Fuel gauge sending unit

[wthom4]

Hi. Any clues where I can find a fuel gauge sending unit for my 1982 Power Ram? Vendor? Part number? Etc? Been searching for a bit with no luck.

[xboxrox]

YouTube has some vids about repairing the old style sending units with soldering.

[wthom4]

Thanks. I found the video and it looks helpful. I'll try it as soon I get a chance (assuming I can't find a replacement).

[xboxrox]

Thanks. I found the video and it looks helpful. I'll try it as soon I get a chance (assuming I can't find a replacement).

Thanks for letting us know ~ here is a link to a fuel sending unit repair: https://youtu.be/nU7o9iPjSeM?feature=shared

[camoit]

The only place left in the country that can fix gauges or rebuild them is in West Sacramento. commercial-speedometer. They might have a line on a sending unit. The website is useless. So call them.
https://commercial-speedometer.edan.io/

[wthom4]

Thanks

[1600cc]

For people finding this thread in the future, here's how I've fixed a couple of first gen fuel level senders:
- remove level sensor from the side of the tank. It's a resistive coil of wire, mine measured ~115ohms full and 0ohms empty. They work as a variable resistor, the float moves a wiper up and down the wire coil. One end of the circuit is at the 0ohm end, the other end is the wiper. Study the wire coil, if it is intact you can fix your fuel level sender using the following steps.

- use a scotchbrite or similar (0000 steel wool) to gently abrade the wire where the wiper rides up and down against it. Both of mine had mild varnish from 45 years of variable level fuel exposure.
- if possible, give the contact side of the wiper a gentle touch up with 1200 wet and dry sandpaper or similar. From my experience it's the wire that most needs cleaning.
- now test: connect a multimeter to the wiring terminals on the outside of the sender, hold the sender upright as it is when installed, and slowly move the float up and down while watching the multimeter. If you get a reading throughout the range of travel, congratulations you've repaired your fuel level sender! If it drops out in places, as both of mine did, you need to follow the next steps.

Adjusting the wiper:
If your multimeter showed drop outs in the testing procedure above, you probably need to bend the wiper to force closer contact. You can test this by applying gentle pressure between the wiper and the coil while doing the multimeter test. If the dropouts are gone, your wiper needs more pressure against the wire. Mine were worst in the 1/2 tank to 1/4 tank range. In my experience, moving the float to the full position gave the best angle to be able to bend the wiper down further. It'll make more sense with the unit in hand, move the float up and down while observing the wiper pressure on the coil and the angle of contract. A couple minutes of fiddling with the multimeter attached and mine were giving solid readings throughout the range.

I can't even count how many times I ran out of fuel in the 8 years before pulling one of these out and trying to fix it!

[xboxrox]

THANK YOU 1600cc in Australia..! :thumbup

Were you able to reuse the gasket..?

Your 1980 L200 I am wondering has the four round headlights..? If so, COOL ;^)

[1600cc]

Yes xboxrox, the rubber gasket wasn't hard or brittle. Helps that they're not in engine bay temperatures or sunlight.

[xboxrox]

Yes xboxrox, the rubber gasket wasn't hard or brittle. Helps that they're not in engine bay temperatures or sunlight.

Thank you for answering; now if only new 18gal size fuel tanks were available like the 15gal size are & if brass tank copper fin radiators were too AND no rust ever happens then my Mitsubishi life would be great (well better at least)...