Gas Gauge Sender Cork Float

[Shoebox]

The gas gauge sender stopped working in my '39 Merc because the cork float is saturated and no longer floats. Anyone aware of any of the usual sources offering such? I HAVE a repop sender from Drake which requires shortening/bending the wire arm to suit OR I could graft the new wire & float to the orig sender. Any thoughts guys? Thanks.

 

[petehoovie]

I replaced the cork float in my '37 with one of these > https://www.amazon.com/Krueger-Sentr...Q%3D%3D&sr=8-9

Also See > https://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/p...9370&cat=41706

 

[tubman]

If they're like most other things of this nature, I'd trust a functioning original over a re-pop any day.

Does the re-pop operate on the King-Seeley principle or is it a resistance unit?

 

[1942deluxe]

X 2 on keeping the original sender if you can. My 42 and 46 Fords have the Carpenter senders which are supposed to work with the original gauge. They are not accurate, the good thing they are the conservative side of what the actual fuel level is.

 

[51woodie]

The Drake unit is resistor based.

 

[hueyhoolihan]

i know, for sure, that i would very much hope that i could, and desperately attempt to, attach a new cork float on to what i had.

 

[GB SISSON]

While I know next to nothing about wine, my oldest son owns a couple of wine shops and he has given me some perfect corks for these king-seeley senders, They are from a 'Magnum' bottle. To the best recollection , that's like a jumbo sized bottle of champagne.

 

[Flathead Fever]

That black material looks similar to what modern cars use. The old cork float eventually sinks. Even the brass ones that are two pieces of brass soldered together develop tiny pin holes and sink. I was a mechanic for the phone company and every few years I'd have to pull out the sending units and replace the brass floats on the Ford F-600s, it was so common I kept a couple of them in stock. They'd fill-up with fuel and sink. The new style sending units seem to be really good. The electric in-tank fuel pumps fail around 100,000 so now the floats outlast the pumps.

 

[Shoebox]

I really wanted to fix this NOW, with what I had, knowing I could get some cork from somewhere. I drilled out a tiny rivet and removed the float wire with cork. I cut the wire with brass float off the repop sender and formed it to match the wire I had removed. Attached the wire/float assembly to the original sender with tiny bolt/nut and installed. Works like a million bucks!