OK, Ive got to do the dreaded fuel pump change in my sons 90 firebird, 3.1 L V6. The mechanic says I should replace the "sending unit" also. This part is like $600 alone! I never heard of that. His point is that if it is not good, and you get everything back together, then you have to drop everything again, you are not going to be happy, which is true. But $600, holy crap!. What do you all think

Also, I beleive I heard you have to drop the rear end to get the tank down. Is this right? How do you do that?

thanks

i think you've been grossly misinformed on the price. no you don't have to change it. usually it wouldn't be a problem, unlike reusing gaskets.

If your gas gauge is working ok and everything looks ok when you get the old one out, I'd just replace the pump and lower strainer. The whole unit is pretty expensive. Dropping the tank is a tough job for sure. Do a search on here, many posts about this.

back when the sending units were cheap, $50.00 - $60.00, i would always replace them with the fuel pump. but GM has gotten extremely greedy & jacked the price of them way up.
use to be you could go the dealer & get a new sending unit that came with a new pump for under $200.00 with tax, but then some bean counter got on crack.
if the gage is working fine we reuse the old one, but there is the possibility that it may quit after its back together, i say stay with the old one but be gentle with it.

on 12-29-2004 at 8:33 PM Red Devil wrote,.. "iunno. I think the car had enough and commited suicide. Maybe it was allergic to fur :shrug:"

No, they ARE $600 for a sending unit, dealer only.

I would not change it obviously due to the price but I would check it with an ohmmeter and clean the wiper contacts too with an eraser before installing it.