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@R Thorpe posted:

When I picked up my car I was told that the fuel sender was not accurate below 1/4 tank.  The sender is the float and reostat system.  Has any one used the Centroid sender, no moving parts, cand be easily shortened, very accurate, should be a direct swap.

Fill up a 1 or 2 gallon gas can and have at it driving until you know where empty is. I ran out twice after I let it get under 1/4 and went around a sharp corner.

After that I just filled up at 1/4 tank and never ran out again. If full is full and you get gas at 1/4, you're all set.

Why complicate things?

I agree with @barncobob 100% on this one.

I'm with Al....   After 20 years, when my tank is "full" the gauge needle stops just below the "4/4" line, like a needle's width.

When my tank is low, the needle bounces around from just below "R" up to about 1/8 tank.  That's when I get worried and fill R up.  That usually takes 6-1/2 gallons or so to fill and it's a stock 1969 VW tank so whatever they hold, 8-ish gallons?  So far (knock wood) I've never run out on the road, even the couple of times it was waaaay down there and hardly bouncing the needle at all - Then I was trying to make a lot of right turns to at least show something on the gauge!

I made up a bunch of gas gauge needle dampeners a while back.  They don't completely stop the needle bounce, but they slow it down somewhat - maybe cuts it in half.  You can't do much better than that because the gas tanks have no internal baffles to moderate the level for the gauge.  I was going to donate a few to the East and West Coast gatherings this year but that didn't happen.  I still have a few if anyone is interested.  5 minute installation right on the gas tank sender.

I'll attach the installation instructions for anyone interested.

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  • Damper schematic
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Last edited by Gordon Nichols

On my original IM the needle did exacly what Al mentioned and I could have used Gordon's module.

I think it was Danny who tested the empty level of his tank but I seem to do it on most cars at least once it seems.  And yes the tank being clean is often a challenge.  I got stranded with dirt in my tank.  I discovered a whole lot of metal filings in my new tank on my new build but it was too late, it ended up passing through the filter into the fuel pump and ruining the pump.  Fortunately, someone was looking after me as it happened at my mechanics garage when I went to leave with a low tank.

We had to have a pump shipped from Chicago so my car was in their garage actually for 2 days due to the shipping of the pump, needless to say I bought TWO, and have my spare in my car at all times, and spare filters as well.

I was all ready to ask why this comes up all the time when I looked at the link. If you must have a gas gauge, that's the one to get. It solves all the issues.

However, I'm in the extreme minority of people who see no point in a fuel gauge at all. I have my sender modified (by taking out a bunch of windings) so that when the fuel level drops to about 1/4 tank, it hits a light in my gauge cluster. I have no fuel gauge at all. The space where the fuel gauge was is now oil pressure, which is of infinitely more value to me.

I use the trip odometer and look for a station at about 250 mi.



I made up a bunch of gas gauge needle dampeners a while back.  They don't completely stop the needle bounce, but they slow it down somewhat - maybe cuts it in half.  You can't do much better than that because the gas tanks have no internal baffles to moderate the level for the gauge.  I was going to donate a few to the East and West Coast gatherings this year but that didn't happen.  I still have a few if anyone is interested.  5 minute installation right on the gas tank sender.

I'll attach the installation instructions for anyone interested.

In all seriousness, Gordon's needle-dampener thingy is simple, cheap and effective. You don't need to understand how it works, just put one in and forget about it.

Last edited by DannyP
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