96 Voyager - Cooling Fans and Fuel Gauge questions

I have two issues with my beast. The first is a long and ongoing one. The cooling fans do not come on while driving. The temp gauge never goes above midline however the car will shut itself off at will.

I have replaced the relay and the temp sensor to no avail. I have found that if I unplug the temp sensor the fans come on immediately so they do work.

What is the next logical step in this process?

The other issue came about after one of the neighborhood scumbags attempted to syphen gas from my tank last night. The idiot not only left most of it all over the parking lot but it seems they also somehow managed to wreak havok on the float because my fuel gauge no longer works. Any help on this one would be greatly appreciated since I tend to exist in a constant state of "just enough" gas with current prices and my current situation.

Thanks in advance!