01 Fuel Sender

My fuel gauge on my 01 2500HD either works fine or drops to empty and the low fuel indicator comes on. Local dealership says the sender is bad and they would gladly install a new one for a $450.00. Appears this is a common defect. We ain't talking rocket science here.
How do you get to this thing? Does the tank have to be dropped?

Welcome to the forum!! There are several schools of thought on this one. Here's the link to the thread.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=646650&highlight=sending+unit

Mine has started doing this, so I am not looking forward to this costly repair. I do have a friend who is a service manager of a local dealership, so I can get it done cheaper, but it will still be a chunk of change. Hope the above thread helps. It sure would be nice if there was an access panel!!

Looks like the consensus is remove the bed. Now, if the weather would just warm up..................
Course, if it does, I'll probably just go fishing.
Thanks!
Mike

The sending unit is the Fuel pump. $450 is the cost of the fuel pump with the built in Sensor for the fuel gauge. I will bet the stealership will charge another $450 to replace the pump. If you can do it yourself, it would be wise. Just buy a couple of six pack your friends to help you take the bed off. Just rember to disconnect all your wiring to the taillights and hose the gas inlet hole. :D

just two straps holding it up in place.
i would say drop it. it is the best way.
you have to dist connect your lines and filler hose.
or cut a neat hole in the box over the sending unit as i did
once only on three sides and bent it up.
after i bent it back down and tacked it. a bed linner well cover it up.
three oppsion take your pick

I bought one from Autozone for around $280 and some change (dealer wanted around $7-800 for parts and labor). I did the install myself by dropping the tank. Just make sure the tank is empty if you drop it. I didn't pull the bed because I don't have a hoist, and didn't want to mess with lining it back up. If you're doing it yourself, get a Haynes manual, the entire procedure is explained there.

$450 for the pump?? Thats dealer cost. Dont pay the dealer.

www.gmpartsdirect.com I got my pump/sender for half dealer cost.

It was $200 something

I have an 01 2500 Duramax and the fuel sending unit went out in it. My regular mechanic said take it back to the Chev. dealership and ask them to fix it for free because this is a GM defective part which fails in most GM trucks of this era. I did and they did, they only charged me $25 for some kind of shop fee. As info, they asked me to bring it in when I thought it would be low on fuel and they dropped the tank out from below, never removed the bed. I would pressure the dealership to make the repairs even if you well out of warranty, I was thousands of miles and many months out of warranty.

I found the fuel pump/sender unit on ebay for $110. Look up global-automotive. $110 is the buy in now price. It's an aftermarket unit. It looks the same as the Delco unit. Delco retails for about $450. I have a contact at a GM dealer. The best he could get it for was $275 plus shipping. Autozone and Pep Boys have an aftermarket unit for $279-$289.

coulda got a delco unit for $230 from the link I posted. I heard the aftermarket ones dont last long.

gmpartsdirect says the parts are no longer available or the number has changed. It also lists the parts as two seperate parts, the sensor and the pump assy.