<VV> Fuel Gauge Needle REALLY Stuck on E

[J. R. Read]

Tom - It is correct operation for the needle to be on E with 4 gallons in 
the tank,  That is the way Chevy built them!

Later, JR

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Hughes via VirtualVairs" <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
To: "VirtualVairs AA" <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2014 7:56 PM
Subject: <VV> Fuel Gauge Needle REALLY Stuck on E


> On my '68 coupe the fuel gauge stayed on E after filling the tank the last
> time. I drained the tank, pulled the sender, and found the float filled
> with gas. Pulled a brand new float off the shelf, carefully put it on the
> arm, reinstalled, plug everything back in, poured about four gallons of 
> gas
> back into the tank, needle never budged off E.
>
> Got a different gauge off the shelf and connected it in place of the one 
> in
> the dash - needle dropped to E on the "new" gauge as soon as it was
> connected. Reconnected the original gauge.
>
> With the gas still in the tank, I disconnected the sender and measured
> resistance across it with my HarborFreight $3 multi-meter - about 3 ohms.
>
> Thinking the new float was bad or I'd put it on backwards and it had stuck
> to the wall of the tank, I siphoned out the fuel in the tank and removed
> the sender - float was dry and empty. Measured the resistance across the
> sender while manually moving the arm - went from about 3 ohms to about 90
> ohms. Plugged the sender back in, grounded the sender's black wire, and 
> had
> a friend watch the gauge as I manually moved the arm with the sender in 
> the
> same orientation as it would be in the tank - the needel moved just as it
> should. By the way, as soon as I disconnected the sender, the gauge needle
> did go to well above F.
>
> I flipped the float around (even though it now disagreed with the manual),
> reinstalled everything, poured about three gallons in - needled didn't 
> move
> from E.
>
> At this point, I took some measurements:
>
>   * 11.5 V in to gauge (car's been sitting for about six weeks)
>   * 8.5 V out of gauge
>   * 8.5 V at input to sender
>   * 3 ohms across disconnected sender
>
> Thinking the sender may somehow be the culprit, I again drained the tank,
> pulled the original sender, and replaced it with a supposedly new sender
> from my shelf of parts that I first tested (around 2.5 ohms at "empty" and
> around 90 ohms at "fully"). Poured at least three gallons of gas into the
> tank - needle didn't move from E.
>
> I'm at my wits end with this. What should have been a couple hour job at
> the most has now consumed two of my precious evenings.
>
> Any recommendations of what I can try next?
>
> -- 
> Tom in Baltimore
> corvairfleet.blogspot.com
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