Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Seems there are a fair number of owners beginning to experience problems/failures with the sending units in the fuel tanks. Bob Weis has another long thread running that addresses totally replacing the existing OEM unit with what is expected to be a better aftermarket setup - and so far it's looking good.
BUT, for those who haven't yet seen what the OEM senders look like, here's an overview. The 2 major areas of problems seems to be either the electronics board that the tank float connects to, or a disintegration of the float itself. Here's a pic of the complete float/sender assembly - there is normally an electrical lead attached, but this is Bob's old OEM unit, and he removed the lead for his new setup:
#ad
Here's a closeup of the disassembled electronics board, showing the construction of the side the float arm and electrical slider work against in normal operation:
#ad
ACTUALLY, the general quality of construction seems rather good - the traces seen on the board's surface look to be silver plated, and so are the contacts on the matching float arm contacts. The tension of the contacts can undoubtedly get loose, causing erratic gauge readout - Bob's seemed to be so, but the tension is easily increased by carefully bending the fingers the arm contacts attach to.
Also, there seemed to be noticeable discoloring/corrosion of the float arm contact fingers - didn't appear to have weakened the assembly, and the (apparently) silver contacts themselves were easily cleaned with fine sandpaper - the electronics board contact surface also cleaned up nicely with a common pencil eraser.
Here's a closeup of that assembly reassembled:
#ad
The float on Bob's unit actually looked pretty decent, only some minor erosion at a couple of edges, as though it had rubbed against other tank components. But since other owners have reported total failures of their floats, I thought I'd try a relatively popular liquid inner fuel tank coating that is sold to repair badly corroded fuel tanks - it's called "Kreem".
While the final results from my effort to coat this particular float won't win any beauty contests, it IS coated well, and should provide an added level of protection to this float - and possibly would work to resurrect one that was more seriously eroded:
#ad
It's an individual judgement call as to whether a specific sending assembly is capable of, or worth the effort to rejuvenate it - there's lots of effort involved in getting TO the tank sender, and if the unit is badly deteriorated, it probably makes more sense to just replace it with a new one, or perhaps read up on what Bob did with his, and go that route.
Much thanks to Bob for sending me his old unit for inspection, and preparation of this thread!
BUT, for those who haven't yet seen what the OEM senders look like, here's an overview. The 2 major areas of problems seems to be either the electronics board that the tank float connects to, or a disintegration of the float itself. Here's a pic of the complete float/sender assembly - there is normally an electrical lead attached, but this is Bob's old OEM unit, and he removed the lead for his new setup:
#adHere's a closeup of the disassembled electronics board, showing the construction of the side the float arm and electrical slider work against in normal operation:
#adACTUALLY, the general quality of construction seems rather good - the traces seen on the board's surface look to be silver plated, and so are the contacts on the matching float arm contacts. The tension of the contacts can undoubtedly get loose, causing erratic gauge readout - Bob's seemed to be so, but the tension is easily increased by carefully bending the fingers the arm contacts attach to.
Also, there seemed to be noticeable discoloring/corrosion of the float arm contact fingers - didn't appear to have weakened the assembly, and the (apparently) silver contacts themselves were easily cleaned with fine sandpaper - the electronics board contact surface also cleaned up nicely with a common pencil eraser.
Here's a closeup of that assembly reassembled:
#adThe float on Bob's unit actually looked pretty decent, only some minor erosion at a couple of edges, as though it had rubbed against other tank components. But since other owners have reported total failures of their floats, I thought I'd try a relatively popular liquid inner fuel tank coating that is sold to repair badly corroded fuel tanks - it's called "Kreem".
While the final results from my effort to coat this particular float won't win any beauty contests, it IS coated well, and should provide an added level of protection to this float - and possibly would work to resurrect one that was more seriously eroded:
#adIt's an individual judgement call as to whether a specific sending assembly is capable of, or worth the effort to rejuvenate it - there's lots of effort involved in getting TO the tank sender, and if the unit is badly deteriorated, it probably makes more sense to just replace it with a new one, or perhaps read up on what Bob did with his, and go that route.
Much thanks to Bob for sending me his old unit for inspection, and preparation of this thread!
