then corrosion, and would lead to higher resistance in the circuit. Having high resistance in the negative side is worse than the positive side because often the unit will still function well enough you don’t notice it but it burns the component up internally. The new connector is what the other 99% of vehicles on the road use. Otherwise something had to explain why the fuel pumps were such a problem on those vehicles.
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