fuel sending unit

[vegas39]

Anyone know where I can get a new sending unit for my 86 250? The one in my front tank is whacked and I am being told around here that I cant get it. Thanks.

 

[k_williams1982]

I looked for sending units on my first truck and was told that you can't get the units without buying a new tank. Lucky for me, my dad had a parts truck that had working units in it. Lucky for you, I have a '86 F250 parts truck with good sending units sitting here in my yard. PM me your number and I'll call you. BTW... It is possible to change them out without removing the tanks.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

FELLRO86 has a real good write-up on retrofitting a $16 J.C.Whitney sending unit into our tanks.

If you go this route, be aware that J.C.Whitney sells these units in about a dozen different "OHMs resistance"; make certain you are getting the correct ones for Ford.


Some time ago, I got the J.C.Whitney unit and followed FELLRO's instructions to mount it.

It has since performed better than the stock unit and looks to be of a much superior construction.

I took some extra pains in adjusting the float/arm and got the gauge to read a lot more accurately than the stock one ever did.

Instead of the needle staying way over FULL for a couple hundred miles, then dropping like an anchor to EMPTY, while still having several gallons of fuel, the needle now exhibits a much more accurate representation of the actual fuel level.

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

There is a site where you can still get a new sending unit. Wish I could remember it.

 

[subway]

i would go the way midnight suggested cost me about 170 to do the one in my tank, the only place i could find the part then was from ford.

 

[EMD_DRIVER]

Wanna come help me do mine?

Some time ago, I got the J.C.Whitney unit and followed FELLRO's instructions to mount it.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Wanna come help me do mine?

On the SD40 DASH2 or the SD70MAC ??

Not sure which tools to bring.

 

[EMD_DRIVER]

On the SD40 DASH2 or the SD70MAC ??

Not sure which tools to bring.

I'd LOVE to run one of those!

We're stuck with Geep 9's though..

The line I run now is only 18 miles, but has 72 curves in it They tried running a 6-axle on it, but the loco spread the gauge out too far.. Couldn't handle it.. If they ask us where we are, we just tell them what curve we are on.. Nuff said!

I'd love some help with my 87 6.9's fuel senders though..

 

[CDX825]

My front tank was not working at all so I dropped the tank to take a look. The float was not doing its job so well. It had some how cracked and filled with fuel. I drained it and soldered it back up and its been good sense. My back tank does not work either so when I get some time I will be taking that tank out as well. Dropping the tank was not to bad of a job. With the aid of a jack I managed to do it by myself.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Dropping the tank was not to bad of a job.

Since I have a steel flat with lots of clearance above the tanks, I have never had occassion to drop a tank; the front tank appears that it would be easy enough, but the rear one on my 1985 looks like it would be a nightmare, especially on one like mine that hadn't had those bolts loose since the factory put them there.


On the two trucks that we have with factory pick-up beds on them, I intend to cut a trapdoor in the bed-floor for tank-sender access, such that any work in that area can be performed from above.

A few years ago, the sender on my rear tank just suddenly quit reading and stayed on empty.

What I found was the float had somehow came out of it's loop on the float-arm.

I don't see how it possibly could have gotten out of that tight loop as the new one snapped in there pretty tight.

The lost float is still bobbing around somewhere in the tank; I could never manage to find it and fish it out; so, I guess I will always have a spare and I know exactly where to look for it when I need it.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

My front tank was not working at all
. The float had some how cracked and filled with fuel.

Ford must have been cleaning out some old tank and sender warehouses when they made these year-model trucks; no two seem to have came equipped the same.

The float that came in my FRONT tank is an oblong chunk of solid rubber-type stuff; whereas, the one in the rear tank is a hollow brass canister.

When I went to Ford after the hollow brass float, the parts-book listed about a dozen possibilities.

Same for the toothed metal ring and it's O-ring that retains the sender in the metal tanks, big ones, little ones, fat ones, skinny ones.

Some trucks have two metal tanks, some have two plastic tanks, some have a plastic front and metal rear; whereas, my truck came factory equipped with a metal front tank and a plastic rear tank.

I have never yet been able to obtain a replacement for the plastic threaded ring that retains the sender in the plastic rear tank; the three that Ford managed to get were all different sizes and all wrong; so, for many years, I have gotten by leak-free with a heavy application of RTV and a big hose-clamp pinching the broken ring together.


One would think that it would have been to Ford's advantage to standardize these things across the industry, but that would have made sense and been too simple.

 

[Full Monte]

I just had the front tank out of the '86 and found the brass float full of fuel. I went down to the local auto parts store and bought a replacement one for $8.
Didn't even fool around with the rest of the sender unit.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I would imagine anything that floats and don't get dissolved by diesel could be made into a workable float, should one be put in the situation of needing one late on Saturday night.

 

[vegas39]

Thank you K Williams, I willl do that. I need to update my info before it will let me send you my number, I'll try to get to that today.

The issues with my tank are strange, I can fill the tank completely full and the gauge will read almost full, then 12 gallons later, the gauge is reading empty and the truck will start to run out of fuel.

I thought for the first couple of weeks that I owned the truck, that it only had a twelve gallon tank in the front.

 

[k_williams1982]

Thank you K Williams, I willl do that. I need to update my info before it will let me send you my number, I'll try to get to that today.

The issues with my tank are strange, I can fill the tank completely full and the gauge will read almost full, then 12 gallons later, the gauge is reading empty and the truck will start to run out of fuel.

I thought for the first couple of weeks that I owned the truck, that it only had a twelve gallon tank in the front.

The sending units on the '85 work fine. My '86 has a "dead spot" in the front tank... It will read full and drop slowly to half, and then drop to empty. When I reach 1/4, it will come back up and read correctly to empty. I can deal with that because when it reads empty the first time, I put more fuel in it (thus meaning I still have over 1/4 tank left and won't run it out of fuel ).