Gas gauge

[61frogeye]

I am still in the "getting acquainted" stage with my BE. I understand the usual inaccuracy of the gas gauges and filling up when it is bouncing around 1/4 tank full being a smart thing to do.

So there I was at a train crossing waiting and I look down and see that the gas needle is exactly on empty, uh oh! I then drove 10 slow miles to a station and made it. After a fill up it does go all the way to full too. I feel very lucky my gauge and float are set up that well by a PO.

BTW, I vote this forum the best overall for British car fans. Nice smart people, good content, good attitudes. I am so glad I found it-thanks.

Dave

 

[smaceng]

Dave, I'll second that comment, good people, great information and always willing to help. And thank you all for keeping the politics out of this forum, at least until next year's election!
Scott in CA

 

[rkep01]

"Third" the comment and I will add that it's great to have so much activity. Always something interesting and new to read. It's my greatest resource for info on B/E's.

 

[Boink]

Me four. Very pleased to find this group.
The gas gauge in my first Mini (a '62) behaved similarly, and I took to keeping a small pad to record mileage (just to be safe).

 

[jlaird]

Me too, and again I thank Basil for his site and his attitude in policing it.

 

[The_architect]

Dave,
I actually set mine up so that when it is on empty I still have a margin of error. Good thing too, I am absent minded.

Charlie

 

[jlaird]

Mine is the same way. It was set so when empty has at least a gal left.

Gal = almost 40 miles. All is good.

 

[HAN8L1965]

So what do you do to set your gas gauge, I have never seen this discussion?

Mark

 

[bug_sixty]

No matter, any car has that sweet spot just before your walkin with the can and more importantly they're all over the E area. That makes our cars very personal...a union... okok... I'm getting carried away

 

[regularman]

I always set them up to have at least a gallon left when on E.

 

[bug_sixty]

yea that's lets see... 1/7 of the tank capacity. I guess thats ok cause I personlly need a pee break excuse anyway when on the trip

 

[jlaird]

Some guy by the name of Kim Webb is our local Spridget Form gas gauge expert.

Actually he works pretty reasonable.

 

[Boink]

I haven't taken one of these apart, but might be interesting.

I DID take apart the very delicate interior of the TINY gas gauge in my 1962 Mini (Mark 1 850), and managed to get the gauge to be fairly accurate. There were very tiny wires in there and by positioning two electro-magnetics (one for empty and one for full), I got just the right amount of tug on the needle mechanism. I seem to recall a stabilizer resister too.
Don't know if these gauges have a stabilizer in them, but if so, it might be possible to tweak it for accuracy.
Wonder if anyone has tried that.

 

[The_architect]

Barney Gaylord, the MGA Guru, has the best info on the early gauges Gas Gauge Guru.

Push the little arrows at the bottom of the page to advance to the next screen.

Charlie

 

[nomad]

I,unfortunatly, bent the wire on the sending unit in the tank when I was working on it. I know it does get empty before it hits E and at one time I tested it by running the tank dry when I had a gallon of gas with me. Forgot exactly where that spot was though!

Kurt.

 

[Boink]

Thanks Charlie for the "Gas Gauge Guru" link. It's fantastic! And, yes, the inside looks a LOT like the early Mini gauge (as one would expect - though this one is a lot larger than the early Minis). Of course, one always wants to be certain the the sender at the tank is good (sending a range of return voltages as a variable resister). Then, if all is well back there, one could adjust the pull of these magnets (if I see it correcty). It's definitely not a science.

 

[Boink]

If of interest, here is the wiring for the early MINI gauge, and it works on a similar principle. It's a dualing electromagnet thing:

 

[jlaird]

Sure glad someone is into this stuff as i just refuse.

 

[Boink]

I just looked at the little bugger as a challenge. :computer: It's a pretty simply thingy. Unfortunatley, my drawing skills with PaintShopPro aren't so hot.

 

[regularman]

All smiths gas gauges from the same era seem to be about the same. The older 12 gauges work on 0 ohms and 70 ohms with 35 being half tank. Still, you need to calibrate the gauge with the sender to be accurate because there is just too much variation in the senders.