The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Sending unit issue

Okay, What would make a sending unit need replacing every 3 or 4 months? I keep having to take the distributer cap apart and replace the sending unit. Has anyone else had this issue and is there a fix? Thanks in advance for any advice or help.

Which sending unit? What kind of ignition system do you have?

The first suspect is the ground strap between the engine and frame, the battery and frame, and the dash and the battery. The voltage regulator references to the engine ground if it is an alternator, or the dash ground if it is a generator, so if the ground strap to the battery is too resistive the voltage that the sending unit sees between gnd and the controller (gauge, ignition, whatever) is too high and it can burn out. Also, it could be seeing RF noise which puts little high voltage spikes on it. Both could do it.

Another enemy is heat, but usually that's not a problem on a 6 cylinder distributor.