Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Here's some good repair guides for your Tercel :) Look here for help first!
xirdneh
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Re: Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Post by xirdneh »

very good
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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lannvouivre
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Re:

Post by lannvouivre »

Iain wrote:...other than the sender being under the carpet in the trunk area on the al25....its the same...
Awwww, maaaaan! The carpet in the white Tercel is really gross. Why couldn't you just LIE to me?!

Huff! I guess I'll just have to rip the carpet out and burn it.
But...did you try hitting it with a hammer?
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irowiki
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Re: Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Post by irowiki »

it's under the bottom right corner of the cargo area, easy to get to
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lannvouivre
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Re: Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Post by lannvouivre »

irowiki wrote:it's under the bottom right corner of the cargo area, easy to get to
Yeah, but I'll still have to feel the slimy grimy feeling through my gloves!
But...did you try hitting it with a hammer?
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cabinguyvt
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My tercel:: 1983 SR5 4x4 wagon
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Re: Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Post by cabinguyvt »

Perfect!! Got mine out and thought no way this is ever going to work again....cleaned it all up, tested per your instructions, ought to work. Re-installed in car, and low warning fuel light came on, then gauge started creeping up the gauge. What a help all these tips are!
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Jonymoto
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Re: Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Post by Jonymoto »

Does anybody know how to make the needle on the fuel gauge line up with the full mark when the tank is full? At the moment it stays between 3/4 and full. I have the same problem with my wife's 2003 Rav4.
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dlb
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Re: Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Post by dlb »

the repairs mentioned in this thread should fix your gauge not reading full. it's usually due to some kind of buildup on the contacts on the fuel sender so it just needs a cleaning.
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Jonymoto
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My tercel:: 1983, DLX 4wd wagon with 4.1 manual gearbox, tow bar). Manual steering. 313,000 kms. Tercel 4WD SR5, 1987, 500,000kms. Other car - 2003 Rav4, AWD, 2l manual, Peugeot 407 Diesel (93,000 miles) in Ireland for use when on holiday there.
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Re: Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Post by Jonymoto »

Thanks dlb, I will pull it out tonight and clean it with carburettor cleaner. The other thing I noticed is that when the tank is almost empty, the needle goes down much lower than the empty mark. It's almost like the range from empty to full has shifted.
When you lose, don't lose the lesson - The Dalai Lama
jaydee911
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Re: Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Post by jaydee911 »

Pesky to say the least. I set my timing and thought I was getting amazingly better fuel economy!

Nop. Gauge diddnt move for a week of driving to work in back. (20 km a day)

So went to go pull my unit (no pun intended) and the 6 Phillips holding it are rusted to shit. Only could turn one screw :(

Weird thing to is after plugging it back in the needle dropped from just over half to just under... WHY MUST YOU LIE TO ME!?

emergency j can of gas in the back smells bad but will due for now lol.
87 tercel wagon
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Petros
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Re: Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Post by Petros »

use your miles to confirm how much fuel you burn. II reset the trip odo every time I fill up as a back up to my gauge. though my gauge is working fine, the more info on how the car is running the better. bad fuel economy indicates something needs to be fixed.

soak the sender screws in ATF, clean out the philips heads with solvent and compressed air if possible, and put your weight on them when try and back them off. might help to give each one a sharp wrap with a hammer before you try. Several days with ATF on it usually is all it will need, it is the best penetrating oil yet invented.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
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xirdneh
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Re: Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Post by xirdneh »

use a vice grip
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
JDNightFox
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Re: Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Post by JDNightFox »

None of the pictures are showing up in here because I guess they're too old to be maintained

I've been having the same issues mentioned in here and I pulled the sending unit out with no issues (no rusted screws, no rust on sender itself, it looks pretty new still)

I jumped the connector and the needle went up to the full line so it's not the gauge
What exactly am I looking for on the sender to bend / clean / fix? that metal box thing at the top that's sealed doesn't look like it can be pulled apart
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ARCHINSTL
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Re: Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Post by ARCHINSTL »

JDNightFox wrote:None of the pictures are showing up in here because I guess they're too old to be maintained
waynehoc's have disappeared, but those of tercle, Mad_Marx, and 4wdEconoBox appear to me.
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Petros
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Re: Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Post by Petros »

JDNightFox wrote:What exactly am I looking for on the sender to bend / clean / fix? that metal box thing at the top that's sealed doesn't look like it can be pulled apart
no need to pull it apart (in fact, I would not). there is a metal leaf with a contact on the end that slides over a fine wire coil (wire wrapped around a card), it changes the resistance as it sweeps over the coiled wire, which is how it changes the reading on the gauge. you do not have to have corrosion present for it not to work.

Inspect the contact carefully, it must make contact the full distance though the arc of movement. you should clean off the contact and the coil with very fine steel wool (clean it up good when done), or a pink pencil erasure. IF it dose not make contact you can carefully bend the metal leaf so it puts light contact pressure on the coil. Usually that is all you need to do. but also check all the other electrical contacts in the system for continuity, sometimes you get corrosion in the contacts that is not obvious.

good luck.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
JDNightFox
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Re: Repairing that awful fuel sender unit

Post by JDNightFox »

You no longer have to repair your sending unit if you don’t want to

there are new sending units available through the company I have been in contact with in Taiwan

See thread:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15246&p=111958
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