Long Ranger fuel tank fuel sender problem (1 Viewer)

[burnoil]

On my 84 FJ60 I have the 38 gallon Long Ranger fuel tank. It was installed by the previous owner or maybe MAF...can't remember. I have verified that my fuel sender and gauge both work, but the sender float arm has been lengthened to try to accommodate the larger tank. No matter which way I mount the sender, the gauge is not reading correctly.

It seems the float is hitting the baffles almost any way I turn the sending unit in its mounting hole on top of the tank. Is the length of rod that was added too long? It looks to be about 4 inches long or so.

 

[inkpot]

Howdy! Maybe when the extension was done, it was not rotated to the correct position. You may need to re-do it to position the float in the right place. John

 

[burnoil]

Well, that's just it. I don' t know the position it is supposed to be in. The float arm has a bend in it and it looks to be that was from the factory...then the extension is after that. Pointing towards the front or rear? How long is the extension supposed to be? The PO didn't have the instructions.

 

[Spike Strip]

I have that tank. I installed it myself. It was a PITA and the first one had a leak from the factory. MAF gave me a new tank. I lengthened the sender exactly to the stated directions and it just reads a constant full until less than half, then goes down from there. I've learned to "gauge" the amt by filling it when the gauge is at various levels and noting the amt it takes.

You won't get an accurate reading. I don't know if it's because these tanks are designed for Aussie spec vehicles, or what.

In the FSM there's a section on how many ohms the sender is supposed to read at various tank levels, but trying to dial that to the larger tank would be way too much work unless you're willing to take readings at various tank levels and bend the float accordingly.

 

[burnoil]

Thanks for the replies so far. I guess all I need to get "close" is to know how long the extension should be as it seems mine is too long and hits the baffles. I emailed the guys on Oz who make the tank so maybe they can shed some light on the issue.

It just seems weird that it is inaccurate on yours. You figure the float should be rising smoothly with the fluid level and showing on the gauge.

I wonder if an after market sender would work?

 

[Spike Strip]

Good luck on getting a response from the makers.

If you figure something out, lemme know. I gave up.

 

[burnoil]

Do you happen to have the instructions? I just want to take a look at them.

 

[Spike Strip]

Long gone. Installed a few years ago.

 

[rover67]

When I installed mine I had no instructions....

I added an extension to the rod so that the float would just touch the bottom of the tank at full "droop".

The sender only went in one way, but it was pretty easy to wiggle in there. the baffles run only one direction in the tank and they are spaced pretty far apart. I forget which way they run honestly.

before I installed my sender I made sure that with the float at full droop it read empty (actually quite a bit below "e") and with the float up so it;s hitting the top of the tank it read "F" (actually just over the mark)

If it hangs on full i'd suspect that the rod is bent in a way that is pushing the float down into the fuel when full. this would make the level have to drop quite a bit to show a change on the gauge. If the float won't go ALL the way down then it won't read totally empty either.

Anyways, you should be able to make it work fine. IF the sender moves through it's proper range when it is in the tank anyways.. Mine works great.

Also, I emailed them to ask about the pickup when I was having all my fuel issues and they emailed me back in a day or so. they really tried to be helpful even though they didn't have any new info for me in particular.

Good luck!

 

[JonPalmer]

MAF will fax you a copy of the instructions give them a call. When I did my tank I had a bunch of 5 gal jugs and I watched the guage as I filled it up. I think it took almost 10 gal before the guage showed anything and then it went up fast. Mine will read full to half for the first 250 miles and then it drops fast from there, not all that accurate. I just know that when the needle gets to the top of the E I have about 10 gal.

 

[burnoil]

Rover and Jon,

Thanks for the replies! I'll mess with it tomorrow and also get a hold of MAF to see if I am missing something. I know my sender works great when I operate it outside the tank. Inside it seems to be hitting something. How long did you extend the float arms on yours?

 

[rover67]

I honestly didn't measure... all I did was extend it enough so it'd hit the bottom of the tank on full droop.

The way I did that was to measure the tank/sender mounting surface to the bottom of the tank to get my number. I then cut the float rod on the sender and extended it until I came up with the same measurement from the mounting surface on the sender to the bottom of the float.

 

[samibattlemaiden]

It's apples to oranges but I work in a Willys shop and one of out customers rigs has a long range tank and 1 of his complaints was it never reads above half. Extracted and changed out sunk float to new float and ...... Not fixed. Upon closer Inspection the installers if said tank lengthened the pickup (pick up on sender) but not tge float. We lengthened the float arm at the very beginning of arm. ( arm comes out if reostat cut there and lengthened then recreated the needed bends on new arm) and then positioning became very important I found there was only 1 sweet spot where tge float arm would have full range of motion and at that I think the float actually contacts the top of tank and the baffle wall at the same time.
Hth