73 Dart Swinger. My gas gauge was reading 1/2 when full, and when my tank was 1/2 full, the gauge read empty, so I installed a NOS complete setup in the fuel tank. It had the new screen, new float, new gasket, new sender, etc. I sanded the ground strap and fuel line where it contacts. Installed it, filled it up with fuel, and much to my chagrine, it reads 1/2 when I filled it. Where do I go from here?

BTW, another wine with my cheese, whoever designed these new gas cans (you know, the 5, 2.5 gallon, etc, portable gas cans) was a %#@@#$%. And whoever designated these as law was a total !!%^&)+^%$@). When I was trying to fill my car from the 5 gallon can with the fuel I siphoned, the fuel was spilling out becuase the damn spout is too short and you have to push on that stupid spring. I tried to use the long funnel that comes with the can, but gas was leaking out inbetween. Then, the funnel with its plastic ring, jammed in my fuel intake port (because you have to push on the spring). When I tried to take it out, a piece of plastic broke off and fell into my gas tank . Will this cause problems down the line? Do I need to pull the gas tank now and empty the small piece of plastic?

Thanks to those who answered my post about how to get the lock ring off. Went to two hardware stores and Napa Auto, nobody had any brass drifts or punches of any kind, so I used the rag on the screwdriver technique.

Don't worry about the small piece of plastic. You did say you installed the sending unit with a new filter sock, right?

Jerry

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There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

It sounds like the float arm is getting caught on the fuel line when it is floating up.

Does that make sence?

I had the same problem once.Take the sender out and make sure nothing is touching when the float comes up.I actually bent the float arm over a tad.Good luck

yep, you should check that the float arm geometry is good. Other symptoms causing gage malfunction may be gas tank crushing due to clogged vent / excessive pump siphoning on empty or other causes such as small accidents (hit a big rock or something like that)

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Juan Ignacio Caino

Please use e-mail button istead of PM'ing. I do log in sometimes but I'll be answering quicker thru e-mail.

There is supposed to be a ground strap between the steel outlet tube and the chassis. Is that there?
Sam

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Yes, it has a new filter sock. Thanks!
Would a clogged carbon canister filter make it read wrong?

The ground strap goes from the metal fuel outlet line, across the rubber fuel line, and attaches to the other metal fuel line. All was sanded to shiny metal. I did attach an alligator clip from the ground strap to the chasis to see if that was the problem. The extra grounding didn't seem to make a difference.

I guess I will use some gas and check it later. but I'm pretty sure there is no interference inside. There is a small dent in the tank. Should I bend the float stick to compensate?

if the dent on the tank is on the flat "floor" surface of the tank, then yes, the lower part of the float would be at a higher angle, producing false readings. If your dent is really small, you might wanna check your temp and oil pressure gages, since they work with the one and only volt limiter at the back of your dash cluster, and most likely that volt limiter will be reading low on the output side. That's to say that if your tank's dent hasn't considerably moved the side wall enough to make the float read half a tank off, you might be as well reading low on temp and oil pressure...

If you have to replace the limiter you might wanna fab your own electronic regulator using a 7805 transistor (cheap, cheap, cheap and far more reliable than stock limiter wich consist on a bimetal piece with a really thin wire wrapped around... almost like crying for failure... heheh)

this is how I've deal with the limiter (using the stock casing):


where's located (on my dash unit at least... yours might be different)


the transistor I used: (chopped off the middle leg because the back is connected to it


opening the old unit for using it for casing purposes


The unit opened and all the internals gutted (leave just the contacts riveted to the phenolic board)


Drill a 1/8" hole on the steel casing


creating slots on the side for adding to the cooling effect (use a dremel cut off wheel or similar)





I use 2 soldered cables to repack the thing. The right leg is the regulated 5 v output (stearing at the transistor's front face)


repacking





installed back



for checking the float's arm geometry, pay attention to the float assy angle. When your tank's full, the arm should be at top position. If the fluid level is lower than the float when full, then you want to carefully grab the arm and bend the floating part end down. You can check your progress using a vohm multitester: when you have near zero resistence is when your gage will read FULL. You can also monitor how it will work, considering that the gage's range is 70-0 ohms... 70 empty 0 full tank.

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Juan Ignacio Caino

Please use e-mail button istead of PM'ing. I do log in sometimes but I'll be answering quicker thru e-mail.

My Temp gauge never worked since I've owned the car, and I replaced it with an aftermarket mechanical gauge first thing after I got my new engine. The voltmeter works, and the oil light goes on at ignition, and turns off when the engine is running, so I assume it works (is this a bad assumption?).

I was going to test some wiring this weekend, but when I tested my Ohm/volt meter on the car battery to make sure is works, it worked once then stopped working. I guess I need to get a new one. Thanks for the tip on the manufacture of a new limiter, my dash is different, but it is probably similar.

no, but the temp gage never working could have been a bad limiter that threw off the gage or a out of calibration limiter that burnt the temp gage and then the owner replaced the limiter and never noticed that the temp gage was not working....
you have the speedo right over the column right? and you don't have oil pressure gage, you just have the "idiot" light? the idiot light doesn't work with the limiter so it will be working no matter how bad is the limiter on the back of that dash cluster. Yep, that's kinda diffrent butt there's still a limiter on the back of your dash cluster.

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Juan Ignacio Caino

Please use e-mail button istead of PM'ing. I do log in sometimes but I'll be answering quicker thru e-mail.