Garbage Fuel Sender!

[BBShark]

I am using the C3 fuel sender in a 1968 tank. I started the engine for the first time about 4 years ago but I didn't have gauges until last year. So I have been starting it every 4-6 weeks for the past 4 years trying to run the old fuel through it. But without a gauge I added fuel like 1 gallon at a time because I didn't want the gas to go bad.

So now I have gauges and, at first the gas gauge was a little above empty. However, it seems like every time I start it now, the gauge is all over. The other day I tried to start it and it showed 3/8 tank. So I read the resistance at the sender, 133 ohms (supposed to be 0-90, 0=Empty 90=Full). So I took it out and put it on a bench. First reading was 3.9 ohms. picked the float up and let it drop a couple of times and got readings from 11-335 ohms!

So it looks like I need a new sender, and I'm puzzled that this rheostat technology has been around for 100 years plus. I'm not up on who makes good repro stuff and who makes crap, but all of the stuff I see online looks like the same thing. Anyone have any ideas on who makes good fuel senders?

 

[Geoff Coenen]

When you find a good one let me know.
I stopped carrying them.
The tales of gas tank sender rebuilders charging 300-600 bux is wow !
You would think a new good one could be had for less.
I hate this short lived replacement chit.

 

[BBShark]

The one that was bad, I bought maybe 15 years ago. It was OK except for the float level, the float level housing was put together with "toy tabs" (bending tabs over to hold the parts together, like an old Japanese toy). That antique "technology" is apparently to difficult for modern assembly methods.

I made an exhaustive search for a replacement and found that almost all were the same part as I just threw in the trash. I bought a China part that was supposed to fit in my tank. I bought it because it had a modern fuel level sender like you would see on a modern in-tank pump. The only issue I had was that the float was 5 inches above the bottom of the tank (should have been 2 inches. The gauge would have read "empty" with probably 1/4-1/2 tank. Repaired that by bending the tube.