[QUOTE=CarlosV;3736938][QUOTE=CarlosV;3736937][QUOTE=CarlosV;3736935][QUOTE=Bluesky 07;3736679]Very interesting, and tempting to avoid dropping the tank. Do you happen to have a pic of the opening after cutting?

4-Longitudinal cuts described with pic. Red lines are where the actual cuts are.
Now you cand bend the metal towards the front. I didn’t cut enough toward the front seat (yellow arrows) and half way pump removal I needed to bent further de metal flap and it bent poorly and now i cannot make a nice curve again of that bent for a better closure. Prolong cuts so it will not bend in an area involving the rubber piece for the cables ( better bend at solid yellow line) not as I did (dotted line). I think it will bend and close better.

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[QUOTE=CarlosV;3736941][QUOTE=CarlosV;3736938][QUOTE=CarlosV;3736937][QUOTE=CarlosV;3736935][QUOTE=Bluesky 07;3736679]Very interesting, and tempting to avoid dropping the tank. Do you happen to have a pic of the opening after cutting?

5-Clean metal fillings and top of the tank. Now removed clips of fuel line ( my system had no pressure), ring, 0-ring etc. Careful removing the pump, the sender's float needs gentle rotation of the pump while coming out of the tank.
Closed (temporary) with heavy duty gorilla type tape.
Above rug added old floor mat to increase pressure with the seat.

So far so good. Next step is changing the pump of the failed oem pump and keep it as spare. Hope it helps. BTW mine is a 2003 SR5 V6 2WD.

Thanks @CarlosV - greatly appreciate the time you’ve taken to provide such useful information.

@BlackWorksInc and whoever else cares to chime in - The fuel pump I bought came with the flat "coffee filter" strainer. I also ordered p/n 23300-50120 thinking it was the fuel filter, expecting something that looks like, well, a fuel filter, like in Toyota's parts page listing (which was filtered for my V6):



But this is what I got and it's definitely p/n 23300-50120:



I thought it was an error but there does seem to be filtration material inside this thing.



Also, I can't find anything online that fits the 1-GRFE and looks like the black fuel filter circled in the parts listing. So is this the fuel filter?

Do you have a better picture of the white thing, maybe out of the bag? Hard to tell but it looks like the fuel pump housing minus pump, regulators, and such.

You won't find a filter like the black one for a 1GR, those are old school online filters. You want the sock style.

Found this pic online and it’s what I have:



The Denso fuel pump came with this:



Is there something more?

I swapped out my fuel pump last year. Its not that difficult. Just use a piece of plywood on the floor jack to spread the weight over a larger area. The tank is plastic.wait until most of the gas is used up below 1/8 of a tank. The hardest part was releasing the fuel line clips above the tank and the filler pipe at the back of the tank. I used a strap wrench to open the plastic collar. Make a mark before turning it so you can get it back to where it was later. Once the pump is out, its easy to work on the pump assembly. Since you are in there already, might as well replace the pump with filter. Its not a bad job, but one you will only want to do once. Save $400 and buy a new Denso fuel pump for $110 at rockauto.

Im not sure if this is helpful, but years ago, I filled up with Speedway gas in my kids 1999 4runner. The fuel gauge started reading only to half full. I ran out that tank full and refilled with BP gas and problem resolved. Try using a top tier fuel for a while and see if that fixes it. Many moons ago when I had a 99 corvette, Shell gas was known to make the fuel sender malfunction because of sulfur content in gas. What gas do you use? Add some Techron to the gas as well. Might just need a good cleaning

BTW I would not do that hillbilly fix and cut a hole in my truck. Thats just plain lazy. Never mind the rusting that will grow and weaken then body floor.

I've used 76 brand gas almost exclusively for several years, but this issue started before that. I didn't realize until watching the video I referenced in an earlier post that the gradual decline in range shown on the display was a symptom of fuel sender problems. When I bought it in 2014, the range was always up there at ~400 but a year or so later started down, first to ~385, then ~370, and eventually to ~335. I understand MPG is part of the equation but my driving was the same throughout and that's a huge drop that happened over the span of 5-6 years.

I've also had the gauge act wonky from time to time but now it's consistently a quarter-tank off. That same video shows the wear on the sender that causes this so I think the solution is changing out the sender, and might as well do the pump while I'm there.

A few tanks of another brand might alleviate the symptoms but at 15+ years and 228K miles and considering my plan is to keep this truck until it won't run any more, I might as well replace the parts as a long-term fix.