<VV> Fuel Gauge Needle REALLY Stuck on E

[corvairduval at cox.net]

Yep,

3 or 4 gallons in the tank when it is on E is normal for Corvairs,
especially late models.

You can bend the float arm and correct for this, to some other number. But,
make sure the float does not hit the bottom or sides of the tank, as it
will very soon wear a hole in it. Don't ask how I know! ggg

Frank DuVal

Original email:
-----------------
From: J. R. Read via VirtualVairs virtualvairs at corvair.org
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 20:08:22 -0500
To: corvairdad at gmail.com, virtualvairs at corvair.org
Subject: Re: <VV> Fuel Gauge Needle REALLY Stuck on E


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

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