Will a fuel level sensor from a gas truck work on a diesel

[clthorn]

I have a 1993 f250 with dual tanks and my front one has been giving me an erratic fuel level reading. Nothing else is wrong with my sending unit other than the fuel level sensor. I cannot find a replacement for the diesel trucks. Will the one from a gas f250 work?

 

[madpogue]

Sending unit / level sensor are the same thing. The gasser and diesel sending units work on the same resistance range; as long as it mounts on the pickup the same way and the swing-arm is the same physical range, it should work.

Did you actually swing the arm to determine that it's not feeding the gauge properly? The floats are known to get sodden with fuel, and they're separately replaceable and quite cheap.

 

[clthorn]

yes I hAve checked it I had to get in there to fix the fuel pick up because when it gets to about half a tank it reads funny and the pickup was broken and sucking air. Do you know if they use the same level sending unit for.both tanks

 

[IDIoit]

senders are dependant on the size of the tank.

i used a rear tank from a 89 F350 gasser.

33 gallon tank.

i used the gasser sending unit, with the pick up extended.
worked awesome.

search e-bay for a 38 gallon bronco tank, they come with the install kit.
which is nothing more than spacers and bolts.

with my set up, i deleted the front tank and all the FSV BS.

 

[clthorn]

I thought about that but I'm not sure about having all that weight in the back. My truck has a utility bed on it and with all My tools and welder and air compressor I'm almost 2000lb overy my gvwr and the rear squats bad! I need air helper Springs before I do that because I'm scared of how close to the ground the tank would be

 

[IDIoit]

should have a skid plate there.

sounds like you should upgrade your spring pack also.
ive put more than 3k in my bed, without it squatting much.
but i have a 87 F350.

with a utility bed i would run nothing less than DRW leafs.

 

[clthorn]

I need to do something lol money is tight right now so I might be scrounging up some drw springs

 

[madpogue]

Fuel weight is a pretty minor factor. A 33-gallon tank vs. 19-gallon, that's 14 gallons at aprx. 7 lbs/gallon, so about 100 lb. Not a major player compared to your utility box and its contents. And the weight of the fuel in the front tank is in great part on the rear axle anyway. The thing you lose going single-tank is the insurance/backup factor of a second tank. Take your sitch right now, for instance. You could drop the tank with the bad sender, and if it takes several days to find a replacement, or find the time to finish the job, or you decide to prime/paint the tank, etc., you can continue to run the truck on the other tank. Single-tank truck is DOWN for the duration. And if you fill them alternately, just in case you get bad fuel one day, you won't be grounded by bad fuel in both tanks.

IIRC, the F250s could be ordered with one more leaf, basically the same spring as in an F350, just not the same block. ***MIGHT*** be enough to help with that squat.

 

[Agnem]

A gasser sender will work fine. The only real difference is the gasser pickups do not have a return line fitting. What I have done without issue in the past, is drill out the rollover valve and use that as your fuel return. The key issue is to stick with a model year pickup for your model year dash. Some senders work with ground high and B+ low, and some work with B+ high and ground low. If you mix eras, your gauge will read backwards!

 

[no mufflers]

if it helps I put a 1990 sending unit in an 1981 f100 and it read back words. it functioned fine but when it was on full the tank was really empty. so pretty much what Mel said.

 

[snicklas]

I think 86 was the changeover year.

86 and earlier it was Ground = Full and B+ was empty

87 and up (at least through the 6.0's and more than likely through present) B+ was full, ground was empty......

I know that Greg put an Excursion tank/sender on a Bricknose gauge and it read correctly......