Fuel guage and sender install

Here is a quick rundown of my fuel sender install for all that were curious:

THe sending unit and guage is still available from NAPA and is part number 501-1742. It is an adjustable sender and will fit tanks from 5-27 inches deep. It comes with the sender, guage, the guage mount if needed, the gasket for the sender, the sender bolts (very important and you'll see why in the pics) and all instructions to do it. The resistance for the sender is Empty: 240 ohms and full 33 ohms. The price was $41.00 out the door. Here's the kit:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/7...uagekitin1.jpg

Here is the top of the sender to get an idea of the bolt pattern. It fits the tank perfectly:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/7...ndernewbe4.jpg

This is the guage after I painted the ring OD:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/7...painteduo8.jpg

This is why the new mounting bolts were so important. Every single screw broke off in the tank. A little skill in drilling broken bolts doesn't hurt either:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/8...erscreweq9.jpg

Here's the screws drilled, and the mounting surface clean:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/6...gscrewsvh1.jpg

And lastly, the new guage installed in the dash:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/4...uelguagag0.jpg

Tomorrow, I will post the rest of the install after the tank is ready to go in.

Nice work...nice info on the gauge/sender kit!

Outstanding detail, Randy! Thanks! :thumbs:

Same one I'm using, only a different gauge. Keep the pics coming.

Thanks for the info
Is that a 12 volt or 24 volt unit?

I am going to replace my sending unit also. I have the unit but no gasket but since NAPA makes the unit you picture, I hope they also have just the gasket. I saw some gaskets on e-bay this week and they went for $28!!! More then I paid for the sending unit! Thanks for the info.

That is a 12 Volt unit, and I am not sure if they make it in 24, but because NAPA does a lot of equipment parts, I wouldn't be surprised if they do offer it that way too.

The gasket is rubber and doesn't look like anything special, so in a pinch I suppose it could be cut out of some heavy, chemical resistant rubber. Its about 1/8" thick. The original looked to be rubberized cork, but was so deteriorated it was hard to tell.

The guage in the picture in the catalog was different than the one I got. I guess they farm out the supply of the guages. I wanted an orange needle to match the others, but no big deal.....I bought one of these kits a year or so ago for a boat I was working on, and it had a totally different guage as well.

Here are a couple more pics of the sender install:

Here is th esender actually bolted into place. The tank has been coated with POR:

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/7...nstalleew9.jpg

Here is everything in its pretty OD splendor:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/6...stankodks7.jpg

I am going to post another thread showing my fuel pickup mod in a few.

its that the stock m 715 tank?

Sure looks like it.

Yep, that is a stock tank.

so the napa part will just bolt right on?

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Originally Posted by jaychevy420pitbill

so the napa part will just bolt right on?

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The bolt pattern for the top of the sender is identical. The sender itself is a universal and needs to be adjusted for the application. It comes with the necessary instructions to measure the tank depth, then set the unit at the correct height and the float arm at the correct length. Very easy install, and mine works very well after 2 years.

cool i called napa with that part # and they have it for $35 can t wait to have a working unit again

Does NAPA sell an oil pressure, water temp, and volts gauge to match the fuel level one/semder?

Seems that the NAPA guage and sender kit comes with a variety of gauges. I've bought them at various times and got different gauge manufacturers each time.

The good news is though, that most every aftermarket gauge manufacturer's fuel gauge will work with the NAPA sender, (same resistance) so you can replace the gauge with an Autometer, Stewart Warner, etc.....

Just thought I'd pull this thread up and add a little pertinent info relating to this:

I am putting the finishing touches on Grantshires "Big Cheese" and we needed a fuel gauge that will match the other Autometer gauges he already has. The gauge that Autometer offers is for the 33-240 Ohm range and it is part number 3316. If anyone else orderes a different brand gauge for their NAPA sender, it is important to pay attention to this detail because many of the Autometer gauges are sold for Ford, Chevy or Chrysler applications and the resistance is different. The gauge we intended to use in this truck was the stock Jeep gauge in the CJ style cluster, but it would not work, and I cannot find the specs for the actual CJ Jeep sender range.

As an aside, the 33-240 Ohm range senders seem to be a fairly common range for boats, equipment, replacement fuel cells and other generic sort of fuel tanks.

I bought EQUUS gauges and used the NAPA sender kit and that resistance range is what AMC corp used back then. Any other resistance will read backwards or a way false reading.

Good to know about AMC using that. A lot of the boat and equipment manufacturers also seem to use that resistance range too.

I installed it and followed the instructions exactly as said but I'm at half tank and it says I'm Wayyy full. Anyone have the same problem?


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My truck tends to stay at full a long time, then drop to "E" pretty fast. When I am at around 1/4 tank, and fill up, I generally still have about 4 gallons left in the tank.

I'm not too sure that the measurements that came with those gauge senders were terribly accurate, but then again, I've never wanted to pull the tank and experiment either. Just about every MV, I've ever owned or had much time with had pretty much the same fuel gauge. It was more of a suggestion than anything.

Coming from motorcycle world where fuel gauges weren't the norm up until very recently, I have learned to know my vehicle very well and either gauge my fuel with the odometer or the suggestive fuel gauge.

Hmmm ill see if I can mess with it during the week. My gauge is to the max full. And it bugs me.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by chess

Hmmm ill see if I can mess with it during the week. My gauge is to the max full. And it bugs me.


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You may need to pull the sender and fix the connector on the top where the wire goes from the rheostat in the tank through the top and to the wire leading to the gauge. Also check the tank ground.

I don't know if I posted it or not, but after about 3 months or so of using that sender in my truck, the insulator on the top stud swelled up and came out of place from the ethanol fuel, grounding the wire and causing the gauge to read the same all the time. It was a cheap rubber insulator. I made a new one from a piece of fiber or bakelite I had laying around and its been fine since.

Isn't it a shame that you have to re-engineer and repair stuff? What does the manufacturer get paid to do?

Sorry...

One word: China.

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Originally Posted by randyscycle

One word: China.

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That is EXACTLY what I was thinking...

I may have come up with a solution I put the truck on the lift and left the ignition on. And dropped the tank and I put a 90 degree bend on the small floater rod. It reads perfect at half tank ill see how it follows it after that.


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