Quick update here. Fuel pump came and I went out to have a look under before I did anything and I noticed a small puddle and fuel leaking again. It was coming from the rear portion of the tank. The plastic shield under there has three like vents in the bottom. There were drops on the rear most vent. So I presume the tank has rotted to the point it's seeping through somewhere.

I lucked out though, a trip to the you-pull yard netted a fairly recently replaced tank out of another 02 2500, as well as picking some bits off a Fiero that should more than cover what I spent.

I took the fuel pump too; it was a Delphi and in good shape although the housing thing may be broken. Given what they cost I figured a good spare for $20 is a wise investment.

I also discovered another place to look for frame rot on these vans. The one I picked had obvious holes just behind the forward leaf spring brackets on the left side. I didn't have to pull the tank, the yard does that, but I looked under to see if the lines or the pigtail could be salvaged. No luck there, they just cut that stuff.

 

What a nightmare this job is. 2 hours to get one tank bolt out, drilling it from below since they just spin due to the cheap expletive cage nut the bolt threads into.

I need to move south where these things don't rot nearly so bad.

 

Yeah I curse the engineer who designed these clip nuts.

You have one shot to drill the head of the bolt and on the front one my bit kind of slid off the side from what looked like a centered hole. End result is not enough meat of the head is gone and there is no way to pry on it. I could get the grinder in there but only at one angle and that angle showers the sparks into my face.

And removing the driveshaft is not an option after 19 years of road salt. Been down this road before. I'd get it off, but the bolts on the yoke will probably all twist off in the process. So they'd have to either be drilled out or put another yoke on. Neither one is a desirable job, and 10 times less so in the driveway.

If I were doing it again I think I'd take an old socket and put it on there as a guide for the bit.

But I didn't so now we're cutting the front strap. Then once the tank is out I can hit the bolt with the cutoff wheel and not kill myself in the process.

I probably should have junked this thing but I can't replace it for even twice what I paid for it. I've never seen a differential that is so ugly and rotten, even cars we yanked out of the mud where they sat for years. It's like the whole outer layer of metal is coming off it.

Curiously though only one small spot of rot in the frame, and it's fairly inconsequential, under the right front footwell a couple of inch long spots. When I put the tin shield back on it will hide them.

And these tin shields, who's genius was that? They're aluminum. They corrode and break around the attachments and fall down, but most of them are tucked under so many things you have to take half the stuff off the bottom of it to get them out. I can see where this one has been messed with to tie them back into place in a bunch of spots. My 3500 had problems with these too - one over the differential fell down at the front edge where it then rubbed the driveshaft. I tucked it back under the edge of the one ahead of it twice then finally zip tied it the third time. The older G-vans don't have these, except I think over the converter.