Fuel sender

tfphoenix

tfphoenix

King Phoenix
Hey guys I am going to try to fix whatever's wrong with the fuel level sender while I am waiting on funding to continue with the brakes. The gauge on the dash sits at empty all the time. How big is the gas tank? My tank is full and I assume I will need to siphon some if not all the gas into cans to get a look in there. Thanks for any tips! :thumbsup:
 
check the wiring first..

If I remember right the sender grounds through its mounting. Could also be flooded float. Or, corroded in place.

When it's empty does the low fuel warning light work? If so, then it's the float or sweeper wire. It's thin nichrome wire and breaks when the sweeper wears through it.
 
uhh

sorry if this sounds dumb.

Can I get to the fuel tank by removing this interior panel thing behind the seats? How the heck does it come off?

intbackj.jpg


Or do I have to drop the tank to get to it... :huh:
 
2 straps underneath the car

But you'll want to make sure the tank is drained empty and the hoses and
sender is disconnected.

Oh yeah, you have to jack the car up 2.5ft to slide it down. Seriously.

Enjoy!
 
Engine Compartment

The fuel tank sending unit is accessed from the left side of the engine compartment firewall, behind the cover where the fuel hoses attach. Remove the fuel hoses, remove the 4 phillips screws holding the cover in place, then remove the 2 sending unit wires (after marking them), mark the location of the sending unit in the tank, then remove the 7mm nuts holding the sending unit (including the nut holding the ground wire), and finally remove the sending unit. If the tank needs to come out, it comes out thru the bottom, after raising the car way up and removing the 2 straps holding it. Nothing fuel related is inside the passenger compartment of he car. Good luck.
Dave
 
ahhh

Thanks fellas. At least now I am not barking up the wrong tree and tearing apart the interior for no reason :thumbsup:

My jack is 17.5" tall so some wood boosters should do the trick for me should I need to drop it but I would prefer to do it while mounted if I can.
 
you do not

need to drop the tank to get to the sender look inside the engine bay.just to the left behind the Mass are flow meter is a black rubber looking cover thing with 3 wires coming out the sender is under that.so you will have to remove the MAFM and its bracket to get to the cover of the fuel sender.
 
You said it would be

And it was so.

s7j.jpg


Thanks for the tips :thumbsup:

Now on to the problem...

It appears the float is fine, no liquids inside...

s6j.jpg


s4j.jpg


And it also appears the terminals inside are in good shape...

s3j.jpg


s1j.jpg


s2j.jpg


Which leads me to ask... What else could it be? or do you see something I don't?

On another note... there appears to be quite a bit of rust in there... this is potentially damaging to the engine I would think. Thoughts on this?

s5j.jpg


Thanks so much for your help!
 
35's not bad at all. I think I will just replace it. About that rust, do you suppose I should drop the tank and inspect it further or is it common to be on just the sender? This car sat from 2003 to December 2009 with little to no gas, being driven a few short trips in between.
 
I'm lazy that way...

Over time the crud in the tank dissolve into the tank from the fuel sloshing about. I'd wait for it to be a problem first, but that's me. It could be just fine, and the only difference is you'll have to change filters more often.

I change mine about every year or so anyway. Filters are way cheaper than the pumps.
 
New fuel sender is here!

Got my new sender today, I lost one of the little nuts for it though so I will get it strapped in tomorrow.

Can anyone tell me does the gauge read out when the ignition is on but not running or does the car have to be running? I need to know if I have to reinstall the MAF before testing it out. Thanks!
 
My turn.
I have 11.5 volts at the red wire on the sender and grounded to the black.
I have less Ohms between the green and sweeper (probe held against sweeper's contact button, pressing gently) down to virtually nil, 50 at nearly full float position, increasing to about 200 near empty.
Voltage between green and sweeper high (full about 6, but still 6 at low until empty (which I assume would trigger reserve warning?) when it jumps to 11.
Sweeper wires look good, contact cleaner sprayed. It seems the sweeper contact button is touching the wires alright.

Needle at gauge does nothing, reserve doesn't come on (I believe there is one).
Wondering if sender is bad or a connection somewhere is off the gauge end. Maybe it was on reserve continually and PO got tired of it and disconnected something? If so, what can look for that may be "off"?
I'll gladly buy a new sender but only if this one is deemed flakey.
 
Used a jumper wire to ground the green wire (sweeper side) and got full reading, red side reserve light. So gauge is hooked up and working, then I used the ground jumper and touched the windings at various places and needle indicated correctly. Then I put the ground back on the sender top and placed put a little pressure on the contact point that rubs the wire windings and got a reading, so I think there just isn't good connection with that contact and the wires. I'll try to bend it out a bit (looks like you have to disassemble to do that?) and see if I can't resurrect this thing, otherwise I'll order up a new one.
 
Sick of me yet? I would be.
I can't anything wrong with this unit. Still, testing out of tank; no joy at the needle.
Diagram I have shows red/black to none rheotat side, blue/yellow to rheostat (like I've had it)
but it also shows a ground. Nothing on the sender is grounded to anything that I can see, the
terminals are isolated from the top and the unit is plastic so nothing touches
the rod. The top of the unit that bolts to the tank has a good ground wire on it.
I thought maybe the pivot point was supposed to touch the rod mounting bracket and ground there
so I cleaned it up but it doesn't appear designed to touch there (I even put in a little piece of
solder as a shim and that made
difference.
fuelsenderwiring.jpg
 
Last edited:
I think mine was red to the none "reastat" side, green to the reostat
Click to expand...
Both my wiring diagrams show RED/BLK to the switch (warning light) side and LT BLU/YEL to the rheostat (fuel gauge) side. I don't know how it is supposed to be grounded, but grounded it needs to be.

From your photos the sender looks to have suffered some crudification. Perusing the web I ran across this on eBay.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top