00' 1500 4.3 fuel problem

i got a 2000 1500 silverado with a 4.3 in it. for the past month my fuel gauge has been bobbing around, when i start my truck the gauge will be below E and the fuel light will come on, then it bounce up to full and back to empty. once i start driving around for about 5 minutes the gauge will settle around the actual fuel level. just the other day, whenever the i let off the gas to yeild or stop it will act like its running out of fuel. when i get back on the gas it seems to strugle to get fuel. then today i got off the highway and when it came time to go i put my foot on the gas and it died, started back up no problem but it still strugled until i got going good. im thinking its the fuel pump. ive been looking at forums and seem it could possible be the sending unit. is the sending unit and the pump an all in one kinda deal? is my fuel pump/sending unit the problem?? thanks!!

Yours sounds like it could be losing ground too. I had a similar problem with my '02 recently. I replaced the fuel pump. Mine wasnt bad but with 130k miles....I wound up cleaning the ground and fixing mine. Its near the gas tank fill on the front side of the front mount for the bed. Mine had the undercoating sprayed on then they wired it. I cleaned the coating off around the bolt hole for a better ground, then sprayed undercoating on it after it was back together. Worked fine ever since...maybe its your problem too?

so i found the ground wire and cleaned it off good, it seemed to be clean. then i took it for a drive and when i was on the highway it kept sputering like it was running out of gas. i kept it running for about a mile or so then it died. right before it died i had the pedal to the floor and it idled at about 800 rpms, i tossed it in to neutral and it started right up but when i put my foot on the gas it sounded like there was quite a bit of backfiring going on in the cat. so i turned around to head home and it ran fine on the back. i am hoping it is the fuel pump, im going to replace it in a couple days once uncle sam cuts me a check. anybody got any ideas what it is going on?? thanks

I would start with a fuel filter... much cheaper and easier to replace. Then get your fuel pressure checked. I would try some Lucas fuel system treatment or something similar as it will clean out your injectors. Has this been taking place over an extended period of time or is it like the last tank of gas you purchased? You can buy fuel pumps on ebay for around 70-80 dollars cheaper than at autozone or advance auto.

it has been happen for a while now, no it is not bad gas. that is the first thing i looked into. but today i tried starting my truck just to see if it starts and it didnt. i only turned it over four or five times. the gas gauge still does that wacky thing with the needle, it seems to be a bit more sporadic now. im thinking about getting a fuel pump off ebay and tossin it in.