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Mrorangecrush77
Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2022
Posts: 264
Location: Utah
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 Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2025 1:15 pm Post subject: Sticky fuel gauge |
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| Howdy, I am working on getting all my gauges to be working correctly. I have a manual cable fuel gauge and it does work! However it is sticky, normally this would mean just pulling the float out and properly cleaning removing any sticky stuff. But the issue is my buggy has a nose on it which has numerous points of securement which means it’s not really effective to pull off the nose. I was curious if there’s a way to lube the float while in the tank? Not sure if this is even possible but figure I’d see if anyone has any suggestions. Thanks! |
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EVfun 
Samba Member
Joined: April 01, 2012
Posts: 6130
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2025 10:12 am Post subject: Re: Sticky fuel gauge |
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It is usually the cable that needs some lube, not so much the float pivot. The thing is, that cable comes off at the tank sender. Is is possible to reach up to the sender from under the dash and remove the cable? ISP has a couple pretty good pictures of the setup that looks similar to the original (which you likely have). You can kinda see how the cable hooks into the end of the lever.
If you can disconnect the cable you could route it around the front of the dash so you could drip some oil inside. Let that slowly run down inside, then reconnect the cable. It will likely get rid of the stick. You can also carefully pull the cable back and forth to see and feel the gauge and cable action.
_________________
| Wildthings wrote: |
| As a general rule, cheap parts are the most expensive parts you can buy. |
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Mrorangecrush77
Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2022
Posts: 264
Location: Utah
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2025 2:58 pm Post subject: Re: Sticky fuel gauge |
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| EVfun wrote: |
It is usually the cable that needs some lube, not so much the float pivot. The thing is, that cable comes off at the tank sender. Is is possible to reach up to the sender from under the dash and remove the cable? ISP has a couple pretty good pictures of the setup that looks similar to the original (which you likely have). You can kinda see how the cable hooks into the end of the lever.
If you can disconnect the cable you could route it around the front of the dash so you could drip some oil inside. Let that slowly run down inside, then reconnect the cable. It will likely get rid of the stick. You can also carefully pull the cable back and forth to see and feel the gauge and cable action. |
I wish I could access the actual connection to the tank. Unfortunately I can’t even get my hands onto that due to the build of the buggy. I’m curious if I can do this from the gauge side? |
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EVfun
Samba Member
Joined: April 01, 2012
Posts: 6130
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2025 3:25 pm Post subject: Re: Sticky fuel gauge |
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| Mrorangecrush77 wrote: |
| EVfun wrote: |
It is usually the cable that needs some lube, not so much the float pivot. The thing is, that cable comes off at the tank sender. Is is possible to reach up to the sender from under the dash and remove the cable? ISP has a couple pretty good pictures of the setup that looks similar to the original (which you likely have). You can kinda see how the cable hooks into the end of the lever.
If you can disconnect the cable you could route it around the front of the dash so you could drip some oil inside. Let that slowly run down inside, then reconnect the cable. It will likely get rid of the stick. You can also carefully pull the cable back and forth to see and feel the gauge and cable action. |
I wish I could access the actual connection to the tank. Unfortunately I can’t even get my hands onto that due to the build of the buggy. I’m curious if I can do this from the gauge side? |
I'm pretty sure you would have to pull the gauge from the dash and then disassemble it while in the car to lube the cable from that end. As best I remember (from owning a couple 40 horse Bugs) the cable was a part of the gauge and not detachable there without having the gauge apart. I fixed a couple for my own bugs before replacement parts were available, back in the early '90's.
I mentioned the option to access the sender in the buggy as the distance between the top of the front firewall and the hood varies with different buggies. My Manx style buggy had about 8 inches to reach through to get the the gas sender spot on the fuel tank. That didn't help me because the filler was bolted to the tank in place of the sender and a Corvette gas door was on the center of the hood to access it. My solution was to replace the fuel tap on the bottom of the tank with an older reserve tap, and reserve handle on the firewall. So I didn't have a gas gauge but I did have about a gallon reserve fuel when the engine started sputtering and running out of fuel. It's a buggy -- less is more IMHO. (My first buggy weighed just 1100 lb.)
_________________
| Wildthings wrote: |
| As a general rule, cheap parts are the most expensive parts you can buy. |
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Mrorangecrush77
Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2022
Posts: 264
Location: Utah
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| Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2025 11:25 am Post subject: Re: Sticky fuel gauge |
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| EVfun wrote: |
| Mrorangecrush77 wrote: |
| EVfun wrote: |
It is usually the cable that needs some lube, not so much the float pivot. The thing is, that cable comes off at the tank sender. Is is possible to reach up to the sender from under the dash and remove the cable? ISP has a couple pretty good pictures of the setup that looks similar to the original (which you likely have). You can kinda see how the cable hooks into the end of the lever.
If you can disconnect the cable you could route it around the front of the dash so you could drip some oil inside. Let that slowly run down inside, then reconnect the cable. It will likely get rid of the stick. You can also carefully pull the cable back and forth to see and feel the gauge and cable action. |
I wish I could access the actual connection to the tank. Unfortunately I can’t even get my hands onto that due to the build of the buggy. I’m curious if I can do this from the gauge side? |
I'm pretty sure you would have to pull the gauge from the dash and then disassemble it while in the car to lube the cable from that end. As best I remember (from owning a couple 40 horse Bugs) the cable was a part of the gauge and not detachable there without having the gauge apart. I fixed a couple for my own bugs before replacement parts were available, back in the early '90's.
I mentioned the option to access the sender in the buggy as the distance between the top of the front firewall and the hood varies with different buggies. My Manx style buggy had about 8 inches to reach through to get the the gas sender spot on the fuel tank. That didn't help me because the filler was bolted to the tank in place of the sender and a Corvette gas door was on the center of the hood to access it. My solution was to replace the fuel tap on the bottom of the tank with an older reserve tap, and reserve handle on the firewall. So I didn't have a gas gauge but I did have about a gallon reserve fuel when the engine started sputtering and running out of fuel. It's a buggy -- less is more IMHO. (My first buggy weighed just 1100 lb.) |
I wish I had the articulation in my shoulder to actually reach up in there and get to it. Unfortunately I don’t. I get what you mean. Looking into other options. I do need to pull my hood off at some point to redo all the electrical but it’s such a momentous process that I am waiting on that |
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