My Dino has a gas gauge that is pegged at the 7 o'clock position. Removing the wires from the tank sending unit and opening or grounding them causes the gauge needle movement to extremes, so the wiring and gauge are working, leaving the sending unit as the main suspect. Another problem is removing the sending unit while the gas tank is in the car. Anybody got any tips or tricks on dealing with this tight space - or must the tank be removed from the car? Thank you
It is easy to remove the sending unit. Simply remove the 6 (or 8) screws and the attached wires. The unit is long, so gently lift out of the tank. IMPORTANT - scribe a mark on the flange of the sending unit and the tank so that you can replace in the same orientation. There are baffles in the tank that will prevent the float from freely reflecting fluid level if the sending unit is not replaced in the same orientation. The sending unit is likely rusted or frozen. If you are patient and careful, you can clean the unit and reinstall. If necessary, I believe the units are available. It may be the same as the Daytona or 365C4. If the depth of tank is different, the float can be mechanically adjusted to reflec the proper level. A little experimenting will help. If you have an Ohm meter, you can determine whether the variable resistor is working correctly. It is a simple swipe-arm and a resistance wire. Jim S.
The float contained liquid in it, prolly a leak in it somewhere. Is your sending unit the type with an arm on it or is the float in the cylindrical tube? Mine has the arm, but the parts book shows the tube type of sending unit, not that Italian documentation is free of suspicion...ahem!
Steve - all of the sending units that I have repaired/restored from 1960s and 1970s vintage Ferraris have been long arms with a float on the end. I have yet to see one that developed a leak, but certainly plausible. I would drill a hole to empy the fuel and then epoxy it closed. Mine is plastic. Jim S.
Yes the float had a little fluid in it and upon removal/replace, it did not cure the problem. Before I had removed and tested it individually with a VOM, now I did it while removing the sending unit and connecting everything to the wiring bundle with shunt lines. Results were that all works fine outside of tank. Reinstalled and it pegs at 7PM, so appeared like it might be hitting the tank wall. Rotated the sending unit mount to the next screw hole, 60 degrees, and voila - it works fine! The car is new to me and I can't believe that someone had previously mounted the tank float in the wrong orientation in the tank ... for years ... the PO stated it had ALWAYS been broken!
I had the same experience with mine. My guage was stuck at the half tank reading and no one was able to fix it. I tried all the sources for a repacement but as you know they are nonexistant. Finally I asked Doug at Berlinetta Motors to have a go at it. He told me all he did was rotate it clockwise by one screw hole and presto! I'm not sure how it got set incorrectly in the first place but maybe its a conspiracy.
