Anybody fixed the fuel sender?

I have the same problem with my 83 Mondial QV Cabriolet. Quarter tank indicated is EMPTY; half tank indicated is FULL!

Thanks for the question. Hope someone has the step-by-step fix for us. jamtans

 

Maybe its the gauge that is sticky. I opened mine and put a very thinny drop of oil on the turningpoint of the needle.

Guido

 

Mine works fine. It's sensitive to gs and attitude, but for the rest, gauge and warning light are consistent with actual quantity = it's not an engineering issue if your gauge is wacky. Find the fault Good luck

 

Not sure if this helps.... but

Years ago i switched most of my gauges over to VDO units. During that process, I replaced my in tank unit with a universal one from summit racing. I don't recall every detail, but I was able to take the new universal sendig unit, mate it to OEM ferrari mounting ring and install it in the tank.

This is on a 308 BTW.

Sadly my car has not been on the road in a couple years, but I do recall the unit and gauge working well. Sorry I don't have better details.

I used something like this....

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/VDO-226008/?rtype=10

And my guess would be that you would have to macth up the senders ohm range with that of the OEM Ferrari gauge for the correct reading. IIRC I matched mine with the particular VDO gauge I used.

Good luck

 

*John Wolf Company
Restores Fuel Level Sender Units for Ferraris
36420 Biltmore Place
Unit 1
Willoughby, OH 44094
(440) 942-0083

They did one for me for a GT4. Give them a call.

 

In the process of fixing mine since I have the engine out...its in the rear right fuel tank, not on top as in usual applications.
More than likely I will have to substitute it for a universal one if I can figure out the top and bottom resistance levels.. 0 ohms is full while infinity should be full? Anyway...will figure it out when on the bench...to remove you have to remove the coolant pipe going into he water pump and the fuel tank strap...my engine is out but if it was still in, I would probably drop the tank for access then there is no need to remove coolant, just undo straps I guess but I've never done it before so stay tuned...
There is a locking ring holding it in place, looks like the only way to remove it is with a screw driver and a hammer...there is two small holes and thats it, no way to attach any other devoce or tool....wish I could post pics alas...i'm on my ipad and in apples infinite wisdom, i am not allowed to o that

 

Oh wow...ok, not sure if this is everyone's problem but here's what I found...taking the locking ring off? Pain in the ass but once its off sender slides right out...
Turns out however that the sender mechanism is alright, no dead spots HOWEVER, the reason for the erratic reading is that the metal bracket that holds the sender and mechanism to the mounting flange is spot welded and had actually come undone so basically, the sending unit was floating with the float instead of the float moving up and sending a reading... The entire sending unit mechanism must have been floating.. Good to know...I might be able to weld it back in place if i can't find a replacement.

 

Part 3: also worth noting are the following...first, since the bracket is not making contact with the mounting flange except by random chance, the rheostat is not making (-) ground contact since the ground is mounted to the flange itself, second, I had this frosty looking corrosion all over the contacts, specifically the full and empty direct contacts...careful wire brushing with my dremmel I cleaned everything up, tacked welded it back in place and now I have what appears to be a working "home refurbished" sender.
Stay tuned for OHMs readings...

 

Ok so I thought it was working and everything I said prior about the bracket being loose is accurate however, there is a small brown inspection window on the side, I opened it just to make sure my reading were ok and...it was destroyed...I'll try to post pictures, looks like I'll need a new gauge after all, if I can somehow figure out the ohm requirements for the sender I may be able to match it to a universal one...damn, I thought I missed the bullet but I didnt

 

Finally fixed mine off a Mondial 8. I'm sorry to say that all my attempts to source a new part were either futile because its no longer made or price prohibitive ($749)
Sooo.... I fixed mine. Took OEM sender out only to find that the actual mounting bracket spot welds had come completely off and the float was just doing that...floating in my tank held on by just the wires. After careful inspection, the rheostat was also gone.
First I MIG welded the bracket back onto the mounting frame (round part) just a spot weld is all it took.
Then the hard part was finding out the OHmS range of the existing unit since it was broken.
Found out that its 33-240 ohms.
Looking back, the hardest part was finding out that ohms range.
Finding a suitable substitute in that resistance range was easy, however, finding one that also included the Low Level Fuel Light mechanism was significantly more difficult.
Finally found a Fiat 125 (80-85) that seemed to be just was I was looking for ($45)
Float mechanism is different and required bending and cutting of the wire to match OEM.
Cut the old rheostat bracket about halfway to get rid of the old broken rheostat. I will be reusing the OEM connectors so off came the wires too.
Cut the new gauge approximately at the halfway mark of the new bracket since it was slightly longer than OEM. Should note that OEM was a flat piece of metal rheostat bracket while the new one is a round bar-stock about 1/8" thick. I used my grinder to flatten one side of the round bar so it would lay flat and in the same original location of the OEM rheostat. Spot welded the flat metal to the bar-stock and soldered the new wires to the old OEM previously crimped connectors and voila! I'll see if I can post some pics tomorrow.

 

Great work and info, looking forward to the pics!
It's nice to see people actually repair things