Issue with fuel gauge/sender.

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CaliWagon83

Royal Smart Person
Nov 12, 2017
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Orange County, CA
So I've got a stumper. I sent out the original fuel sender/pickup to get refurbished. I got it back, and it had instructions to raise and lower the sender float by hand to verify that it was working properly. As instructed, we tested the floater, and the gauge needle went up and down. So we button everything up, get the sender and tank in, and initially only fill it with about 4 gallons. Gauge still shows "E" but we figured that's a fail-safe to keep the driver from running out of gas. So later on, I put about another 13 gallons in. After I do that, the needle swings WAY past F, and then back down to E, even though I know I have the tank about 3/4 full. I've emailed the sender unit guy for help, but wondering if any of you had a similar experience or suggestion in the meantime. Thanks.
 

pontiacgp

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Mar 31, 2006
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check the pink aluminum wire that runs from the back to the left side of the fuse box.
 
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TURNA

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
Jul 24, 2009
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I hope you find the issue.

That place you sent it to has some bad reviews....
 
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CaliWagon83

Royal Smart Person
Nov 12, 2017
1,933
2,139
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Orange County, CA
It's more of an annoyance than a real critical issue. It's just going to be a "weekender" and eventually it's going to get a whole new fuel system anyway. I'll drive it around a little and see if the gauge comes back.
 

TURNA

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
Jul 24, 2009
10,941
19,990
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Socialist NY
Did you reconnect the pink wire on the top of the sender?

What about the ground wire to the tank strap mount
 
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pontiacgp

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Mar 31, 2006
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Kitchener, Ontario
fi you remove the sender again you can check it with a multimeter set on ohms, 0 at empty, 90 at full. The company that repaired the unit should have verified the ohms but maybe they got lazy
 

CaliWagon83

Royal Smart Person
Nov 12, 2017
1,933
2,139
113
Orange County, CA
Have an update on this. Turns out my initial hunch that the floater was being blocked by the baffle was true. Shared in another thread, but thought I’d update this one for those of you that are following it. The replacement floater arm was different than the original, and although I no longer have the original tank for the reference, my father-in-law seems to think the baffle in the Spectra tank might be in a slightly different location than the factory one.

We tested the movement and clearance by attaching a thread to the floater arm, putting the sender back in the tank, and testing the travel. Unfortunately, it took two tries, as it was still only showing about 1/4 full on a nearly-full tank. So we purged and filled the tank twice.

In theory, the fuel level will show full for a while, and then start dropping more suddenly in the middle. Whatever. I just want to know when I’m getting down to about 1/4 tank.



 
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