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King-Seeley fuel gauge on "34


wem

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Has anyone tried to remove the fuel gauge from the gauge cluster on a '34? Interesting that the temperature gauge and fuel gauge seem to be soldered in place. I'm trying to remove the "reservoir" from the brackets on the back of the unit (which seems to be soldered) to clean the tube from it to the glass indicator. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Wally

Edited by wem (see edit history)
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Guest MORRISGAUGE

I would be very very careful in your attempts to disassemble a hydrostatic fuel gauge. If you are desoldering the reservoir to clean it, you run a great risk of over heating the joint to the glass tube and damaging the tube itself. As per a mechanical temperature gauge, they are charged and you should not attempt to disassemble that unit.

 

www.morrisgauge.com 

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Thank you for the kind reply.  I have tried cleaning the reservoir/tube with brake clearner, carb cleaner, and last solvent alcohol to no avail (each were suggestions on various blogs).  I managed to remove the reservoir , tube and glass from the guage cluster by drilling out the spot welds that held the reservoir bracket to the back of the cluster.  Any suggestions for cleaning the tube?  That's where the blockage is.  The Lincoln uses a "C" shaped glass, so a replacment is not available (straight glass ones are available).  I'm not sure what you mean by "charged".....  Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

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Guest MORRISGAUGE

A mild acid works well to help dissolve the bromide residue. I do not have that cluster in front of me, is the temperature gauge mechanical?

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Yes, both the temp and fuel are mechanical.  The temp gauge is fine - operates perfectly.  I'm sorry if my post was misleading - it's the fuel gauge tube between the reservoir and glass that is plugged.  What type of "mild" acid would you recommend?

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Guest MORRISGAUGE

Whatever you have about. HCl works well. I was confused on the temperature gauge soldering that you wanted to remove. Do not unsolder the line from the temperature gauge as it is "charged" with volatile fluid/gas and is flammable. Not to mention the gauge would no longer function.

 

www.morrisgauge.com

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Thanks, I would not try to unsolder the temp gauge; more of less a comment that the gauge is not removeable from the cluster - sort of odd, even the Ford gauge can be removed from the bezel.  I'm getting a little air/ carb cleaner through now after leaving carb cleaner sit in it.  Still is a minute amount, I'm guessing the flow should be fairly unrestricted so the red gauge liguid can be pushed into the glass with very little air pressure from the tank tube.  The HCl won't etch the glass tube, right?

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Just tried some muriatic acid I had from pool cleaning, and on the first tried, it flowed right through, brought out dark brown crap, 2nd fill same thing, 3rd fill yellowish liquid.  I'm on the forth fil and this time it's almost clear and runs right through, balancing level in glass with level in reservior.  A huge thank you - I hope everyone that has a clogged gauge tried this.  I also realize that your helpfulness has no doubt caused you to lose some business.  Hopefully anyone needing gauge repair will notice who you are and turn to you when they gauge repairs - I know I will.

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I've been watching this subject with interest as instrumentation is my bag. Are you going to 'lose' the red fluid with your cleaning? Is your acid going to come into contact with the red fluid? I believe and the Morrisgauge guy may confirm that the red fluid is Acetylene Tetra-bromide with Sudan Red dye. Watch out for it if it is. Good luck.

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Since flushing the gauge with the muriatic acid, I flushed it with solvent alchohol, and finally clear water, drying each time by running air through the guage.  I can't imagine that there is any acid residue in the gauge at this point.  Yes, the fluid is acetylene tetrabromide.  I'm not a chemist, I'm a recording engineer.  Is there some type of chemical reaction I should be worried about??

 

My next plan was to add the fluid to the gauge while it's still on the bench.  But I intend to let it air-dry until tomorrow first.  Stay tuned....

Edited by wem (see edit history)
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Guest MORRISGAUGE

Correct and the fluid is rather corrosive to steel, etc. In most circumstances, handling of any automotive fluids should be performed with proper safety apparatus. I would recommend rinsing the cleaned tube/reservoir out with some acetone as it dries quickly and leaves no residue.  When you go to install said gauge and perform your final calibration, you may find this instruction sheet (that I will attempt to attach) useful.

post-78411-143138647959_thumb.jpg
Edited by MORRISGAUGE (see edit history)
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The fluid is in and the gauge is mounted back in the cluster and the cluster back in the dash (with no side effects).  I added enough fluid to bring the glass to the "O" mark with the air line disconnected.  I just got my gas tank back from the repair shop and will be hooking up the "sender" and air line over the weekend after I get the tank mounted back in the car.  I will post the results and functionality next week.

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Guest MORRISGAUGE

Mac's has the fluid and line kits at a very reasonable price. We don't even stock them anymore and just refer folks to Mac's.

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For what it's worth...I did some online research on this. I have read that the fluid that Mac's sells will turn clear after being exposed to sunlight. Understand that I have no personal experience with the Mac's product. I know that the real deal is hard to come by and expensive to ship. This is what got me to searching for answers.

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Before my "restoration" of the gauge that we've been discussing over the last week or more, I had added some of the fluid to the glass tube about 5 years ago (so it would at least look like it was functional).  It did not fade during that period of time, but the car is covered with a car cover most of the time, with very little light getting at the gauge.

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After installing the tank last evening, I just connected everything up and added 12 gallons of gas (no ethanol).  The gauge came up above the 10 gallon mark to what would exactly be 12 gallons!! - even without blowing air back into the tank through the fuel line as suggested in the instruction sheet.

 

Success!!

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Guest MORRISGAUGE

Congrats! As per the Mac's fluid, I had heard they used a fugitive dye in the early batches, but I have not had anyone tell me that their fluid bleached out.

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