Fuel sender Replacement

[MIPS]

Well it lasted another two years since I repaired it but it seems my sender has really failed now. It always shows empty, especially when turning left but turn right or rock the car and there's an intermittent dead short. Good thing I caught that before it blew the gauge and unplugged it at the tank. Wiring seems to test fine so it's a mechanical problem in the tank.

I'm trying pretty badly to get a proper replacement before kludging in a Universal Fit model and then losing my mind recalibrating the float levels.
This seems to be an issue a lot of other people have hit dead-ends with according to Google, or the parts they list are from threads 10+ years old. Lordco can't find anything in stock. NAPA sees it as Out of Production. Galvin's doesn't list it and American Performance only lists the Spirit/SX-4 sender which is a different shape. I can find replacement senders for just about every other AMC vehicle though.

[atmafox]

By American performance do you mean AMClives?  Might try calling the latter if you haven't, they have lots of off menu items and they do sell a full fuel tank replacement kit that includes one so maybe they can sell you one individually.

[MIPS]

Yeah, that's them.

Now that you mention the fuel tank package I see it now too. They are closed today and weekends so I'll have to try and call them on Monday. Seeing how other parts of the kit seem to be available separately I'm sure they have them available individually.


Or they are completely out and forgot to update the listing. 

[djm3452004]

I used this with success in 2019...

Fuel Tank Sending Unit:  Galvin’s AMC, P/N 04-0700

BUT...looking at their site today, I'm not seeing it listed.  It may be a good idea to call and inquire to see if they're really out of them.

209-365-6315

Not sure if that helps, but if they can get you that P/N somehow, it works well.


David

[MIPS]

Did it at all require calibration when you installed it?

[djm3452004]

Did it at all require calibration when you installed it?

I checked the new sending unit against the dash gauge by running power and ground jumper wires from the car's fuel tank wiring.  I was working alone and did that so I could actuate the sending unit and watch the gauge at the same time with the key on.

It checked out ok, no adjustment required, although the sending unit has tabs that can be bent to adjust the range.

I could have sworn there were high/low resistance values for the fuel sending unit listed someplace, either in the service manual or here on the forum, but now I cannot seem to locate either, even in the '83 service manual supplement I've got.

Would anyone else happen to know if these resistance values are floating around someplace??

Thanks!
David


EDIT....
Also, adding an attachment to this...American Parts Depot still has these in stock, or at least they're showing available in their catalog.  See attached image.

http://www.americanpartsdepot.net/fueltank.htm

[Canoe]

... I could have sworn there were high/low resistance values for the fuel sending unit listed someplace, ...

... our eagle sending units read in an ohm range of like 30-248.  Ford uses an ohm range of like 33-240, which would be close enough to work if you can find one that would fit our tanks.
Then I found a sending unit for a universal application in that 33-240 ohm reading, that is able to work with tanks from like 5" to 27" deep.
Its a Sunpro sending unit, part # SUN-CP7583   
which cost me 14.95 +sh from Summit racing , but it could also be found at other places like Jegs racing. ...

https://forums.amceaglesden.com/index.php?topic=35168.0;all

Found this for "amc"

• 248 ohms Empty
• 151          1/4 Tank
• 105          1/2 Tank
• 65            3/4 Tank
• 31            Full Tank

Another site says what to do if your guage reads backwards...

If the float arm is installed on the other side the gauge will read backwards.  Also if the rheostat is installed upside down the gauge will read backwards.

Which may give us some clues on how to modify a universal unit or borrow some of its parts to work on ours.
https://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=results/category_id=159/mode=cat/cat159.htm

That Sunpro is no longer listed on Summit Racing, but they list an alternate for $26.
240 ohms empty, 33 ohms full
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/BGS-FST-7591
Photos of it on Amazon appear to show that it would be easy to borrow its rheostat. 

[MIPS]

Called AMClives and they immediately bounced me over to Blaser Auto. Blaser says they are out of stock from their mexican OEM but will look into reordering and to call back in March. I'll call AMClives back to see if they have any loose units but it's not looking good. <:C

Called up Galvin as well and immediately it seems they too are out of stock but they will double check and call back later. In the meantime I've taken my other junk sending unit through the sandblaster to prep it for the retrofit......

[djm3452004]

Called AMClives and they immediately bounced me over to Blaser Auto. Blaser says they are out of stock from their mexican OEM but will look into reordering and to call back in March. I'll call AMClives back to see if they have any loose units but it's not looking good. <:C

Called up Galvin as well and immediately it seems they too are out of stock but they will double check and call back later. In the meantime I've taken my spare sending unit through the sandblaster to prep it for the retrofit......

What about American Parts Depot as suggested above?

David

[AMC of Houston]

I've had some luck rehab'ing OEM units simply by polishing up the coil windings (if there's not an open spot in the wire), and cleaning and bending in a bit more tension in the sliding contact.   May want to take a look at your old unit to see if its salvageable.

[MIPS]

\
What about American Parts Depot as suggested above?

David

I didn't see that edit until you pointed it out. Indeed there is nothing saying they are out of stock so I've placed an order and we'll see what they come back with.

I've had some luck rehab'ing OEM units simply by polishing up the coil windings (if there's not an open spot in the wire), and cleaning and bending in a bit more tension in the sliding contact.   May want to take a look at your old unit to see if its salvageable.

I did that two years ago when I replaced the entire tank just so I could fix a really annoying issue with it never going below 1/4 of a tank. I'm noticing that the winding isn't the wear point but the slider is. My junk one had completely worn down until it was a hook that snagged and wrecked itself and my working one was getting heavily worn but still useable after some adjusting. Now that it's doing dead shorts something really bad must of happened. Unfortunately I had just filled the tank two days earlier and don't have a garage so if I'm going to drop the tank in the winter I at least need to wait for it to empty out.

[AMC of Houston]

Man; I've been lucky so far to never have seen one that bad!   Altho my 200K-mile waggie is probably close from all that bouncing around.   But its not acting up -- yet.....maybe I'll put in a bottle of 2-cycle oil to lube it up!!

[MIPS]

Well I got an email back with a shipping quotation and payment authorization, so they had one at least in sock, plus they have replacement socks.
Thanks djm3452004!

[MIPS]

The sender arrived today. I purchased with it a replacement sock and tank gasket for an additional $15usd. Other than the new sock being much smaller than the original (I might just reuse it) the part is an exact match to the original.

[rmick]

Hope yours last longer than mine did. I replaced mine for my SX/4 8 months ago. The resister in the new replacement eventually swelled and warped then shorted out against the housing causing a 3/4 tank indication all the time.