Maybe this afternoon...
Oh... and lesson learned yesterday... Be sure the car is in the garage far enough that the door closes when the car is jacked up.
Gas Gauge Fix
- Thread starter Big_John
- Start date
Oh... and lesson learned yesterday... Be sure the car is in the garage far enough that the door closes when the car is jacked up.
CanCritter
Senior Member
would say all gauges...both new ones for me read 3/4s at full
Even the SFGT? Or was that because it doesnt stay on full long at 90mph??
CanCritter
Senior Member
78Brougham
"Chump"
That's an o **** moment right there! How bad is it? Guess 2x4's just don't cut it as wheel chocks...
saylor
Senior Member
...look like your mechanic has the intercooler out of that audi tho, you may have to get in line for repair
Ouch...
I realized the car wasn't in far enough before I touched the door...
My oldest son rolled a Saab off my car trailer into his garage door... one of those expensive double bay doors too. It wasn't pretty.
Samplingman
Old Man with a Hat
That's why I have a manual garage door, I can tell it when to stop.
Ripinator
Old Man with a Hat
Oh crap! Did the car roll into the door, or did the door come down on the car?
CanCritter
Senior Member
**** happens....its how ya deal with it that counts
You're not the first, won't be the last either.
But I'd bet my door cost more to replace......
Yea the Audi mechanic has a combo of bad hours and a short attention span so it'll be a while.
Funny story, I had just finished all the front end work and pushed the car out to clean. When I pushed it back in I forgot to put her in park. I still needed to fix my kickdown linkage so instead of driving up on the ramps I said "screw it, I'll just jack it up and lower her down." Well you know when you lower a car down with a jack it goes down at an angle and I 100% forgot. She landed half on the flat and rolled right down and through the door. 2x4 of course was a joke. Again I have a real chock on the other side.....not under the wheel.
The door bent right back and you can't even tell from the outside and the car wasn't even scratched. Nothing hurt but my pride.....
rapidtrans
Senior Member
Back in the olden days interference would activate my garage door opener.
Sat at the dinner table one night as the single leaf door swung down on my Crystal Pentastar hood ornament! Oh @#%#@$!
Sat at the dinner table one night as the single leaf door swung down on my Crystal Pentastar hood ornament! Oh @#%#@$!
Back to the gauge....
Got the new sender on Friday (I love Amazon Prime!) and the first things I did was compare it to the old one.
Two differences jumped out, the connection to the rheostat is a wire and the float is plastic. I checked the resistance and found it to be 10 ohms full and 77 ohms empty. All looks good...
I decided to eliminate any ground problems and I soldered a male connector on mounting face.
That connected to an existing ground wire that was used for the old sender.
I had a wrench that I bought years ago that made things easier.
I measured resistance with the sender in the tank so I could check all the wiring. It was 55.5 ohms. With everything in place, I measured it again from my sender wire to ground at the dash and it was 55.6 ohms. All is good with the wiring.
Since everything is in place with the Meter Match, I dug out the decade box and set it to 10 ohms full and 76 ohms empty. I tried some settings in between and all looks good.
I just have to fill the tank and possibly tweak the Meter Match from there.
Got the new sender on Friday (I love Amazon Prime!) and the first things I did was compare it to the old one.
Two differences jumped out, the connection to the rheostat is a wire and the float is plastic. I checked the resistance and found it to be 10 ohms full and 77 ohms empty. All looks good...
I decided to eliminate any ground problems and I soldered a male connector on mounting face.
That connected to an existing ground wire that was used for the old sender.
I had a wrench that I bought years ago that made things easier.
I measured resistance with the sender in the tank so I could check all the wiring. It was 55.5 ohms. With everything in place, I measured it again from my sender wire to ground at the dash and it was 55.6 ohms. All is good with the wiring.
Since everything is in place with the Meter Match, I dug out the decade box and set it to 10 ohms full and 76 ohms empty. I tried some settings in between and all looks good.
I just have to fill the tank and possibly tweak the Meter Match from there.
So... Here's what I think....
Number one... I screwed up. I shoulda practiced what I preach and checked the old sender better. I made an assumption that the sender was OK, just reading low. I bought parts and tried them rather than figuring what the real cause of the problem was.
Number two... The Meter Match is a nice piece and it's a great way to make the gauge more accurate. I like that it has an optional warning light that you set for a low reading.
Did I need it? Maybe not. It does allow you to make these gauges (not just a gas gauge) more accurate though. The "full" reading on the gauge checked to 9 ohms, and the sender was 10, so the gauge might not have read "full" with the new sender. It would be close enough.
I have a little more to share about this project though and I'll make another post in this thread later.
Number one... I screwed up. I shoulda practiced what I preach and checked the old sender better. I made an assumption that the sender was OK, just reading low. I bought parts and tried them rather than figuring what the real cause of the problem was.
Number two... The Meter Match is a nice piece and it's a great way to make the gauge more accurate. I like that it has an optional warning light that you set for a low reading.
Did I need it? Maybe not. It does allow you to make these gauges (not just a gas gauge) more accurate though. The "full" reading on the gauge checked to 9 ohms, and the sender was 10, so the gauge might not have read "full" with the new sender. It would be close enough.
I have a little more to share about this project though and I'll make another post in this thread later.
Dsertdog
Old man with an old guitar, and a blue note.
This post was extremely informative.
Based on the information, I ordered a new sending unit for the the '66. I filled the tank to 1/2 full by the gauge and it still reads half or better. I've probably driven it 20 miles and let it idle for for a fair time so I fear when it does drop it will be empty.
I'd read somewhere that the Spectra units were inaccurate but after seeing the inside of your factory unit, I'm inclined to believe mine is as bad, or worse. So I'll take my chances with a new one.
Thanks!
Based on the information, I ordered a new sending unit for the the '66. I filled the tank to 1/2 full by the gauge and it still reads half or better. I've probably driven it 20 miles and let it idle for for a fair time so I fear when it does drop it will be empty.
I'd read somewhere that the Spectra units were inaccurate but after seeing the inside of your factory unit, I'm inclined to believe mine is as bad, or worse. So I'll take my chances with a new one.
Thanks!
Somewhere in the archives, there's a thread on an "electronic unit" to adjust the sending unit's output to better match what the instrument panel gauge reads (more accurately). When I saw that, I was surprised at how many were using it!
In many cases, the factory gauges, when new, were not always completely accurate. But when they were new, we trusted them more, it seems. With a full tank, they'd usually go just past "F" and take more time to come down from there than it took to go from "F" to "3/4". Using the Chrysler gauge tester, per FSM, it seemed the "range" was wider for each indicator point than we would have considered "good"?
All of the gauges work on resistance of the "carbon pile" in the sending unit. The "wire-wound" resistance block. Allegedly, the resistance of the new unit is supposed to match that of the OEM unit, but apparently something else is not right? Possibly the bends in the swing arm of the float?
Probably the best thing is to put a calibrated amount of fuel in the tank, from gas cans. Possibly 10 gallons. Then drive the car until the gauge hits "1/4" and put the equivalent of 1/2 tank capacity into the tank, from the gas pump. Theoretically, that should put things at "3/4" tank. Then drive it down to "1/2" and fill the tank. Look for any leaks! With EACH refill, keep records of how many miles it took on each refill, plus mentally note the gas gauge needle position when each new amount of gas was added.
From there, when the needle hits "1/2", refill it and check your prior notes on gallons and miles. With time, you'll gain confidence in the gauge readings compared to how much fuel is in the tank.
The OTHER thing is to always try to fill up at the "1/4" mark on the gauge. Especially if you have an electric fuel pump. Consider how juch fuel is really in the bottom of the tank, how deep it is, and you'll realize how many "inches" of fuel depth there really is the near-empty tank, to cover the fuel pickup tube.
Doing these things can take a while to make happen, but you should also gain more coinfidence in the fuel gauge readings at the same time. Always like Chryslers as many had factory "Trip Odometers" as standard equipment.
Enjoy!
CBODY67
In many cases, the factory gauges, when new, were not always completely accurate. But when they were new, we trusted them more, it seems. With a full tank, they'd usually go just past "F" and take more time to come down from there than it took to go from "F" to "3/4". Using the Chrysler gauge tester, per FSM, it seemed the "range" was wider for each indicator point than we would have considered "good"?
All of the gauges work on resistance of the "carbon pile" in the sending unit. The "wire-wound" resistance block. Allegedly, the resistance of the new unit is supposed to match that of the OEM unit, but apparently something else is not right? Possibly the bends in the swing arm of the float?
Probably the best thing is to put a calibrated amount of fuel in the tank, from gas cans. Possibly 10 gallons. Then drive the car until the gauge hits "1/4" and put the equivalent of 1/2 tank capacity into the tank, from the gas pump. Theoretically, that should put things at "3/4" tank. Then drive it down to "1/2" and fill the tank. Look for any leaks! With EACH refill, keep records of how many miles it took on each refill, plus mentally note the gas gauge needle position when each new amount of gas was added.
From there, when the needle hits "1/2", refill it and check your prior notes on gallons and miles. With time, you'll gain confidence in the gauge readings compared to how much fuel is in the tank.
The OTHER thing is to always try to fill up at the "1/4" mark on the gauge. Especially if you have an electric fuel pump. Consider how juch fuel is really in the bottom of the tank, how deep it is, and you'll realize how many "inches" of fuel depth there really is the near-empty tank, to cover the fuel pickup tube.
Doing these things can take a while to make happen, but you should also gain more coinfidence in the fuel gauge readings at the same time. Always like Chryslers as many had factory "Trip Odometers" as standard equipment.
Enjoy!
CBODY67
I bench tested my gauge with my Chrysler C-3826 test tool. Well my homemade version. The fuel Gauge and temp gauge were accurate. When I put in my replacement sending unit it seemed to read low. When I replaced my fuel tank, tested the sender by hooking it up out of the tank and going stop to stop. It t was also making the gauge go to full. What I don’t know is if the float sits all the way to the stop when empty and all the way to the top stop when full. I didn’t check it again after it was assembled and put gas in.
Similar threads
