2-wire fuel gauge & sender repair

[Ernie Baily]

I need recomendations on where to send my 48 Plymouth in dash gauge & tank sending unit for repair.

Thanks,

Ernie Baily

[55 Fargo]

Hi Ernie, what have you done to test these 2 units.

You can bench test them quite easily.

You need 6 volt power to the gauge, and 2 leads to the sender and back to the gauge, you also need to ground the gauge and sender.

You can then operate the sender and see what the gauge does. If you have run these tests then disregard.

A lot of times a poor ground at the gas tank is a problem, as well as bad connections, and the wiring itself from gauge to sender.

When removing the sender gauge wires, make sure the car battery is disconnected, you do not want to make sparks on top of the gas tank.

Senders are available at Roberts, they are re-pops, and about $85.00, I have one they work well, sometimes the sender can be taken apart, by drilling the rivets,and repairs made inside.

The gauge if not working can be repaired depending on the problem.........Fred

Edited March 17, 2010 by Rockwood

[Ernie Baily]

Well, I just was attemping to test the set of gauge & sender as extras, however the spare gauge I have only goes up to 3/4 full when I connect the spare sender is at full. I cleaned and tightened the connections on the gauge & sender in the car, but the gauge only reads 1/4 full.So I believe the wires are OK! I just filled the tank yesterday. The sender in the car is original when I bought the car over 25yrs ago. The other sender works some of the time intermittenly. I'm not sure If the extra gauge is 100% good/NOS, I bought it some time ago and don't remember its status. I guess I should buy one of the senders from Roberts or should I have my orig. sender rebuilt? At least I'll then know if the sender is good.

The other Idea is just send the extra gauge & sender out to be rebuilt or checked and install them when they are done.

Am I correct in assuming the gauge and the sender are grounded thru their mounting screws?

[Plymouthy Adams]

yes..but it is a good idea to have a bonding strap from the sender to the tank= and ensure that also the tank has a good bond to the frame...next is the internal connection of the sender itself..the float rod is the grounding of the two imputs to ground and it has a ball shaped spring tension lever riding in a cup that is internal to the case itself..these do get nasty over the years and corrode to the point that they are basically ineffective or at best erratic...good news is this unit can be disasembled and cleaned..you can also alter the ground strap with braided cable to the sender base..