The gas gauge in my 55 F350 wasn't real accurate I noticed. Last January I was delivering hubcaps to a guy in Lancaster County. The gauge was at ' E' . iI though I was running on fumes and getting nervous. I found a gas station off of route 30 and filled up. I only got 15 gallons in a 17 gallon tank. And it the needle didn't poi t the whole way to F.

Two weeks ago the needle was close to E. But I knew I had a lot gas in the tank. So I figured the hot wire is off or the ground is not good or the float was getting filled with gas. Since the needle moved a little bit when I turned the key on and off I figured it was the float.

Tonight I removed the floor plate and took off the sneding unit. Took out the sending unit and shook the float and i heard gas sloshing in it.

I think this was the first time the floor plate cover had been removed. The top of the tank was dirty so I spent some time cleaning it before I removed the sending unit.


Two questions:
DC sells 2 floats, a stock hollow brass one and a solid float. Their catalog says, "... hollow brass floats can leak at the soldered joint and sink... Our gas resistant, dense foam float with brass cap resists corrosion and will not sink." The hollow float is $14.95, the solid is $4.95.
1. Has anyone here used the solid foam float?

2. Here is a pic of the inside of my tank. I just filled up yesterday with No-E gas, but from what you can see does the tank look clean?

 

Abe, I've never bought a float but it seems the hollow one was used for years and apparently did fail on yours after 63 years.... But of course a new hollow one is probably made in China...? I wonder if a foam one would eventually eat up in the gas? It looks like your tank is in great shape! Greg.

 

Thanks, the DC catalog says it is gas resistant and will not sink..... I think I'll call their tech Dept.

 

I bought a replacement hollow float 7 years ago and it continues to perform as expected. The foam versions would not seem to provide the same length of service, IMHO.

 

My current float lasted 63 years.

I just spoke to Doug in the DC tech Dept. He said they use the solid ones in all the complete sender's they sell. He recommends it.

He also said they wouldn't sell anything that would not hold up in gas. I think the new brass hollow ones are not made as well as the Ford originals.

And the solid ones are $10 cheaper.

 

Someone in the 1961/66 forum bought one of Carpenter's foam floats, said it lasted a year, then fell apart.

Carpenter lists the $4.95 float as 68-9275-S for 1932/79. There are two problems with this. 9275 is the basic part number for a fuel tank sending unit.

The basic part number for the float is 9202. The float changed in 1957 and then it's the same thru 1979. 1956 and earlier is different. Ford car & trucks parts catalogs list:

01A-9202 .. Fuel Tank Sending Unit Float / Reproduced

1940/56 FoMoCo Passenger Cars & Trucks.

I assume this is an original genuine Ford part: OBSOLETE RELIABLE PARTS in Nashville GA has 4 = 229-686-5101. No one else has any.

1957/79 (C0AZ-9202-B replaced B7A-9202-A) is the same for all Passenger Cars/Trucks, 1961/79 Econolines & 1966/79 Bronco's and it's available from Ford.

 

I'll second using the brass float. Back when I was rebuilding carbs every day I always replaced the foam floats with brass. The problem wasn't them falling apart but rather they would begin absorbing fuel and get heavy, causing cars to flood when stopping and /or turning. It got to be such a problem that companies, such as TOMCO, that make carb kits began selling float scales to check the foam floats .

 

Well, I got the solid float after talking to Doug in the Carpenter Tech Dept. He said they would not sell a float that does not hold up in gas. He said they use this float in all the gas sending units they sell.

I put it on tonight. I could tell it is shorter than the brass float, which OK by me. I pulled the sender out of the tank and then realized it is smaller in diameter than the original. I had to bend the wire hook at the end of the sender with a pliers to make it smaller to hold the float tight. It does work. My gas gauge needle moves when I turn the ignition key on.

I'm calling Carpenter tomorrow.

 

Why not just clean and solder the old float? That's how I have always done it.

 

If Abe's was anything like mine, there wasn't much material left. It looked like a shadow than an actual float.

BTW Abe, the replacement hollow piece snapped nicely into the float arm and didn't need any futzing.