[Spridgets] Stuck Gas Gauge

Wed Feb 15 13:44:43 MST 2017

Last night I tried to lightly bang on the tank with a rubber mallet.  No dice.  I have also driven over speed bumps slowly with the front wheels (otherwise I would scrape the exhaust) then driving the rear wheel over the hump quickly trying to dislodge the float lever.  All to no avail.  I would think if the arm was not stuck and the float has filled with fuel then it should read on empty.  The only reason I think the float lever is stuck is I refilled the tank with five gallons of fuel.  The gauge read 1/4 tank before I filled it.  That is where the level approximately actually was.  Since I got the gauge working a little less than two years ago, I had never been below a half tank low.  The quarter mark is the lowest the gauge has been for the first time.  It was a new gauge I installed at that time.  Apparently I will be dropping the tank.  Because it is full, I am just going to drive through most of the gas, then drop the tank.  Maybe it will come unstuck during that time, but I should drop it and inspect anyway.  Let you guys know what I find.Mike MacLean

    On Wednesday, February 15, 2017 12:43 PM, Michael MacLean <rrengineer.mike at att.net> wrote:

 Last night I tried to lightly bang on the tank with a rubber mallet.  No dice.  I have also driven over speed bumps slowly with the front wheels (otherwise I would scrape the exhaust) then driving the rear wheel over the hump quickly trying to dislodge the float lever.  All to no avail.  I would think if the arm was not stuck and the float has filled with fuel then it should read on empty.  The only reason I think the float lever is stuck is I refilled the tank with five gallons of fuel.  The gauge read 1/4 tank before I filled it.  That is where the level approximately actually was.  Since I got the gauge working a little less than two years ago, I had never been below a half tank low.  The quarter mark is the lowest the gauge has been for the first time.  It was a new gauge I installed at that time.  Apparently I will be dropping the tank.  Because it is full, I am just going to drive through most of the gas, then drop the tank.  Maybe it will come unstuck during that time, but I should drop it and inspect anyway.  Let you guys know what I find.Mike MacLean

    On Wednesday, February 15, 2017 7:20 AM, Martyn Ridley <ridleymj at brant.net> wrote:

  Oh, your not going to like this..........
 It has happened to me 3 times.  The culprit is the plastic float. It gets crimped when put on the hook and can start to loose air and fill with fuel.  Best bet is to replace it with a brass unit but before installing, place the float in fuel for 72 hours just in case.  My parts supplier has a brass 'float' filled with fuel sitting safely in a Lyons syrup jar on his desk as proof you can't be too careful. (No I didn't charge for the fuel)

 Cheers,
 Martyn

 PS: After a while you become quite proficient at dropping the tank!

 On 2/14/2017 8:16 PM, Michael MacLean via Spridgets wrote:

  After 15 years, since the restoration I finally got my gas gauge working after dropping the tank to R & R the sending unit.  Just this week I was down to a quarter of a tank and filled the tank back up.  The needle stayed on the 1/4 mark and has not moved since.  Any ideas what might cause this before I have to drop the tank again? Mike MacLean

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