Anyone replace a fuel tank sender with tank in the car
- Thread starter 66furys
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mikedrini
Well-Known Member
I've done it, but I had that special tool, which you don't need if you drop the tank. If you're lying on your backside with a Skoal in your mouth and a flashlight in your ear daydreaming about Shania Twain...it gets tricky. Dropping the tank isn't all that difficult and it would probably be worth it to save you some aggravation. Give it a whirl.
Triple Pickle
Senior Member
I’d rather play leap frog with a unicorn!
jbooth35
Member
I’ve sadly done this job too many times in the past couple years. I will always just drop the tank. It’s just so much easier to see that the gasket is sealing correctly, easier to maneuver the sending unit in at an angle that doesn’t force too much pressure and lastly it’s just less physically exhausting to me loosen/tighten the unit while on the ground. Also you can view the float level in the tank when it’s on the ground (useful for aftermarket tanks/gauges) Either way, I’d loosen the straps. Only PIA about dropping is emptying the tank. My 2 cents.
57fury440
Well-Known Member
I bought a cheap little electric fuel pump and mounted it on a piece of wood for a stand. I connected alligator clips to the wires and use it to empty or add fuel when necessary. It makes dropping a gas tank easy to do as they are not heavy when empty. Drop the tank, you won't be sorry.
Thank you one and all for the comments. I have used the pump to drain my tank couple times, and am just fussing about the fill pipe bolt and dropping if it would come out in place. But, I appreciate the thoughts......prob best out and on the bench. Aaaargh.
I've taken the one out of my '70 without dropping the tank.
rags
Senior Member
i had the sender out of my '65 without dropping the tank. never considered any other way.
Old Boomer
New Member
I drop the tank. Gives me a chance to look the top of the tank over. Clean it up and rust proof it. Or replace the tank if necessary. I got my last tank thru Vans for my 70 Fury.
azblackhemi
Old Man with a Hat
Just an FYI if you're replacing the sending unit with an aftermarket one be sure to save the old lock ring (if it's a factory one) otherwise it probably won't seal well. If you don't have a factory one use two gaskets.
volksworld
Active Member
did my 68 with tank in place...23 years ago so no details...loosened lock ring with hammer and screwdriver
3175375
Senior Member
I have replaced the sending unit on my 69 Fury III vert, I used the tool for the sender and didn’t drop the tank.
D Cluley
Active Member
Dropping the tank on mine means dropping the trailer hitch which means pulling the rear bumper, so yes, I did the sending unit with the tank in place. However, on a car without all that, it would almost certainly be easier to do with the tank dropped.
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I have experience with ‘64 and ‘67 Imperials and there is no need to drop the tank at all But @1deadeye makes a good argument to do so.
I worked in Chrysler garages from '69 to '79. We never dropped the tank to replace the sending unit. Let the axle down as far as possible, make sure the fuel level is below the sender opening. Very few of these aftermarket senders will read correct and need to be adjusted correctly during installation. Hook up a jumper ground wire to new sender and plug in the power wire. then have someone monitor the gauge while you move it through the range. It will move very slow. Check it at empty, move it to 1/2 then to full. Then you have to make sure if the pickup actually sits on or very close to the bottom of the tank....RH
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
I've replaced/installedf sending units on my '66 and '68 with the tank in situ and on the ground. IFF your tank is CLEAN, relatively NEW, and/or otherwise RUST AND DIRT FREE, then leaving the tank in place probably will be easiest. The original lock ring comes loose with moderate torque, provided you use liberal amounts of a good penetrant oil gor the purpose. Be SURE everything near the sending unit is CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN before removal. I used a large flat tip screwdriver and large Channellocks the first time and it went well enough. Since the first sending unit I tried proved apparently worthless at first, I had opportunity to replace it a few weeks later with a second one from a more reputable vendor, and had obtained the prescribed lock ring wrench in the interim. THAT expedites removal, and more important, PROPER REPLACEMENT well, so spend the $10-15 for it, and sleep better.
That tank is best EMPTY when doing this little job. Make it so.
I loosened the straps by turning the nuts on the J-bolts down to near removal. That sufficed for maneuvering room and also replacing the fill tube grommet. THAT job is FAR easier with the tank on the ground though it can be, and was accomplished the first time with the tank hanging above me the first time. Its your call, though the precise model of your ride might be a decisive factor here.
Mind you, our '66 came with a very NEW tank in March, 2016, though the doltish boy who assembled the car from its components as he found them in his deceased daddy's garage had re-used the old components with it. I understood this mystery better when we first got our '68 Newport, early October 2021. It had the original tank alright, which some vaquero had tried to repair on the severely corroded top side with some heavy plastic coating, likely made for the purpose, some decades prior. The rats managed to chew through some of that, invade the tank, and perish there. Suffice to say, I went through quite a few fuel filters the first few weeks of driving that car. That circumstance was what compelled me to remove the old tank and replace it with the still shiny, CLEAN tank from our wrecked '66 Newport. I then came to see how busy the Family Guardian Angels had been, saving us from death by incineration via an extremely compromised gas tank. Since the plastic repair coating stuck it to the trunk, enough of that peeled loose upon removing the rotten tank to allow me to see the rat carcasses in that execrable tank.
I placed this relic by the street the evening I removed it, and ECCE!, it was gone by dawn following.
Suffice to say, I took the liberty of replacing the filler tube grommet, sending unit gasket, and the factory original sending unit lock-ring from that rotten old '68 tank. THAT proved to be the ONLY portion of that tank worth keeping, while the old lockring from '66, while heavier than the thin sheetmetal comprising the sending units I had purchased, still appeared to be after-market compared to the clear original off that '68.
All told, I consider dropping the gas tank more essential to the purpose of replacing filler tube grommets, and/or filler tubes. Turned out, the vaquero/flyboy mechanic that mis-maintained that car while it remained in the USAF had used some filler tube NOT for a 1968 Mopar C-body vehicle, and I availed myself of the 1966 tube after it soon became clear what I had reinstalled to the otherwise good job with the new tank was as WORTHLESS as I suspected it would be. With the '66 filler tube, a good grommet, and the fuel sending untit all in order, we've enjoyed use of a good gas tank sans major trouble for over a year.
I replaced the filler tube grommet the last time with the tank still firmly attached, as I was in a gas station parking lot. You DON'T have to remove the tank on slab sided C-bodies to service either end.
That tank is best EMPTY when doing this little job. Make it so.
I loosened the straps by turning the nuts on the J-bolts down to near removal. That sufficed for maneuvering room and also replacing the fill tube grommet. THAT job is FAR easier with the tank on the ground though it can be, and was accomplished the first time with the tank hanging above me the first time. Its your call, though the precise model of your ride might be a decisive factor here.
Mind you, our '66 came with a very NEW tank in March, 2016, though the doltish boy who assembled the car from its components as he found them in his deceased daddy's garage had re-used the old components with it. I understood this mystery better when we first got our '68 Newport, early October 2021. It had the original tank alright, which some vaquero had tried to repair on the severely corroded top side with some heavy plastic coating, likely made for the purpose, some decades prior. The rats managed to chew through some of that, invade the tank, and perish there. Suffice to say, I went through quite a few fuel filters the first few weeks of driving that car. That circumstance was what compelled me to remove the old tank and replace it with the still shiny, CLEAN tank from our wrecked '66 Newport. I then came to see how busy the Family Guardian Angels had been, saving us from death by incineration via an extremely compromised gas tank. Since the plastic repair coating stuck it to the trunk, enough of that peeled loose upon removing the rotten tank to allow me to see the rat carcasses in that execrable tank.
I placed this relic by the street the evening I removed it, and ECCE!, it was gone by dawn following.
Suffice to say, I took the liberty of replacing the filler tube grommet, sending unit gasket, and the factory original sending unit lock-ring from that rotten old '68 tank. THAT proved to be the ONLY portion of that tank worth keeping, while the old lockring from '66, while heavier than the thin sheetmetal comprising the sending units I had purchased, still appeared to be after-market compared to the clear original off that '68.
All told, I consider dropping the gas tank more essential to the purpose of replacing filler tube grommets, and/or filler tubes. Turned out, the vaquero/flyboy mechanic that mis-maintained that car while it remained in the USAF had used some filler tube NOT for a 1968 Mopar C-body vehicle, and I availed myself of the 1966 tube after it soon became clear what I had reinstalled to the otherwise good job with the new tank was as WORTHLESS as I suspected it would be. With the '66 filler tube, a good grommet, and the fuel sending untit all in order, we've enjoyed use of a good gas tank sans major trouble for over a year.
I replaced the filler tube grommet the last time with the tank still firmly attached, as I was in a gas station parking lot. You DON'T have to remove the tank on slab sided C-bodies to service either end.
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