Fuel Sender Floats

[craig_g]

Hi All. Brand new here and pretty new to 7.3 PSD so I really appreciate any help.

Front tank gage showing zero. After being stranded two times for a total cost of $2400 I decided it's time to repair so I pulled the tank and sure enough the brass float is flooded.

Anybody know of a tried and true replacement? I can find them for Mustangs, Broncos, etc. all over the place but nothing specific to my '97 F350 7.3 PSD.

Thanks for any tips.

View media item 407

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[DaveBen]

I found the Sending Unit at http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fe/full.aspx?Page=29. Hope this helps.

 

[OLDBULL8]

I think I have one, not sure about the groove for the arm, have to look.

Why don't you just solder up the hole. A little heavier float will show MT sooner, save ya $2400.

 

[craig_g]

Thank you both for your replies. A N.O.S. float for a '65-'73 Mustang showed up on ebay and the seller was kind enough to measure it for me. I hope it works!

I thought about soldering it but there are two problems: 1) I don't really solder (or braze or weld). I mostly just glob hot metal around. But I'm looking for a decent torch so I can start practicing 2) The pinhole is in the groove that the float level arm sits in. I figure if I did manage to plug the hole with a glob of metal the arm wouldn't hold the float properly.

Thanks again for the help. I'll post the float details here if it works.

 

[Thewespaul]

You can fill that one with foam and never have that problem again!

 

[Alwaysreadyrob]

Foam in fuel tank ? Wont that cause problems ?

 

[Thewespaul]

You can fill the float with foam to make it float, keeps it from ever filling up with fuel. You gotta seal it up tight before install, but if he has another float on the way then just use that.

 

[raydav]

I have been playing with Ford fuel senders for a few decades. I have "cut & paste" sender parts when I did not have the proper sender assembly. I have found that it is common for the float to be squeezed too tight by the arm. I have had had the arm poke holes in both brass and plastic floats. The brass I solder. And I relax the arm grip on the float.

The fuel gauge system can be calibrated. The first step is to adjust the float arm so that it almost touches the bottom of the tank when empty. Then the gauge can be adjusted so that "E" really is empty.

 

[paramax55]

All of those floats you found will work. They're as commonplace as a 1/4-20 bolt. I've soldered mine up and it lasted a couple of years. I ordered a new one (specified for a Mustang) when it cracked again. I took the old one, soldered it back up, and stuck it in the tractor - an exact replacement. If you want to send me your old one, I'll solder it up and put it on my shelf for next time .

 

[madpogue]

How does running out of fuel cost so much money? I've run ours out intentionally, three times (in preparation to drop the tank); I just switched tanks at the moment I sensed a hesitation, the truck slowed down quite a bit, but caught within about 10 seconds.

 

[Alwaysreadyrob]

Yes, good question... whats the damage to an IDI is it taxing the starter ? Draining batteries? Which I have done a lot !
Bad for injectors ?
Which I have not teplaced in about 150,000 miles.

 

[Thewespaul]

Diesel is a lubricant, whether an idi or psd there a many moving parts in your fuel system that depend on that lubrication. Now does that little bit of time without diesel flow make a difference in the lifespan of the fuel system? Maybe. I don’t know, but I try to avoid it if possible

 

[79jasper]

Yup. Pretty sure I just posted almost the exact same thing a few days ago.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[madpogue]

Running the tank dry is one thing. Running it dry and allowing the engine to stall, and having to crank to restart it is another. That's something I wouldn't do.

 

[craig_g]

How does running out of fuel cost so much money?

Both times my son was driving. He was instructed to swap from front to rear tank at 215 miles but the first time, on long road trip, ran out of fuel. Very cold temps and an unknown disabled fuel filter heater made it impossible to restart on the side of interstate. Flatbed + 5 hours of labor + 10 gallons of diesel all at a less than ideal shop = $450 prox. The second time son was driving and keeping up with mileage but forgot to account for the mileage drop due to towing a boat for about the first 100 miles. Result, front tank ran dry at about 176 miles vs 215. Took out 3 injectors! + flatbed + filter due to a lot of gunk being sucked up from very bottom of tank.

Truck is home, tank is out and new float on the way. Also, my fuel strainer was disintegrated and all at the bottom of the tank. AND, when I took the stock vent/rollover valve apart, it was all gunked up and surely not operating properly.

I'm doing the fast fill mod while it's all out with a 1/2 vent to the top of the filler neck. Also leaving the stock vent/rollover valve in place.

The new float should be here in a day or two and I will report if it works or not but I expect it will work as paramax55 says.