67 Electra Fuel Sending Unit

[dmfconsult]

I have had an issue with the Electra’s fuel gauge since I’ve owned it. Reads full or close to full for awhile then gets erratic for a bit settling in at about 3/4 full until it’s almost empty then goes quickly to empty. It’s unpredictable enough that I’ve never actually let it get empty (until today) and always just topped off the tank after about 250 miles. 

 

I have replaced the gauge once and no real difference. Also cleaned the ground at the tank without any real change. I figure the next step is to drop the tank and replace the sender. Does anyone have any experience with this sender on eBay?  It comes up every so often. 

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.ca%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F303129904386

 

here’s a pic of my gas gauge at empty for the first time since I’ve owned the car, over 17 years!  (I have no idea how empty it actually is!)

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by dmfconsult (see edit history)

[JohnD1956]

Doug, I am going to suggest that if your original sender is similar to my '72's,  in that the sender unit is contained within it's own baffle,  then you will find this style of sender to be erratic.  When I did mine a few years ago I could not immediately find an original style unit.  I used one of these style senders and it does work, but the gauge is all over the place because of sloshing in the tank. At the time there were several units available and I believe mine was less expensive than that one on e bay. I do not know if any are really better than the other.    If you have the service manual, does it show what the original sender should look like?  

 

Here is a link to my thread and the pictures are at the bottom of page 3 :72-Electra aka The Queen

[dmfconsult]

Thanks John,

i do have the service manual and will pull it out to check. I’ve been more focused on the wiring and connections hoping to avoid removing the tank, but I don’t recall that arrangement with the canister.  The gauge does work but it is highly erratic now, worse than the previous one so I think I will switch out the gauges again as I have to be behind the dash over the winter anyway. 

 

The reviews for the ebay sender basically talk about it being erratic, I think most guys are just happy to find one.  They seem to be on eBay fairly regularly so I think I have some time to try different things. I was thinking mine has a “sticky” float as you found yours to be, I even have rapped the bottom of the tank with a rubber mallet to see if it would unstick 😂 

 

The only bright side to removing the tank is finding the build sheet as you did!  I’ve intentionally run the tank down for the eventuality 

Edited September 27, 2019 by dmfconsult (see edit history)

[dmfconsult]

@JohnD1956 the service manual appears to show the same style sender you have in your 72. Ironically, after I ran it close to empty, I added about 7 gallons of fuel and the gauge is showing what looks to be a correct level.  
 

I’m going to set this issue aside as I have coolant coming out of the heater ducts so a new heater core seems to be necessary. This plus trying to identify an intermittent slip in first gear after the Tranny rebuild are going to keep me occupied for a bit!

Edited September 28, 2019 by dmfconsult (see edit history)

[JohnD1956]

@dmfconsult Yes, those other problems would be a bigger priority.  I wish you good luck on that heater core.  You are the 2nd person I heard of with this problem this week.