I had the tank fairly full when I replaced my in-tank pump. I reasoned this was safer. The less room there is in the tank for air the less potential it has to explode should you accidentally strike a spark; which, of course, you really want to avoid doing.
The potential for an eyeful of fuel comes from dismantling the high pressure side of the main fuel pump underneath the car. There shouldn’t be high pressure at the fuel sender in the tank. There is a check valve on the main fuel pump which retains pressure at the rail once the engine is turned off. Three methods are suggested in the FAQ for depressurising the system.
Pull the fuel pump fuse while engine is running, engine stops with no fuel pressure left in line.
Alternative 1: pull the fuses for the fuel pumps and crank the engine.
Alternative 2: attach a vacuum pump to the FPR vacuum fitting and apply vacuum.
Where you really do need to clamp the fuel line is if you remove the filter and main pump under the car while the fuel sender is still connected in the tank. Fuel will syphon out of the tank if you don’t. You won’t have this problem if you work on the main pump while you’ve got the fuel line disconnected at the sender. However, you will then be changing a lot of things at once which will make any troubleshooting harder.
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