34 gas gauge/sending unit/educate me please

[cas3]

i'd like to use the original sender and gauge, never played with the king seely types before. question 1, in the photos, its been glass bead blasted, looks good to me, i see no damaged solder joints or tubes. all cleaned up, ran a wire thru all tubes, blew them all out, see any thing wrong? question 2, i dont get it! how does it work when both small tubes are just open on the ends, and do not go in to the small tank thing? explanation for my inquiring mind please! question 3, i ordered the "kit" from c&g which is the small line and the fluid. so how does one go about putting the fluid in? question 4, i have a duel temp/gas gauge to steal from my tudor which is missing the line and probe for the temp sender, any favorites to send that off for repair? we have a gauge guy here in mpls that i have had issues with before, so he is off my list. last, i do not have the nut for the small line to connect to the tank. standard hardware store item or what? thanks, skip

[deuce_roadster]

CAS3- the 32-34 gas gauge uses air pressure via the small tube connection up to the gauge which has a fluid that gets pushed up in the glass tube where you can see. You put the red liquid in the gauge with an eye dropper until it is at the empty mark. IF the tank unit is sound and there are no air leaks in the line, bubbles from the gas sloshing around create pressure in the small tube. When sitting for a while the gauge may go down but when you start driving and the gas sloshes around it comes up and is quite accurate. You should test the gauge and make sure the tiny tube that connects to the glass is not plugged before you attempt to put the red liquid in.
The longer tube with the hole in it is the vent for the tank. The small tube with a fitting goes to the gauge the larger one with a fitting goes to the fuel pump.
There are people who fix the temp gauges, One in Arizona I think.

[35fordtn]

Cas3,
Duece roadster nailed the operation. You can test the fuel gauge dash unit by filling to the empty mark, if you take your thumb and tap repeatedly on the connection and then immediately place your thumb over it... then increase the pressure with your thumb and you’ll see the fluid move. Kind of hard to explain without a video. Everything have to be air tight in the system for it to work properly. I’ve used thread sealant on the connections to insure such. As mentioned above they don’t read well until the car is moving. Also maybe others have had better luck but the longest I’ve ever had one work was 6 months.

[jimTN]

There is an excellent description of the hydrostatic gauge and how to service it in the Ford Service bulletins. Every EV8 owner should have a copy of them and they are available from most of the major peddlers.

[glennpm]

Here's the bulletin.


Glenn

[DavidG]

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Cas3,


Specifically the 1932 service bulletins regarding the description of how they work.


The chances that the tiny tubing between the glass tube and the connection to the air line on the back of the gauge is clogged are very close to 100%, even if it is a NOS gauge (foolishly, they were shipped with the red fluid in them, which is highly corrosive). With some metal prep or other suitable chemical, a fine wire such as that for a telephone, patience, and perseverance you should be able to unclog that tiny tubing and be on your way to a highly accurate working gauge.



P.S. Your tank unit looks fine.

[deuce_roadster]

I have restored several of these gauges and as DavidG said, the tube that attaches to the glass has a very small hole thru it. I use a piece of .023 MIG welding wire to carefully probe from both ends after letting it soak for a few days with metal etch in the glass tube. I have had probably 75% success unclogging the tubing. Also while having the gauge apart, cut a new piece of bright white paper to go behind the glass tube as the original is usually yellow and stained. You can buy a gasket kit and lens and "repair clips" to hold the gauge face and lens and bezel if the small tabs break off. A Qtip that you have removed the cotton from cleans the inside of the glass tube fairly well.

[DavidG]

A pipe cleaner works even better.

[cas3]

thank you all for the response. the frozen tundra is eased up a bit today so i will snow shoe over to the barn and rob the gauge out of the tudor. gas tank is in primer now, need to send the gauge out for repair, and check all hardware stores for the small nut.thank you glenn for the bulliten, i will report back when all parts of the puzzle are ready.

[32Bee]

The small nut you're missing should be a fairly easy find. Just make sure you
go to a hardware store that has a good selection of brass fittings. I live in NH
and the local Ace Hardware store is my best bet for stuff like that. Bring your
tank unit and small tubing with you. If, for some reason, you can't come up with
one try contacting a supplier that sells the whole fuel/airline set up and see if
they'll direct you to a supplier they buy the kits from.

[JMFL36]

I'm in the process of doing the same job on my '34 Phaeton. Question, where is the thin air tube from the gas tank supposed to be routed into the car and to the gauge?

[cas3]

it was originally a part of the gas line, soldered on i suspect, but it then obviously followed the same path up to the engine bay, then near the fuel pump, the little guy split off and went in to the dash thru the wire hole. roy nacowitz (?) sells the real line, fuel and air together

[JMFL36]

Thanks cas3. Does it go thru the firewall at the main wiring harness opening?

[cas3]

i do believe, as the only other hole is for speedo cable. but i am not the expert, lets see if i get corrected!

[JMFL36]

Here's a photo of a '32 I recently took at an AACA meet. It looks like it's routed thru the harness hole in the firewall.

[cas3]

that clamp looks different than 34, but the routeing makes sense

[dads34ford]

Very good info here guys last week I took a sending unit out of my 34s original tank. I had bought a Dennis carpenter tank but the bolt pattern on the sending unit doesn't seem to match up wondering if there is an adapter available .

[cas3]

got my kit from c&g, it does come with two nuts, and two ferrels. i also found this fordbarn link with great detail from the wizards here. arnold would say "i'll be back" https://fordbarn.com/forum/showthrea...1923&showall=1

[JMFL36]

I just got the hydrostatic gauge hooked back up in my '34. Had to replace the glass tube, thin copper line and brass reservoir. When reinstalling I had a problem getting an airtight connection at both ends of the tank-to-gauge air line, so I soldered the small fittings on both ends. Gauge now works great and is very accurate. Although I didn't start this thread I'd like to thanks everyone for all the great info here. Barn-or-bust!

[jimTN]

My problem has been getting a fluid that lasts.