Looking to replace both of 'em in the '85 F250, but all the online suppliers I've checked only sell them for the gassers. Are we stuck going to the Stealer for these for the oil burners?

TIA!

 

Tricky to get even from the dealer... they are obsolete parts.

 

you referring to the gauge sending unit?

 

You can get the guage sending unit from LMC.
It's not cheap but I think still cheaper than the dealers.

As menioned in another post, if it's your guage that's not working you can steal the little circuit board out of a used gasser sending unit and put it in place of the one in your current guage sender.

 

Thanks guys, I'll check LMC more closely. I only saw the ones for the gassers, but it's not real easy reading the catalog online.
It's not just a gauge problem, although they are wacky, but I think my pickup tubes are rotted, I don't dare run either tank down to a 1/4 of a tank of fuel.

 

Check pages 112(front)/113(back), it is confusing, the tile says "Gas sending units" but in the list there are the labels "DSL" or "6.9" or "7.3" for the diesels.

On closer look it does seem the prices are a little high... I'd compare with the dealerships on those ones, there may not be an advantage there.

 

Okay, I took a closer look at the blurry catalog, lol. Looks like they have the unit for the rear tank for $150, but I hope the catalog is correct on this application, they're showing the 6.9L all the way through 1996!
They don't list the front one for the older years, just the 1990-forward. And they're nearly $400!!! That ain't going to happen anyway.
After I get though the Paying My Dues Season I'll probably spring for the rear one anyway, if I can get one reliable tank I'll use it as my main and the other as reserve until I find a way to fix it as well.

 

The little tents on the bottom of the sending/ pickup tubes are what rot off. I fixed mine by buying some 5/16 constant fuel contact line(napa) (don't use over the counter fuel line it won't stand being submersed in fuel.) Putting a brass tee on the bottom and cutting the hose to the correct length so as the tee is on the bottom of the tank. This fixed the problem for me.

 

Most that have done a cheap fix on these just cut a V-notch in the hose so it doesn't suck to the bottom of the tank. I really like your brass tee idea. The hose can be a little long, and the weight will keep it down there. I wonder if over time it would wear through the tank? adding a zip tie on each side seems like it would isolate the metal to metal wear, but still keep it low enough to suck off the bottom.

 

I just went through the fuel tank replacement and sending unit reconditioning last spring. It was for my 1988 F250 diesel. After extensive research, i found that LMC and the dealers do not stock/carry the midship (front tank) sending unit for the diesel. They do carry the rear tank diesel sending unit for a crazy expensive price. it was so expensive i forgot what it was ($300-range-ish). Also, this sizes are different, so trying to use a gasser sending unit won't work either.

I rebuilt mine. (they functioned before i took them out.) I wire wheeled the rust off them, patched any corrosion with aluminum weld, and coated the outside-of-the-tank parts of the sending units with generous portions of por15 paint. (A radiator shop might be helpful with reconditioning too.)

I took the advice of this forum and stuck little fuel lines with v-cut notches on the end of the pick-up tube. (If i can get the pictures uploaded, you can see the boots that everyone complains about.) Although ill-advised, I can run the tanks down to bone dry in a pinch.

The only thing i would have done differently is put a filter on in the tank. At some point i might insert an inline filter before the tank-switching-unit thing. But until then, i'm extra vigilant about what goes into the tanks.

View my FTE album to see pictures of the sending units for 1988 F250 diesel project: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/m...1988+f250.html

 

Thanks for the replies and pictures, you guys have given me some good ideas. I did not know about that baffle/boot thing at the end of the pickup tube, I assumed my tubes were severely rotted. So with that hose trick and using the circuit board from a gasser I should be able to repair my exisiting units.
I may not be able to get to them real soon, but I'll keep you all posted.
Thanks again!

 

One more thing for what it is worth: I can't stand the idea of dropping a tank and trying to work on the sending unit from underneath the tank. (i'm obviously leaving details out here)
I was lucky in that my bed was rotten beyond repair and it was off the truck when replaced the tanks and repaired the sending units. If it's an option for you to remove the bed to work on the tanks and sending units, I highly recommend it. (just my opinion)

 

One year later and I finally did something about this.
Sort of a dry run really, I didn't have the circuit boards to repair the sending units, but I did put hose on the end of the pickup tubs, which it did need. The pick up screen was completely missing in the rear tank, and the badly cracked front one fell off as I removed the sending unit from the tank.

You are correct Coolbean, removing the bed is the way to go, I'm done with dropping fuel tanks and eating rust and dirt and trying not to ruin the wiring and lines.

I did this recently on my S15, was easy as could be, but of course the F250 is quite larger and heavier. In this picture this is how I had the straps set up for removal. It looks precarious because it was. It worked, but the cherry picker was off balance because it was fully extended. When I put the bed back on I just hooked the picker to the middle and front straps and used a ratchet strap on the rear strap and raised it to the boom that way. Was much more stabler that time.

Any way, like I said it was pretty much a dry run, next time it comes off I'll hopefully have the circuit boards, a leaf spring to replace the broken one, and a set of shocks. Might as well do it all at once while it's easy to get to.





Just for fun, the S15:

 

Thanks for posting your method of removing the bed using straps and an engine hoist.

 

You bet! Just be careful if you do it on a large full size. I wish I took a picture of the way I put the F250's bed back on, it was way more stable. The way I did it pictured above made the bed front heavy.
In fact, in the pic of the S15 you can see I used a strap in the rear on the tailgate up to the boom. This is similar to what I did the second time on the F250 only I ran the strap from the boom to the cross strap on the rear tie downs.
Also, I might anchor the rear legs of the engine hoist or sand bag it or something for a little bit of extra security.