Bugeye Fuel Tank

[ncbugeye]

I removed and checked my fuel tank a few months ago, and it was fine, so I put it back. Unfortunately I failed to make a good contact for the fuel sender when I reinstalled it, and as a result the fuel gauge, which had been working just fine, no longer worked. I took the tank off again and checked the sender unit itself, and after discovering that my multi-meter was unreliable I bought a new digital one from Sears. I am now reasonably sure the sender unit is OK, going from about 1 ohm to 70 ohms along its full travel.

Question is, how to make sure it gets good contact when I reinstall. I used a wire brush and stuff before but it didn't seem to work. Any magic tricks or spells out there from you level 17 wizards?

 

[RonMacPherson]

Is it a spade? If so, usually you can slightly crimp the female for better fit on the male. There is some electrical contact enhancer(forget the name of it right now, my bottle is in my storage garage about 15 miles away) that you can pickup at most Radio Shack stores. Costed about 15 bucks for a tiny bottle. But you only need to apply a drop or so to each connection. Then when the connection is made cover it with dielectric grease and you should be good to go. Make sure the connection terminals are tight on the wires, not pulled loose or corroding.

 

[regularman]

Silicone grease, like for light bulbs. Ask for it at any parts store. They sometimes have little packs of it (like ketcheup) near the checkout counters.

 

[spritenut]

I run a separate ground to one of the screws on the sender.

 

[regularman]

nc bugeye hook up the sender to the wire with the guage still in the car and see if it moveds the hand on the gauge. If not it could be a problem in the gauge still.

 

[ncbugeye]

I took Spritenut's excellent advice and installed a wire from under one of the the sender unit screws to a screw directly drilled into the underpan above the tank. Fuel gauge now works 100% now, no more unexpected running out of gas episodes.

 

[jlaird]

Good deal, we all have working fuel guages now.

 

[drooartz]

Well, I don't -- but that's mostly because the tank is still sitting on the garage floor, with the new sender in a box on the shelf. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

[BWillis]

I don't either. No fuel in my tank yet. Hopefully by this weekend though!