Black cloud

[alvin stadel]

Well the black cloud stricks again on my 57 RHT. When I first started test driving my retract, the fuel gauge worked very well. But then I couldn't get it to register at all, so Terry 208 sent me what he thought was a good gauge, and it is. However it still wouldn't register, It has been this way for about 2 months. So yesterday I thought I would track down the problem, as I thought it had to be another bad gauge or something electrical. Every thing checked out ok, so what the hell could it be. I took the sending unit out of the tank and to my amazement found the float full of fuel. It has a long crack in it, I bought the sending unit from Concours parts, it had to be bad from their vender. I plan to call them tomarrow but I bet they say sorry you are SOL, you have had it to long for us to warrenty it, but we will sell you another.  New dosen't mean S--t any more.

[RICH MUISE]

In your spare parts, do you have an old sender that you could salvage the float from? Good luck with your ongoing "gettin' the bugs out".........

[rmk57]

I've had a few brass floats that have cracked over the years. Last one I ordered was plastic for my Bronco to replace the cracked brass one and it worked fine. I'm no expert on floats but they must be pretty close in dimensions for all Fords. I would gamble the $10 and purchase a plastic one for a Mustang, Bronco, Fairlane and see if it works. If it's close you could bend the hook to make fit.

[81TTA]

While I'd start by trying to have them replace your defective float, it appears Concours sells just the float for just under $8 (plus shipping, etc).  At least you wouldn't have to buy an entire new assembly just to get the float. 

I haven't tried returning anything I've bought from them.  I think they have something like a 30 day full refund window.  Sounds like you're likely well outside of that window?

Also, if they won't replace it, you might try soldering the one you have.  Or, maybe give some gas-resistant epoxy a try to seal it up?  Also like the idea of retro-fitting a plastic float if you can find something close.  Doing a quick Amazon search shows a lot of different possibilities.  Hopefully there are enough options available to get things working again.

[djfordmanjack]

I have also had 2 cracked brass floats. it seems the soldering gives in. Because nobody will ever see it, I went with said $12 or so Mustang plastic float ( the better quality not the very cheapish) and it works like a charm. just order 2 and have  a spare in case.

[RICH MUISE]

Alvin, it seems you found your issue with the sender not sending, but if you still have issues with it, the www.tanksinc.com site has a great section on troubleshooting sending/gauge issues.

[hiball3985]

I have also had 2 cracked brass floats. it seems the soldering gives in. Because nobody will ever see it, I went with said $12 or so Mustang plastic float ( the better quality not the very cheapish) and it works like a charm. just order 2 and have  a spare in case.

Ethanol destroys solder, I used a plastic and so far so good after about 5 years.. On another car I tried one of the half plastic half brass and the ethanol ate the glue in about a month..

[alvin stadel]

You guys are all right. I will no doubt go into Billings this morning and find a new one. The point is it pisses me off when I spent 3 1/2 hours  finding the problem to find out it is caused by some off shore crap. I don't bend like I used to, so crawling under the dash to check things out makes my rather cranky. I know it is a easy fix but sometimes I just have to vent.

[rmk57]

  All the floats that I had sprung leaks from where the hook goes around the recessed area on the float. I've emptied them out and re-soldered but they always cracked and sunk again.

My last ho-daddy fix was using a small plastic pill bottle. That actually worked well until a plastic replacement from Toms Bronco parts arrived.