Fuel tank sending unit

Hey everyone I have to replace the fuel tank sender in my '48 Continental. The one I purchased from Narragansett which was an aftermarket Steward/Warner sender is not accurate after sitting for a week but will read after putting gas in it. I thought that a Ford sender would work is this true? Thanks for any help. George.

The sending unit certainly looks like a Ford, might need to bend the wire a bit to match the Lincoln tank. I've had some luck with a local instrument shop rebuilding one for a 56 Ford I have, looks about the same as Lincoln but was 12 volt. Some times those after market senders just don't work well.

You can check the wiring and gauge by shorting the wire to ground at the tank. Should get full scale reading.

Abe

I purchased a sending unit at NAPA for my 1941 lincoln Contiental. (I have been told that 41 thru 48 tank is the same) Take your old unit to Auto Zone, Pep Boys, Discount auto parts etc. They can probably match.

Bruce Nussman

1941 Lincoln Continental

1951 Jaguar XK 120 roadster

2000 Corvette Convertiable

Bruce...how about a part number of the NAPA part? Many Zefferites might need it. How long ago did you buy it?

John

Sorry I do not have part number. Purchased 3 years ago. My sending unit looks like the same unit used in heavy duty truck tanks.

Bruce

Mac's Auto, 1-877-230-9680, offers two different sending units for Ford and Mercury, it has an adjustable float arm for original Ford 6 volt guages with insturctions included.

They also off a second unit 6 volt or 12 that works on the 240-33 ohm range they say works with Stewart Warner guages. I bet the Ford Mercury sending unit would work fine.

There are NOS sending units available but they are expensive in the extreme.

Tom

Tom;welcome back ..We haven't heard from you in a long time,how about an "Update" on the Continental !! CH

I used a ford sending unit in my 48 and it works perfect, had to bend the arm a little to get full sweep. Vintage ford sells them, I get a lot of parts from them since they are just down the road from me. I have had mine in for 8 years now and it still works perfect.

All Lincolns used the Ford gas guage assenblys from 1936 to 1948. 36-39 uses Ford 70-9275. 1940 uses 01T-9275 and the 41 thru 48's use Ford 21C-9275.

Thanks to all that that replied. I will check out the Ford senders and let you know how I make out. George.

A couples of questions please. My books say the 1936-46 Fords and 1936-46 Lincoln's all use the King-Seeley Electric type of sender/gauge. The King-Seeley type used a very different system of measuring fluid level. The sender works somewhat like the blinker cans in your turn signals. The somewhat more modern system using a variable resistor as a sender and a balanced coil type of gauge. The King-Seeley gauge is a bimetallic strip and heater wire. Can one replace the sending unit with a variable resistor type sender? If so, does 88-94 (empty) and 14-18 (full) sound right? Thanks

Yes, the triick is matching the average current flow ( at any given level) to the gauge which also has the bi-metal strip. The gauges are purposely made "slow" so as not to pulsate with the original King-Seeley senders.

That is indeed good news. I have a calibration rig that I use on my and my friends old cars. I will install it on the sender wire and see what resistance fits my gauge. I might do the same thing on the oil pressure sender as I believe it's the same King-Seeley setup. The only problem there is, the manufactures don't give you much information on pressure senders. They just say, get the correct make, model, and year sender and it will work. I make it a habit to calibrate all my gauges as they have their fingers on the pulse of your motor and other important things. Thanks

To calibrate the oil pressure sending unit, I connect the sending unit to a fitting that I can put air pressure on. I then connect the sending unit to the gauge and slowly increase the air pressure to the sending unit.

Most of the King Seeley sending units can be repaired if you cannot find an original one. The fuel tank unit from 1939 - 1955 cars and trucks to 1965 trucks interchange.

Update. I ordered a Ford sending unit for years 1936 to 1956. It will not work on my '38 Zephyr. The new unit is a variable resistor type with a range of 100-12 ohms (empty-full) which is not what the Zephyr wants to see. The other and biggest problem is the mounting flange holes don't match. The ones on the Zephyr tank aren't symmetrical, the holes on the Ford unit are. Original tank....who knows?

Sounds like they sent you the wrong unit? The screw holes on the flanges are prposely off set so that the float arm will swing in the right position. All the early Ford/Lincoln senders are the same with the difference being the length and position of the float arm. These adjustments will have to be made on the replacement resistance type senders.

Preacher, I stand corrected. I didn't look and think hard enough. The Ford unit should work ok. It has a 70 degree swing of the float which is what I measured on the old unit. The resistance is 100 ohms (m/t) to 12 ohms (full). The gauge likes about 112 to 18. Current is about 5ma. to 20ma. I plan on putting a 10 ohm 1/2 % resistor in series with the sender. This should correct the gauge to about 1/4 to 1/2 needle width. Thanks

Update: had the sender/gauge on the bench today to perform the calibration. After taking the rear mounting piece off I found two calibration 'stars'. I gave it a shot and now have the gauge reading dead on with the new Ford sender without adding the 10 ohm resistor. Ready to move on to the oil pressure calibration. Thanks for all the help and sorry for hijacking this thread.