The new fuel sending unit in my 1953 GMC stopped working after being installed after a week. It worked after putting gas in the newly installed tank and a week later it showed empty. Any ideas ?
Grounds, grounds, grounds! Make sure EVERY one of them is clean and bare metal. If you did this during install do it again. Hope this cures your problem.ðŸ›
Martin '62 Chevy C-10 Stepside Shortbed (Restomod in progress) '47 Chevy 3100 5 Window (long term project) ‘65 Chevy Biscayne (Emily) ‘39 Dodge Business Coupe (Clarence) “I fought the law and the law won" now I are a retired one! Support those brave men/women who stand the "Thin Blue Line"! Hug a cop! USAF 1965-1969 Weather Observation Tech (I got paid to look at the clouds)
I found with mine that the sender terminal (non-ground) was making contact with the plate of the sender, effectively grounding it. This the result of a very small grommet that's supposed to isolate it, and possibly me tightening it too much. If this is your problem, you can tell it easily by loosening a little and moving the wire on the sender terminal. I replaced the grommet on mine, and then was very careful to make sure the stud was centered in the hole when I tightened it. Good luck.
However it might not be just the ground. A couple of years ago I showed with images how 90 ohm sending units are converted to 30 ohm units. Solder is crudely dropped on the winding until the ohm gauge hits approximately 30...after all anyone who didn't sleep through electronics 101 knows you only need to connect those winding wires to reduce resistance. What this does is create dead spots, spots where the gauge is given either the wrong or no electrical input and this mickey-mouse approach can cause the tiny wire in the winding to break. I bought one of these senders from a well-known supplier of parts which a lot of people seem to trust. It was trash from the word go. I won't tell you the supplier's name because he didn't make it, but I will tell you he refused to refund my money and always overcharges for shipping. The best (and I mean the best by a very long shot) sending unit is sold on eBay by a seller whose ID is renbusan. He and I have communicated and he knows his stuff. Here is the unit you want:
Here is what the Chinese-modified sender looked like when I finally got so tired I removed it and took it apart: (first image)
The second image shows what the unit renbusan sells is like...nylon, neat & clean with the windings set into nylon and not running in a U shaped arc but running in a C shape with a wiper arm. Much better design. Good luck!
~ Jon 1952 1/2 ton with 1959 235 | T5 with 3.07 rear end
I have gone through 3 brand new sending units which had leaky brass floats shortly after installing them. I went on ebay and ordered plastic floats for a Jeep. Worked like a charm.
1952 5-window - return to "as built" condition | 1950 3100 with a 235 and a T-5 transmission
Agree with 52Carl. Float leaks is very common with today's production of sending units if checking your grounding doesn't resolve the issue.
Craig
My '50 Chevy 3100 5 window, '62-235cu, 3:55 rear My truck ....... Respect The Rust If I'm not working on my truck, '65 m00stang or VW camper, I'm fishing with the wife or smoking Salmon.
