Fual Gauge/sender

[Grizzly]

Hi All,

Spent some time today finishing off connecting everything up to the clocks. I bought a new sender from GMS Capri Spares last summer (doesn't time fly!).

I thought it was a Capri sender (but maybe not). Anyway, with 1/3 of a tank of fuel, it won't read at all. If I manually lift the float right up, the gauge reads about 1/3 full. I guess this means I bought a Sierra sender - DOH!

I seem to remember an electronic solution (something to do with fitting a resistor? ) but I can't find it after doing a search. The best option would probably be to get it swapped, unless of course any of you out there have a better idea?

[Dave R]

isnt the gauge assemble the same as the sierra one inside?

cant you rob and fit your old one

i seem to remember lookin at mine thinkin it was possible but its on one of my to do jobs as well

[Grizzly]

isnt the gauge assemble the same as the sierra one inside?

It may well be, but I have no Sierra clocks.

I could look out for one at the scrappies though - Thanks Dave.

[Guest Petemate]

To the best of my knowledge, the electric gubbins is different between Sierra and Capri. Someone posted a while ago re the difference. (Nigel will probably come up with the figures - he's clever like that!....) With mine, the Capri gauge used to read about 1/2 when the tank was absolutely full, but within 30 miles dropped to about 1/4, then after a few more miles nearly zero. I had planned to fit an original (but modded) Capri one, which I obtained from the scrappy, but didn't get around to it before the sale. I believe Graham sorted it. My plan involved cutting out the bend in the pick-up pipe and replacing it with a suitable length of proper fuel hose and re-shaping the float arm.

HTH

Pete

[Grizzly]

I rang GMS Capri Spares today. Apparently there's no Capri senders in the country! I mentioned that there was a possibility of using a Sierra gauge as a straight swap for the Capri one in the six pod set, but he wasn't sure. He said though, that he'd ask around for a gizmo that would make it all work. I'll be seeing him at Stoneleigh - I'll keep you posted

[Grizzly]

I took my Sierra sender back to GMS Capri Spares at the Stoneleigh Show. They gave me a full refund - Top Lads!

I then tracked down a Capri Sender on eBay - NOS (New Old Stock) Moprod, Part Number: MTU121 - Apparently this is for a Capri.

I've just temporarily rigged this up. Whether the float's at empty or full though, it sends the gauge above full and off the scale! :gdit: :gdit:

Obviously then, I've still not got the correct unit. Can anyone confirm what the Part Number should be??

[Guest warwick7735]

Hi

Before you do anyhting to drastic like hanging yourself , just check you've got a good earth on the sender unit itself. My guage would every now and then go through the roof, traced it to a dodgy earth on the sennder unit.

 

Warwick

[Grizzly]

Sender clamped to chassis and wired up with connections for gauge and earth.

I'm pretty sure they're OK. Maybe the sender unit itself is duff

[Guest Ian & Carole]

I am running a sierra tank sender through a voltage stabilizer to a smiths fuel gauge.

 

Must be lucky because it is accurate

 

Ian J

[Grizzly]

Maybe I need to tackle this from another angle.

Would anyone know what the guage requires in the way of an Ohms range for it to operate correctly?

[Grizzly]

I've been on to Henry. After supplying some numbers off the clock pod, the guy said it was MkII Capri. According to them, all gauges are the same. Therefore all senders should be the same (Ohms wise - but he didn't know what that would be). There was a choice of part nos through the years, but basically, these related to whether they had feed & return pipes or just feed.

I took the sender to my local Auto Electricians. Strewth! After explaining to him how it worked in principle, he wandered off with it and came back declaring it to be working OK. I asked him what the Ohms range of it read and he just said it was OK. I left. :gdit: :boohoo:

 

Does anyone out there know what the Ohms range needs to be?

Did any of you peeps using Capri clocks make a note during your build?

 

If I can establish this then any sender meeting this range should suffice.

[NeilD]

From ETB's website

 

ETB manufactures 2 types of fuel gauges.

 

The first type is matched to our standard, 6-hole, top-mount float-arm sensor. This sensor is calibrated to provide an electrical resistance of 260 Ohms at empty and 20 Ohms at full. This calibration range is similar to early Smith's type fuel level senders, as well as some Ford fuel senders (most commonly 1982-1986 Ford Sierra hatchback / saloon).

 

The best way to check whether your existing fuel level sender will work with an ETB fuel gauge is to measure the resistance range of the sender unit. To do this, you need to disconnect any wires connected to the sender unit and remove the sender from the fuel tank (taking great care if there is any fuel left in the tank). Using a multimeter that can measure resistance in Ohms (Ω), connect one probe to earth and the other to the connector on the fuel sender and note the resistance reading with the float at empty (lowest position) and at full (highest position).

 

If the reading is approximately 260 Ohms at empty and 20 Ohms at full, it will work reasonably well with an ETB fuel gauge.

 

 

 

BUT!!!

 

 

 

These sensors were not designed to work with the modern ETB air-core movements, but with old bi-metallic strip gauge movements. Therefore, although empty and full will be correctly indicated on the gauge, mid-range indication will read incorrectly. This is because ETB gauges expect a relatively linear change in resistance as fuel level changes, whereas the older Smith's type / Ford type are not linear - this basically means that fuel will appear to decrease very rapidly from reading full for the first two-thirds of gauge pointer movement and then slow considerably when the pointer nears empty.

 

 

 

The second type of ETB Fuel gauge has a range of 10 Ohms at empty to 180 Ohms at full. This type will match certain VDO lever-arm type fuel senders.

 

 

 

Hope this helps........

[Longboarder]

Grizzly, the capri clocks have a voltage regulator on the back to feed the guage its supply so if you just temporarily rigged it up without using the regulator it will read wrong and obviously the sender needs to be earthed back to the battery. Heres an old pic.

 

Nigel

[Longboarder]

And another thing, the capri gauge allows you to alter the zero and full points to tune it to the sender. On the back you should find two holes with teeth visible through them as in the pic. There is probably a special Ford tool but a small screwdriver will do!

 

Nigel

[Grizzly]

Thanks Nigel - Now you tell me!

Well it's taken me all evening, but I've finally got this sender to work.

I started by trying to measure what Ohms range the sender was delivering. My meter was giving inconsistent results - It turned out that it must have got a bit of a bashing in the post. The metal strip inside the unit wasn't making a very good contact on the winding. Once I'd sorted this, it was giving me 12 Ohms at empty and 72 Ohms at full (although it was upside down). I then adjusted the metal strip so that it traversed the winding along a slightly different range. This then gave me 5 Ohms at empty and 50 Ohms at full. This was what was required to set the required needle range on the gauge (Yes, through the regulator - same as before). I then inverted (bent) the feed tube so that it swung the other way and operated the float in the right direction. All I had to do then was extend the float rod, so that it reached from the bottom of the tank to the top. Job done . It's never going to be totally accurate, but I think it'll work quite well (eg it's about a quarter full at the moment and is only just off 'Empty). Good enough I think.

 

Rocket science or what!?