RE: Sending unit repair - long read

["Earl H. " <earlh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jeff,

You are my hero. I have screwed up more sending units trying to fix them
than 
I would admit to. Old Dodge trucks and sending units just don't go together.

Some day I will figure it out.

Earl


    Thought I'd make a few comments about repairing fuel sending units since
I just finished repairing my second one last week. I repaired the one in my
64 Polara last year, but it was fairly easy since I was able to re-solder
the sweep arm back on. I bought a 65 Dart a few weeks ago with a dead gas
guage. There was almost no gas in it so I dropped the tank (broke the J-bolt
and had to weld a bolt to it and cut the head off). The Dart's guage was a
little different than the Polara's, but worked basically the same way.
    The Dart has a small fiber board piece wrapped with very fine wire and
riveted to a brass L-shaped bracket that bolts through the housing and
attaches to the power wire. On mine, the rivet had broken and the board
dropped into the tank. Once I retrieved it, I drilled out the rivet, super
glued the board to the L-bracket (making sure the other end of the board sat
in the slot made for it) put a finish nail ( a tiny bolt and nut would work)
through the hole, wrapped the wire around the nail, and soldered both ends
of the nail to hold it in place.
    I took out a spare gas guage, used 3 triple "A" batteries taped together
and wired the whole mess together. When power was applied the guage climbed.
I also had to drill a hole in the brass float to let out the gas that had
penetrated it from a small crack, then soldered the hole shut( be sure to
rinse it with a little water). When I reinstalled the tank and dumped in
some gas, the guage worked! Freaking MIRACLE, if you ask me...considering
how flimsy the sending unit electricals are. 
Make sure the sweep arm on the float contacts the wire when the float is
raised. The whole thing is very simple, but very flimsy, and I have no idea
if it will last, but it's working right now and saved me $100! Wish I'd
gotten some pics, but hindsight is always 20/20, right?



Jeff Adams
64 Polara


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----
Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- directly to that person.  I.e., send parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic.  Thanks!

'62 to '65 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines:
http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html.