fuel sending unit and fuel gauge trouble

ok guys, i have a blue wire at the sending unit, its good all the way up to the dash. no volts at the sending unit. doesnt move the needle if i touch the blue wire to ground either. so it must be somewhere in the dash. i forgot how much a pain it is to get ic out, how should i trouble shoot the ic, remove it completely or just pull it out of the dash with the wires still connected? i gave up on it tonight, i got the speedo cable removed.