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Mon Oct 28, 2019 6:14 am

Has one used one of the newer replacement fuel tank sending units for late model Bay? Does it read right on your Bus?

I put almost a full tank in a Bus with a new sender and the gauge only reads 1/3 full.

I think the knock-off sender might be the culprit.

Mon Oct 28, 2019 6:44 am

I've installed an newer replacement fuel tank sending unit. I just filled up for the first time since installing it, too. Tank reads a little over 1/2 full with approximately 11 gallons.

I read recently that the gauge on the dash has a little fuse thing inside of it. I don't remember the thread off the top of my head, but good luck!

Mon Oct 28, 2019 6:55 am

I put a newer sending unit in my 77 two years ago. It reads 3/4 when full and when the needle hits the red reserve area I can add around 7 gallons, so still plenty of fuel in the tank. It’s some indicator though and I have even living with it the way it is.

Mon Oct 28, 2019 8:38 am

I fitted one last year and it reads correctly.
Poor connections add resistance and make them under read. There's one you might not be aware of in the tank compartment to the right, before the wire exits to the main loom. Not easy to get at.

Mon Oct 28, 2019 8:50 am

Clean up your grounds. The resistor in the gauge cluster needs clean connections to compute correctly with the sender. There isn't a lot of resistance in the system, so a little dirt can change more than one would believe.
Good luck.

Mon Oct 28, 2019 9:08 am

Yes, they (can) work.

Check the ohms.

And watch how you install it... the float has to be able to float all the way up to the top. I positioned mine so that the arm & float are pointing 90-degrees to the left (driver's side). Watch out for that last 1/8 turn as you dog it into place. You'll want it positioned a little aft of that before you lock it in so that it's at 90-degrees when it's locked down. If you don't do that, the float can get stuck on the side of the tank, it won't go all way up and you'll get that 2/3 reading. I've done it myself, and then fixed it easily by repositioning the arm/float.

Make sense? Then it should work.

And of course, by all means, check your connections.

Tue Oct 29, 2019 9:19 am

Excellent input Daverham. To this day I am still in awe of your $1 fuel sender repair.

Tue Oct 29, 2019 9:49 am

There is no year mentioned for you bus so the question can't be answered without knowing that. The late senders typically need to be adjusted to read properly. This is done with an empty tank, preferably with CO2 in it to avoid an explosion from a static spark.

Tue Oct 29, 2019 6:45 pm

Daverham wrote: Yes, they (can) work.

Check the ohms.

And watch how you install it... the float has to be able to float all the way up to the top. I positioned mine so that the arm & float are pointing 90-degrees to the left (driver's side). Watch out for that last 1/8 turn as you dog it into place. You'll want it positioned a little aft of that before you lock it in so that it's at 90-degrees when it's locked down. If you don't do that, the float can get stuck on the side of the tank, it won't go all way up and you'll get that 2/3 reading. I've done it myself, and then fixed it easily by repositioning the arm/float.

Make sense? Then it should work.

And of course, by all means, check your connections.

What Daverham said.
I installed a new sender about 3 weeks ago and read just under 3/4 tank when full. It was reading 70 ohms when I bench tested it before I installed it. My old unit would only read 1/4 and full, so I figured my electrical was fine. The weekend before last we made a 130 mile trip and it was smelling like gas bad. Tonight I removed the firewall and checked everything. I thought maybe I disturbed the filler neck hoses when I had my tank out. I used my electronic leak detector for hvac refrigerant and found the sender leaking fumes. I was able to pull the sender through the pie hole and gently tapped the flanges with a hammer and punch to make it fit more snuggly in the tank. I also noted that the wire connections were not 90° with the float arm. I used a paint pen and marked the top of the sender so I knew the position when I reinstalled it. From the looks of it, I do beleive the float was being stopped on the side of the tank. Hopefully it works now and the fuel smell goes away. Nobody likes a wife that complains about the smell of fuel on a rainy day for 130 loooong miles. :(

I know this is more info than you asked for - just sharing my experience with a new sender if you happen to smell gas too.

Wed Oct 30, 2019 12:07 pm

Vehicle in question is a "late model Bay" as stated in first post. 1979 year model to be exact, but I think the sender is from 73 to 79.

I dinked with everything til I was blue in the face. Put a VDO sender in and problem solved.

I would recommend everyone to avoid all no-name replacement senders in the future.

Wed Oct 30, 2019 12:48 pm

Ian wrote: Vehicle in question is a "late model Bay" as stated in first post. 1979 year model to be exact, but I think the sender is from 73 to 79.

I dinked with everything til I was blue in the face. Put a VDO sender in and problem solved.

I would recommend everyone to avoid all no-name replacement senders in the future.

Usually the "new" VDO senders with a white float read about 1/4 lower than full when the tank is full. If you found a new VDO sender with a black flat-topped float you need to buy a lottery ticket or what ever they have for lotteries down under.

Wed Oct 30, 2019 1:27 pm

SGKent wrote: Ian wrote: Vehicle in question is a "late model Bay" as stated in first post. 1979 year model to be exact, but I think the sender is from 73 to 79.

I dinked with everything til I was blue in the face. Put a VDO sender in and problem solved.

I would recommend everyone to avoid all no-name replacement senders in the future.

Usually the "new" VDO senders with a white float read about 1/4 lower than full when the tank is full. If you found a new VDO sender with a black flat-topped float you need to buy a lottery ticket or what ever they have for lotteries down under.

Agreed, my VDO sender didn't read remotely correcty when new and took a lot of custom bending of the limit taps and arm to make it marginally acceptable.