<VV> Testing Gas Tank Sender
Larry Forman
Larry at forman.net
Sun Jun 26 14:09:08 EDT 2005
At 09:43 AM 6/26/2005 -0700, Western Canada CORSA wrote:
>Tech Guide is on loan at the moment, so I have a question for y'all....
>
>I have the gas tank out of my '61 Rampy and I need to test the sending unit.
>I know I need a volt meter for this, but what do I connect to, what do I
>measure, and what am I looking for.
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Regards,
>Joel
Hi Joel,
You need an ohmmeter, which is normally part of a multimeter. Either an
analog or digital will work fine. You want to remove the sender so you can
raise and lower the float and measure the ohms as the wiper slides along
the rheostat (resistance). The resistance should be maximum when the float
is raised and close to zero when the float drops down. Make sure the wiper
contacts throughout the whole movement and is consistent and not
intermittent. You should also check and see if the float has any fuel in
it or maybe hold it under the surface of a glass of warm water. You could
GENTLY squeeze the float and see if any bubbles come out. If so, you have
a hole in the float and it should be replaced or sealed.
One lead connects to the pin that the sender wires goes to and the other
lead goes to the grounding terminal. I think the resistance is somewhere
between 30 or 90 ohms. I think it depends upon whether you have an Early
or Late tank and gas guage. The resistance values might not be correct,
since I am just recalling from memory.
Coincidentally, I did the same thing but found my "always working" float
had a little intermittent when I checked it. So I pressed the wiper and it
seemed to work better, at least until it was totally installed. Also, I
found that I had forgotten to connect the sender when the tank was close to
fully in place, so I got to lower it to connect the sender. Now, for some
odd reason, the gas gauge is always reading full and measuring the
resistance at the gauge shows it is properly connected and grounded. So I
guess I get to drop the tank a third time. UGGG!
Make darn sure you remember to connect the sender, it is impossible to
connect it without moving the tank back a little, unless you cut an access
hole from above.
-- Larry
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