7 replies to this topic

[steve j]

I have been having trouble with my fuel gauge not working, and tracked it down to the float on the sender unit not floating!!! you do not seen to be able to buy just the float so I thought I might make one.
Any suggestions Cork etc?

Cheers

Steve

[ado15]

Is it worth the bother? Sender units are cheap enough.

[Yoda]

cork will work fine until it breaks down and all the bits start floating around your tank and when you run low, starts blocking fuel lines, filters, carbs, injection rails etc etc etc .

[dklawson]

In the U.S., Ford has a brass float that was used on many cars from the 1950s through the 1970s. That float is only slightly larger than the Smiths plastic float and is routinely used to replace a leaky plastic float. I'm sure there must be similar options for you.

Broaden your search to include replacement floats for MGBs, Midgets, and all Triumph models. With the exception of the floats used before the mid-1960s, most should fit the Mini sender float arm. Before 1965 the Mini sender floats were brass and I believe they were soldered to the arm.

[Ethel]

Evazote (the stuff they make foam camping mats from) claims to be petrol proof. Can't say I've tried it though.

You could also look at liberating the float from a brake master reservoir.

[Yoda]

depending where it is leaking, try dipping it in a petrol proof mastic solution after making sure its empty, or maybe stretching a water bomb balloon over it as a temporary fix to confirm thats where the problem is.

May sound stupid, but stranger things have been done!

[dklawson]

Balloons are typically latex and any amount of fuel will cause the rubber to fail.

If you want to try fixing the leak in your float, it is possible. You can place the float in a cup of boiling hot water. The expanding air in the float (if there is any left in there) should bubble out through the leak site if you turn the float in the "right" direction under water. Once you have found the leak, use a tiny drill bit to open the pin hole so you can get the gasoline out. Once you have achieved that, use a soldering iron to flow the plastic float material back together to plug the hole you made. Your float should be OK indefinitely after this repair... as long as there was only site leaking.

Sorry I didn't mention this earlier, but it is often easier to replace than repair.

[Yoda]

Just want to make sure that my post was understood. the balloon and or mastic was only to confirm that it was the float that was the problem. I have seen a similar problem and it turned out that the arm had somehow been bent when using a syphon and this held the float down at the bottom of the tank giving a zero reading. Mind you this was obvious when we removed the sender unit and needed no testing.