I had a dead spot in my fuel gauge, so I changed out my fuel sender assembly yesterday. While I had it out, I shot a few pics and checked a few specs to add to the FTE knowledge base.

It took me about 45 minutes to get it out of the truck, working by myself and attaching a board to my floor jack. There is a good thread in the tech folder that covers getting this far.


Here is closer view of the top of the tank.


This is the fuel sender assembly on the bench hooked up to my VOM.


With the float full down (tank empty) I got 15.5 ohms.


With the float full up (tank full) I got 160.5 ohms. The float probably doesn't ever reach the end of scale when it is inside the fuel tank. So those values may or may not match up with Ford book specs. I don't have them, so I don't know.


This shot shows where I found the problem with mine. About midway up the scale I found this dead spot. This coincides with my symptom, which was a dead fuel gauge and code thrown at about mid tank, then it would correct itself after the fuel level dropped a little.


All that really needed replacement was this little white plastic flat scale rheostat. And it is easy to pull off and take apart. But Ford will not sell just that part as far as I could find. I took my old one apart and added some tension to the contact springs, and now it works perfectly again. I already had a new one that I purchased, so I put the new one in the truck.


The new one even has a part number on the rheostat if anyone wants to try and source it.


I measured the depth of the tank at about 14-3/4".


And I measured the length of the sending assembly at about 15-1/4".


That tells us that the boot on the bottom of the sending assembly is pushing against the bottom of the tank. If you look closely at the boot you will see it is accordion shaped and it is soft enough to collapse. The serrated edge around the boot allows it to pull fuel right down to the bottom. (no, I don't recommend you do that)


I parked this truck about 5 miles after my low fuel warning had popped up, so that the tank would be as light as possible for removal. While I had it out, I dipped the tank to see how much fuel was left when the warning came on. There was still about 3" of fuel left. Use that info as you see fit, I'm just reporting what I saw. I know that I will be less panicked when I see the warning on my truck, but I will be looking for a station.


After 6 years and 92k miles, the pickup screen was spotless. The tank looked clean too, just a few flakes of something that looked like paint, or maybe flaked plating in the bottom.


In the pic above, the upper tube with the rubber piece that looks like a saxophone mouthpiece, is the fuel return tube. That red rubber piece has a slit in it that opens under pressure, and closes normally. I theorize that this is to maintain some back pressure on the pump, and to keep the pump filled while the truck is off. The black cylinder on the side of the boot is also a check valve, I think for the same reason, so the pump won't drain down when off. If that check valve fails, your pump would pull air when your fuel level was below that point, or about 1/4 tank. We've had reports of that failure before here on FTE.

Here is the part number for a long bed 38 gallon tank.


Ford p/n = 6C3Z-9275-VA (long bed)
Motorcraft p/n PS-193 (long bed)
Ford p/n = 6C3Z-9275-BA (short bed)
Motorcraft p/n = PFS-193 (short bed)

 

Nice to know an adjustment may fix that issue in a pinch. Any goodies on the pickup screen?

 

No, the whole thing was really clean. And I've never got a drop of water out of my trap.

I think a guy could fix that rheostat in most cases. But I didn't want to pull my tank without a part on hand. Now that I know what is in there, I think guys might be more willing to pull it and check it out before dropping $300 on a new one.

Really pisses ya off that Ford won't sell just the rheostat.

 

Good post and good pics! Cant't rep ya yet.

 

Just out of curiosity. Is that a 29 or 38 gallon tank (or some other size) I know in 04 it only came with the 29 or 38 stock. It will put the numbers in persperctive.

 

Mine is a long bed with the 38 gal tank. I know the Excursion uses a different part number. But I'm not sure about the short bed 29 gal. If anyone knows those part numbers, please add it to this thread.

 

More great knowledge, Bill.
Thanks for sharing that with all of us.

I have to spread more reps before I can send some your way.

 

He puts so much damn good info in here we are all out of reps for him!!! Thanks Bill!

 

Rep prison here also ..............

Good post Bill!

 

Very Nice...

 

I got him guys.

 

Very nice job. Thanks for taking the time.

Reps to you!

 

Well I'll have to rep you now

 

Kudos to you for attacking this repair yourself, along with the excellent documentation with all the detailed photos. About the only thing I can add to it, is the Ford Workshop Manual specs. Per the workshop manual, the spec is 15 +/- 2 ohms at the lower stop position and 160 +/- 4 ohms at the upper stop position, which is pretty much what you illustrated in your photos.

As far as part numbers go, on my truck (2007 F-250 CCSB 4x4 6.0L) the part number is 6C3Z-9275-BA (PFS-193).

 

Thank you Mike.

Regarding the part number, aren't the last two letters just revision levels? Which would mean the short bed part number is the same as the long bed?

Answer: No, they are NOT the same, per m-chan68 reply below.