Gas gauge float and what is it?

Russell Reay

Russell Reay

Well-known member
I cut off the shriveled cork float, but am stymied about installing the replacement. The plastic float is the correct length and the hole is the correct diameter for the wire, but how do I deal with the little brass washer and the swedged end of the wire ? I could cut off the swedge, slide on the float then the washer and re-swedge the wire, but the wire isn't long enough to accommodate that solution. Recommendations?
What is the part in photo #3? It has been floating around the bottom of my parts box for a year, and I assumed it was the starter pedal, but it's not.
 

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You could trim the float a bit to provide more room to reswedge the wire or flatten the existing swedge to allow the washer to go on and then flatten it again.
 
I cut a groove from the center to the outside just wide enough for the wire to fit in and deep enough allow swedging.
The part is screwed into a base mounted on the floorboard as indicated by post #2.
 
Grind or file off the swedge to the diameter of the wire only. Take the washer off. As said above, cut a slot from the center hole to the outside with a sharp knife deep enough for the wire to sit in. Put the float on and look to the other side to see if the wire protrudes enough to get the washer back on. If so, put the washer on then solder with a gun not a flame the washer to the wire.
 
Just did one last week, 4-40 die and run threads about 3/8 of an inch on the wire, add nut and upset or flatten threads
I was worried about the weight of the nut but it doesn't seem to be enough to affect the float
 
I crimped the flats of mine it the vise just enough to get the washer off. when I put the new float on I crimped it flat in the vise again. My train of thought is that I'm not actually removing any material. Once the material is gone, its gone. I was done in minutes and the float is still holding strong for the last year.
 
I used vise grips a couple of years ago and a few months later while driving I heard a thump and the gauge bottomed out. I never was able to retrieve the float so I put on a new one and used the vise this time. So far so good even though I think some of the wire has been lost over the years with repairs...


TOB
 
so many good ways...
i used some sandpaper to clean the wire, put it in some flux and put a bit of solder on the washer+wire. i don't expect this to come off anytime...


Another question surrounding this: i used a bit of Hylomar blue on the cork gaskets, was that a good idea?
 
TomInCologne said:
so many good ways...
i used some sandpaper to clean the wire, put it in some flux and put a bit of solder on the washer+wire. i don't expect this to come off anytime...


Another question surrounding this: i used a bit of Hylomar blue on the cork gaskets, was that a good idea?
Click to expand...

Not a bad idea. Cork tends to waterlog and sink; hylomar may dissolve in ethanol though.
 
As long as we are all telling how we replaced the cork float with a neoprene float, I will tell on myself and I'm not proud. A few years ago when I did mine and I ran into all the same problems as mentioned, I straightened the wire just enough to get the float on and straightened it back out. I bent the end up enough to keep the float from coming off. It's been working fine since. The gas guage shows slightly less than what is actually there but that's okay. Better to have more than less. Maybe next time I will try a brass float or just replace everything from the guage to the float.
 
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