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1980 - 1986 Bullnose F100, F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Early Eighties Bullnose Ford Truck

Gas Gauge

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Old Dec 6, 2008 | 03:23 PM
  #1  
lilbilli0naire's Avatar
lilbilli0naire
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Gas Gauge

Well, Last night i was able to find out how much gas i had. I shook the truck around , and my gas gauge went from E to about 3 quarter tank, and yeah i do have about that much based on when i filled my tank. Now , the ball im guessing floated up somehow in the gas. Whats going on here? is it broken , b/c it worked for about 5 mins , and then dropped back to E again.
 
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Old Dec 6, 2008 | 04:57 PM
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Could be a bad ground wire to the sending unit, though 99% of the time the sending unit inside the tank has something wrong with it. Go into the sending unit business for 80-up Ford pickups, and you would make a lot of money.
 
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Old Dec 7, 2008 | 12:21 AM
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Wish I could be more help but I can't even seem to get the gas gauge in the truck Im working on to work correctly myself.

I know the sending units are a PITA and that is probably the problem in your case.

Mine however has something to do with electrical.

MmMmmm Electrical .... My favorite topic.
 
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Old Dec 7, 2008 | 12:51 AM
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I have problems with mine too :/ 7 gallons brings it to full tank
 
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Old Dec 7, 2008 | 09:28 AM
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Being a cheap SOB, I was intending on getting sending units from the
junkyards. Waste of time (unless you come across one that's obviously
been recently replaced). The things operate like mechanical rheostats -
there's a button-like contact that glides across a very fine fine wire that's
wrapped around a piece of material. That wire eventually wears through
and breaks; I remember seeing one that had unwound so much that trying
to imagine it in operation reminded me of a fern (plant) in an aquarium. I
guess I was reminded of a fish tank I used to have. This explains the
sudden & wild fluctuations the dash gauge shows.

Anyhow, don't waste your time trying to get one (sending unit) from a
junkyard; unless it's been recently replaced, it's prolly in just as bad of
shape (if not worse) than what you've already got.

-chris
colorado, usa
 
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