The sending unit/sensors are basically made the same and work the same way. The difference he is talking about is the orientation of how the whole assembly mounts into the tank. My 97 is mounted in through the top as where yours is mounted in through the front of the tank.

At first you were posting about your gauge not working correctly, now you are having additional issues with the pump. It sounds like you might have a bad ground causing both issues. Or the fuel pump is now getting ready to go out on top of the sensor not reading right.

Mine started to just occasionally do what yours just did once in awhile. And it was still working when I changed it out. But since changing it out it has not sputtered again, so I know for sure it was the pump failing intermittently and only now and then on it's way to quit completely.

And it would be a mistake to not change out the whole assembly rather than just the pump.

Yep, sorry about that.

The good news is that on a 96 you do NOT have to drop the entire gas tank to get at the pump - on a 97+ you DO have to drop the whole tank. So be happy that IF it's a bad pump (and not grounds/wiring - Did you clean and tighten the ones behind the driver's side trunk panel yet?) then you have the more convenient setup for replacement.

Especially if you have a 97 and newer with a SKID PLATE and class 3 HITCH! lol

It took me most of a day to get that all lined back up again and get all the bolts started. It wasn't bent when I took it off, but it was all bent when I put it back. How does this happen? lol

Oh jeez, I can only imagine the PITA it is with the hitch.

I dropped the tank 2x on my 00 TJ, the first time was because the skid plate (the tank actually straps right into the skid plate on it) rusted out and the second was to replace the fuel pump. Getting it off was straightforward enough, but I remember the pain it was getting it back up. I had the tank on the floor jack and had a helper maneuver it while I was under the jeep looking up at the mounting studs. I don't remember anything being bent, but a lot of the stuff was new.
It is no joke when they say that you want as little fuel in that tank as possible.
I guess it wasn't as bad as I had feared, but I had a long standing notion from when I was a teenager and knew nothing about automotive components that "dropping the gas tank" was a huge effort.

Mine came apart fine also. But somehow while they were sitting there waiting to be put back on they got bent. lol

I'm sure they were probably already bent but while bolted on they were being held in proper shape until I took them off.

So when I started putting it all back nothing would line up at all. At one point I thought I was going to have to bend all three, the hitch, the plate, and the CAR to make it all fit again!

If it happens again I'm cutting a hole through the rear deck floor instead of pulling all that apart again. lol