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My 79 luv is running great just got some new tires for it and now it runs perfect except my fuel gage hasn't worked in years.



The new motor only has about 10,000 miles on it the omly thing it needs is a new paint job but a new paint job would not help it run any beter.

You mean it just drives great, you don't give the motor any upgrade with new tires... probably were worn out and un-balanced...

Bout' that gauge though, you probably just need to check your connections, wiggle the connectors at the tank and around the engine compartment and run to advance and get some contact cleaner, great stuff and lifts the corosion out of anywhere and it'll make it float on top, just make sure to dry it good.

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-Old ride-82 Luv diesel 5spd with some upgrades
-Past rides-82 Sierra, 78 Coupe De'Ville, 91 2dr Blazer, 86 RX7, 86 Porsche 944T (rear-ended and totaled)
-Curr. rides- 1970 Ford LTD 4dr, 390 4Bbl, 2nd owner! With a few Extras 00' Civic beater...

my gage wasn't working when i got mine and it was the tank connections.. had an incredible amount of crap on the connections buried under the dirt.. just cleaned them up and it has worked perfect since

Speaking of fuel gauge issues...mine does something strange. It only shows gas when it has a full tank, once it hits 3/4, it goes down to empty.

Could that be a connection issue?

SOunds like the conections may be corroded. Also check the grounds. Most people forget to check the grounds, but no ground, no complete circuits.

Richard

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75 Luv, 350 V8, TH350, Camaro rearend. New 1975 Luv Step side. Stock for now.
Grandmaster of the "Shade Tree" way.. I can't see the yard for all the cars. Come on down and we will sit on the porch and watch the grass grow.

the gage only goose a quarter of the way is the float had to get to

If the gauge works part of the time, the problem is in the sender in the tank. I managed to clean one of mine, but it was not easy. To get it out, you have to pull the tank out. Its that or you take the bed off. Once you get the sender out of the tank, there is a metal cover over the guts of the thing. It may have junk on the coil of wire in there, or it could have a bad connection at the pivot point. Power flows through the arm the float is mounted on at the pivot, getting that part cleaned was the fix on mine. However, it took dental tools, solvents, and several hours. I also used a multimeter to check the resistance on it as I cleaned it up. Once I started to see the right numbers, I knew I had it clean.

If the wire resistor coil on the sender breaks, you might see the gauge working part of the way, then just completely empty reading. You could have a bad (uncleanable) sender unit. That would require some kind of aftermarket replacement or a trip to a salvage yard.

how hard is it to drop the tank

That depends on a couple things. It is held in by 6 bolts and some hoses. You need to unhook the hoses (filler neck, fuel outlet, and 3 I think for the expansion chamber/evap emissions stuff.) then unbolt the tank.

The catch is, how much gas is in the tank when you do this. I had to do mine with about 8 gallons in it, not fun. Put it back in empty and it was a snap. Getting it down 3/4 full was a pretty good physical challenge. I recommend a transmission jack if you have one, ratchet straps, or be really burly to do it by hand like I did. Oh yeah, not a job to do while smoking.

If you have a 4x4 with a body lift, getting to the hoses before you unbolt the tank is much easier. If not, you almost have to lower the tank a few inches, then unhook all the small hoses as they are tough to reach.

Oh yeah, it is worth cleaning the contacts that go to the sending unit before you tear into it. Depending on the year, they have two wires coming off and hooking into the harness, or on older trucks one wire that slips on a tab right on the top of the sending unit. If they get enough crud to add resistance, it will through the reading off on the gauge.

got my float in my gas tank it was stuck took it out cleand it put gas in it now it works now ever thing works on my truck

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If you cant find it grind it

79 4x4 1.8 liter
75 K 10 Lifted with 383 stroker
69 Jeepster comando v6