Gas Tank Sending Unit Orientation

[Bobbee44]

I ran out of gas in my driveway (very lucky), after attending Britian on the Green here in Northern Virginia. My gas gage read 1/4...not so. I am reticent to just plop a new sending unit in the tank. I remember reading in one of the threads a caution on orientation of the sending unit in an Austin Healey. I cannot find that thread. If it is an incorrect orientation, then it's a cheap fix, if not....

Bob

 

[BJ8Healeys]

You don't say what model car you have, but the BMC Parts Manual for the BJ7/BJ8 shows the sending unit oriented with the float arm forward.

 

[Randy Forbes]

It was the location of the pickup tube that also puzzled me; I "ran out" of fuel on my first test drive in what is now my car. Going up Dolores Street in San Francisco, the car sputtered and stalled, after cars had gone around me, I coasted backwards into a driveway, and sitting horizontal again, restarted the engine. Waiting long enough for the cars to clear on my side of the divided boulevard, I headed back downhill to the next crossing, against the normal flow of traffic...

... and on to a filling station.

When I made the 28 gallon tank currently in the car, I put the pickup tube at the rear; if I'm low on fuel, I'm not opposed to coasing down the hill, being much easier than the other way around.

 

[steveg]

I've verifed the following on the bench with a spare tank:

With the float pointed forward as shown in the diagram, it will drop into the well at the bottom of the tank, showing empty on the gauge when the tank is empty.
With the float pointed backward, it will come to rest on the floor of the tank, above the well, thus showing 1/4 tank when the tank is in fact empty.

The sending wire should be coming off the rear of the sender. If it's coming off the front, the orientation is incorrect.

 

[Bobbee44]

Steve and others:

Thank you all for your help. I am going to pyll the spare and trunk liner out this weekend and take a look at the sending unit and wire orientation. If all is as it should be, then Moss will be selling yours truely a new sending unit.

Bob