TA22 fuel tank sender and gauge

**4SFED** · 23-06-2007, 11:21 AM

Hoping somebody can help me out here as i am having some issues with my fuel gauge - it really isn't displaying the fuel level accurately or consistently and i am not sure why.

So what i have is an early style TA22 tank (in the floor of the boot) and this is connected up to the later style (ie: fuel tank behind the rear seat) gauge. When the tank is full the gauge shows maybe half full, and then it will actually fluctuate a lot between dead empty and half full. I think this may be to the fuel sloshing around in the tank as i am driving but i am not sure.

So what i am trying to work out:

Do both the early and late style fuel level senders have the same "output"? ie: is the resistance the same for both of them at the same fuel tank level?

Are the early and late gauges the same or are they specific to their relative tank setup?

Does anybody have the resistance values for both the early and late senders and gauges? If i knew this i recon i could test them and see what the values are and try and work out what is going on.

I have had a look around on the net for these values but stuffed if i can find them - any help would me muchly appreciated!

**joey** · 23-06-2007, 02:59 PM

Not sure about some of the details you mentioned but I had a very similar problem and turned out the sender unit i had and the other second hand sendor which was supposed to be working fine were both way out of wack. I took it to a local gauge shop and they calibrated it for me and now its working like new. Hope this helps. Cheers, Joey

**airfireman1** · 23-06-2007, 05:21 PM

The haines manual states
empty 110 ohms
1/2 full 33 ohms
full 3 ohms
Hope this helps
Cheers

**4SFED** · 24-06-2007, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by airfireman1

The haines manual states
empty 110 ohms
1/2 full 33 ohms
full 3 ohms
Hope this helps
Cheers

Awesome - thanks heaps

**raj2t** · 25-06-2007, 12:22 PM

Pull out the sender unit, there is a small wire which connects the float arm and the main sender unit housing, if this wire is broken or rusty the reading would be inaccurate too. This is the problem I faced with my gauge not showing the right reading.

Regards
Raj

**RiceburnaGTV** · 25-06-2007, 12:40 PM

The other thing i was going to suggest is to take the fuel level float out and give it a clean/sandin,half the time they are rusty as all feck and get caught only allowing them to float half way etc.

but its probably the sender as suggested.

**YLD-16L** · 25-06-2007, 01:01 PM

Tim, another common problem that has the same symptoms you are having is that the wire wound on the sender (which acts as a variable resistor) sometimes wears through in a few strands usually in the middle of the wire wind as that is where the float arm contact point rubs most.

Just remove the sender unit, remove the metal cover (usually just need to bend a few metal tabs) and the ceramic with the wire wound on it will be visible, just check that it's not worn through and broken in any spots. If it's fine then that will rule out that issue.

I had to chase down a replacement a while back and it wasn't until the third one I found that I got one without any broken sections of wire on the wind around the ceramic bit.

*my terminology/description may not be great because I don't know the technical names/terms for these electric bits

**4SFED** · 26-06-2007, 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by YLD-16L

Tim, another common problem that has the same symptoms you are having is that the wire wound on the sender (which acts as a variable resistor) sometimes wears through in a few strands usually in the middle of the wire wind as that is where the float arm contact point rubs most.

Just remove the sender unit, remove the metal cover (usually just need to bend a few metal tabs) and the ceramic with the wire wound on it will be visible, just check that it's not worn through and broken in any spots. If it's fine then that will rule out that issue.

yes thats a good idea! Never really thought of that

I did some testing on the weekend and took the sender and gauge out and just connected them up to a battery and although it did seem to work it was still a little inconsistent. I did notice that because of all the paint on the mounting plate of the sender, and the fact that there is a rubber gasket underneath it that it may not of been earthing very well, so i cleaned it up and ran an extra earthing strap directly to the chassis. I have put it back into the car but havent connected the battery back up yet to test it, i guess only then will i know if i am on the right track. if not i will pull the sender out again and check the windings.