I've read about the sending unit problems some of you have had, my problem is different I think. mine seems to be very inacurate. it takes 3/4 of a tank to go 140 miles! that hardly seems fair..... especially since my engine is stock with the exception of only a small 300 cfm carb. no way in hell I'm gonna get that bad of milage, dont you think? here is what I got. it a 82 trans am model with a newr style 305 (1986 specs) I put on headers and new exhaust and thats about it. I dont quite remember but it takes 15 bucks to fill it up from 1/4 tank and based on the tank size, that dont add up! and if 15 bucks get me like 9 gallons, that couldnt possibly fill up 3/4 of a tank! so I know something has gone terrably wrong here. I had to change the whole pod over from a trans am to a firebird pod with the single large guage because I also had to change the whole dash wiring from the firebird (due to fire) I donno for sure if I was having this problem with the old guage to. it operates smoothly it dont go wold on bumps it just seems way off. I dont know what year the pod is out of but I think that there may be a variance in the ohms between the sender and the guage? could i be right? and is there a way to get my old guage pod to work?

 

i dont think so. most gm sendig units use the same ohm set up.

most likely the potentiometer is off, or the gage is off. but first, try cleaning the contacts on the connector and the printed circiut board and the gauge and the board. also check your wires to make sure there are no shorts or bad connections.

good luck

anthony

 

thats normal... think of the shape of our tanks... they look kinda like this:

so the bottom half of the tank holds less then the top.

if you filled your tank, it would register past full... and stay that way for a long time... then it would move a lil quicker once it got to half tank... after that it goes down FAST.

 

MrDude, is there anyway to make it read accurately for the shape of the tank? My car lasts forever in the top half, and then below half it's gone in no time. It bugs the crap out of me for some reason!

 

no not really. you would need what is called in f0rd terminalogy as a "slosh module". gm does not have anything to compansate for this, excepct for the bcm in the new cars.

so the only fix would be to square out your gas tank and that = big pain in the ****.

sorry man

just be happy your gauge does not dance while sitting still.
that sucks

anthony

 

eeehh, not REALLY..


now its possible, but it would take alot of work.

you would have to do the math and all first


but heres how it works now:



you have a float on a arm sitting in the gas tank. when this float moves, it moves a slider thats touches a piece of metal. when it touches one end of the metal, there is a very high electrical resistance, when it touches the other end, there is almost no resistance.

but it all moves evenly...

since the tank isnt square, you COULD make it somehow work where the resistance changed with the amount of gas left... so at say the midpoint of the slider, instead of the tank reading the half way mark, it would read less.... you know kinda make it progressive along with the shape of the tank..



but thats alot of work.... besides, you should keep your tank above halfway anyway..... your fuel pump will pickup less crap and last longer, and when your turn hard or accel or brake hard, the engine wont sputter...

 

that is called a potentiometer. you can search on yahoo for that and find several companies that make them to your spec. then you would have to switch it over onto the fuel pickup.




it depends on what year you have on whether it will sputter with low gas. i have driven real hard with under a gallon left in the tank on my 89 iroc without any sputter making the dreaded hard right, but my 87 would sputter with anything less than a 1\4 full. the new tanks have more baffles in them. 89 and on have the 1le tank without the swinging pickup.

just some food for thought.

thanks
anthony

 

yea... if you find someone that can make you one, that'll work....


athough i jsut thought of a diff way...


know how people print out their own gauge overlays? well you could:

empty your tank as much as you can..
fill it to the max and see what it holds....
put a piece of paper behind the needle...
mark a line where the needle is now.. at the max...

empty the tank again, and add a 1/4 of the max amount it holds.. then mark the line... ect for all the marks you want....

the lines wont be evenly spaced, but atleast they will be accurate.



and as far as the tank thing goes, my 91 still hates it when i corner hard or brake hard with less then a gauge reading 1/8th tank.

 

btw after you get your lines and have the paper marked in a way you can use to properly re align it

scan it on a PC and you can make a nice gas gauge. print that out and install that, and you are set.

 

do you have a tpi or tb motor? that could be the diff. mine is a tpi, or mabee the tank in my car has been replaced. eigther way, i was pretty sure that 89 and later got the better baffled tank.

the overlay idea is pretty nifty. supprised no one thought of that before. you should pattent that and make seven figures and split the money with me that way i can get my turbo motor done

but seriously, that is a good idea.

thanks
anthony

 

lol, it came to me as i was getting pissed in traffic on the way home this evening...


im going to do it when i do my gauges.... i have the 91 camaro gauges, so i cant just use paper... i want to get rid of the yellow, but i dont want white face gauges..

so im going to design my own black face, white letter, red needle gauges, and put homemade blue LED lights in the dash... should make the numbers glow blue at night, and be white in the daytime.. i found a local shop that can print them out on plastic for me.

kinda like my old car.. (im not going to even mention what it was)