Fuel gauge acts crazy?
 

I have a 99 Chevy Express 1500 5.7 L. The fuel gauge stays on full all the time? Sometimes it will go down to empty, then right back up to full intermittently. Is my sender going bad? I know its part of the fuel pump and I am not crazy about pulling down the fuel tank to replace it.
Any tips or suggestions?

my 99 did the same thing and I had to change the fuel pump.

I guess I will need to pull the tank down and replace the pump/sender assm. Napa has one at $229.00. Expensive just for a sender problem.

Is it very hard to pull down the fuel tank?

I did it by myself in the drive way. It is work and time consuming without help. I have since been told by many people that it is easier to move the bed back some to gain access. I have not done it with moving the bed yet.

tough to move a bed on a van. :)

Brew

the sender is the prime suspect

Lol do what I did its called a sawza no dropping the tank anymore and I can replace it in 10 min

I drove my ford explorer for 60,000kms with a fuel gauge that did not work. Might be the sending unit, might be the gauge, might be wiring. When my fuel pump quit on my 02 express it was 680 bucks at canadian tire for the repair.
I would check a couple other things before replacing the fuel pump....

'fredo181'

How did you end up doing it?

I'm about to take this journey myself.
I remember my gas gauge was never stable since I bought this van,
was always fluctuating, and now all of a sudden it won't start, I spray starter fluid and it will turn for 2-3 sec. but then it dies. So I'm thinking there is no fuel supply to injectors.

how? I'd like to know if you don't mind.

If you suspect your fuel pump......get under the van with a big rubber mallet, and band the hell out the underside of the fuel tank while someone cranks it over.......it might jar the pump and will fire up.....then you have some time to get the pump changed.

With these vans.....when you turn on the ignition before you crank it...you should hear the fuel pump run for about 3 to 5 seconds as it primes up the pressure. If you don't hear this.......your pump is seized......try the hitting under the tank to jar it....worked for me....saved me a tow.

The fuel gauge on my Express 2500 diesel 1997, went up and down as it liked. I was able to take gauge apart and press the resistance switch back together. The cause was bad connection on the contact points. I had to take the tank down and lift out the gauge.

Some people will cut a square hole on the inside floor of the van, directly above the fuel pump in the tank. That way you can get at the pump much easier than dropping the tank.

Brew

...lol..and some people are crazy...making sparks directly over the fuel tank.....
Not worth that risk.....