2.0L Fuel Tank Sending Unit

[jjred1977]

My 1988 Ranger has fuel gauge is acting up. It works until the tank is about half full then the gauge drops to empty. I know that Ford has discontinued the sending unit. I wanted to know if anyone had a fix for this or an aftermarket part that will fix it. There isn't a junk yard within 500 miles of me that has one in stock so I'm down to doing whatever it takes to get the old one going.

Thanks,

James

 

[coleboy11]

James, I had a similar problem with my truck a while back and I couldn't figure it out for the life of me until I took a real good look at the sending unit. The tiny electrical connection from the gas gauge wire to where it connects to the device that reads the gas level inside the tank was corroded and giving an intermittent signal. I sauldered it to give it a better connection and its been working fine ever since. Hope that helps.

 

[RonD]

Yes, I would pull it and have a look, could be an easy fix.
The sending unit is just a float on a bar the changes resistance to the gauge, so not much to go wrong except corrosion.

You can also install a "universal" sending unit, quite a few available for marine(boat) applications, this would require drilling a hole in the top of the tank to install.
You should find out the OHMs on your current sending unit, like 75ohms when empty and 10ohms when full, and then find a universal that fits that range.

Your 1988 is right at the edge of when Ford switched gauges and senders.
Empty-Full
75-10 Ohms pre-1989 Fords
15-160 Ohms most '89-up Fords


There are also companies that rebuild these, but that would be pricey and you would have to send it away and wait for it to be returned.
On an older car restoration this is ok, but for a daily driver probably not great.

 

[jjred1977]

The truck sat for a long time before I got it. The tank was corroded and I switched everything but the sending unit because I couldn't find one. I cleaned it up the best I could and it worked for a long time but now its finally acting up.

coleboy11 I'll try and do what you said when the weather is better here in Tennessee.

RonD what companies rebuild these units? I've got a few other truck so down time is not a big deal for me.

I'm in the process now of rewiring the entire truck. Being 25 years old is one reason to go over the wiring but in my case a squirrel chewed the alternator harness and that caused a meltdown of a lot of wires. I decided to go over the whole truck and clean up the wiring. So far I've redone the engine harness and the harness inside the dash. Last harness left is the headlight harness.

Thanks for the help guys.

James

 

[jjred1977]

Thanks Coleboy11. I had the unit rebuilt by a company up in New York. The replaced the unit you were talking about on the sending unit and it works just fine now. Mine was past the point of "patching up".