Life of the orginal fuel pump ?

I'm at 143,000 miles on a 98 and had to do the big head gasket job last year. Since then the van has been performing well with no issues or check engine lights.

I got stranded a couple of times with my old Chrysler Caravan's due to fuel pumps going out so I'm sort of watching for it.

I plan to use the Venture for the family vacation this summer and would like to get an ideal of how long these factory fuel pumps tend to last. Are there very many out there that have made it past say 170-180k miles on their original fuel pump?

Also it wasn't too bad of a job to replace the Caravan's fuel pump in the driveway. Is the Venture about the same work - meaning not too bad a job if you can get most of the gas out - just unbolt two or three tank straps and drop the tank to get to the pump?

I have 242k on mine, the tank should come down quite similar to how you described. Change your fuel filter regularly, use good gas and dont run it too low and the pump will last a long time. The biggest problem people have is the electrical connection behind the drivers seat in the floor that has the 12v feed for the pump run thur a floor board connection that corrodes and fails.

My 99 had 205,000 when i sold it and it had the original pump with no issues.

yes, it mainly depends if the owner have let it run to empty many times...

fuel is the coolant for the in-tank pump...

plus, sediments do accumilate at the bottom of the tank