Fuel gauge dead

Post by **ToyDoctor** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 1:36 pm

Has anyone replaced the large coil of wire inside the fuel gauge? My gauge only registered just off the empty irrespective of the amount of petrol and after following all the tests I opened the gauge to be confronted by a burnt black mess. Must I get a whole new gauge or can I rewind this coil (0.1mm steel wire) using copper wire PU or PI insulated?
Also must the sender unit operate lengthwise with the car or cross-wise?
I have a 58 Traveller with a 6 and half gallon tank, does it make any difference?
Lastly what does a replacement gold faced gauge cost?

Post by **alainmoran** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 2:16 pm

just buy a new one.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Gold-Faced-Speedo ... 286.c0.m14

Post by **ToyDoctor** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 2:52 pm

Thanx Minor Fan but I'm at the bottom end of Africa (south of Cape Town) and getting anything bought on e-bay without Pay-Pal etc and getting it shipped here is more of an effort than rewinding my gauge. Also if it's successful I could provide a repair service for the local Minor owners.
Anyone know what would cause the gauge to burn out, should my gold-faced gauge/speedo be fitted with a voltage regulator?<br>

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Post by **Willie** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 3:58 pm

The tank sender unit swings ACROSS the car (wheel to wheel) and the nutted connector,which it should be on your model, should be nearer to the front of the car. i.e. you could have it 180 degrees out if the connector is nearer to the rear of the car. No, your model did not have a voltage regulator.

Post by **alex_holden** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 4:01 pm

You don't need a voltage stabiliser with that type of gauge.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 8:22 pm

Can only assume it somehow was shorted to earth - to burn out like that although I would have thought the resistance would have been enough even on a dead short to limit the current to a very low value. No harm in trying to rewind it I suppose - it's useless now anyway! But perhaps some kind soul on here will send you a gauge !

Post by **ToyDoctor** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:17 am

Thanx for all the feedback, guys. I'll give the rewinding a try and let you know if it works. To answer Willie, the screw terminal faces directly towards the dashboard but I'll have to check the direction of swing, presumably the slider assembly cannot be rotated independantly of the terminal so the orientation will always be static to each other.
My step-son in Christchurch, New Zealand tells me he's going to a big car gathering and swapmeet this coming weekend so I'm e-mailing him some pictures and details and see if he can pick up a gauge there for me.

Post by **Willie** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 6:01 pm

If you get the 'swing' of the float wrong then it can foul on the internal baffle and prevent the gauge from reading 'full'.