My fuel gauge quit working on our trip home from Breaux Bridge. Trouble shooting indicated a bad sending unit. Naturally, with my luck, I had just filled the tank and since the sender is mounted in the side of the tank and I couldn't remove the sender until the level was below the sender. About 500 miles on a full tank to get below the sender. We returned from the lake today and I decided the tank should be low enough to remove the sender. Only took a couple of minutes to have it out and in the shop.

This is the original sending unit.



Called Gillig and they had a sending unit in stock. Only $172.00.

Called NAPA and they had a generic sending unit made for large tanks that came complete with a new gauge for $43.00. It was designed to be mounted in the top of the tank but I figured for the price difference and a few bends and modifications I could make it work.

NAPA Generic Sending unit part No. 501-1742



The NAPA sender after modifications next to the original sender.



A quick install and everything works. I did have to change my fuel gauge to the one that was supplied with the sender. The sender was not compatible with my VDO fuel gauge.

Overall, an easy fix.

Nick

I'm not sure if I'm more impressed with the ingenious fix or the fact that your camera exhibits the correct date

quote:

Originally posted by Moonbeam-Express:
I'm not sure if I'm more impressed with the ingenious fix or the fact that your camera exhibits the correct date

But the clock is exactly 12 hours off.

Nick

Nick in my opinion you are the definition of a rock star. You have the fore thought to think ahead at how what you are doing could at sometime benefit another Barthonian. Me I get so wrapped up in getting it fixed or done as I figure it out as I go. I get done and think "I should have taken pictures" Or I get it apart and think I should have taken pictures so I could remember how to put it back together. I want to be more like you when I grow up! Thanks for sharing your fixes.

Wow! Gillig really has a markup, don't they?

I'da taken it apart and have a peek. I got mine working again for pennies.

One of my gripes is how so much money goes to the middlemen who do very little or nothing. So many of them are just drop shippers, even.

One, when I worked at a Frito plant, we did the numbers on the railroad cars of corn coming in the back and the bagged corn chips going out the side loading dock to be sold in convenience stores. I don't remember the numbers, but it was stunning how little the corn farmer got of the total take.

I think I read somewhere that a similar or even worse situation exists with wheat and breakfast cereal.

End of rant.