As you may, or may not have known, the sending unit in my 88GT was toast and the "fix" that was listed for it by others here on the board didn’t for some reason work w/ mine, so I was forced to see what else was available for it.

You can read about it here: Tank Sending Unit Original Thread

Anyhoo, I talked w/ Summit Racing, and stated that I needed the o - 9o Ohm sending unit, and they suggested that I get the VDO unit that they sell for 29.99. Pt# 226 oo8D

Here's what came in the mail:

Once I received it, I went to work and as you can see, I completely removed the original sending unit, the handle, and all that is assorted with it all together. This is necessary to get the new VDO unit in it's place.

I had to bend the bracket that the VDO sending unit rests on, being that the way that this is set, you have to have it pointed to the front of the car. In the tank, there is what looks like a plastic baffle that is directly in the way of the movement of the armature and will cause you to not get the correct reading in the gauge.

I didn’t take any pics of the bent material, but as you can see installed on the original equipment, it's a pretty good double bend, so that you can swing the new unit out and around the fuel pump and the pulsator.

Here is the best pic that I took of it than you can see the angle in which the VDO bracket is bent to clear the obstructions:

With the unit now bent, you are going to re-drill the holes that are going to mount the actual sending unit to the bracket, and install. Place the bracket on the original equipment, and using the supplied nuts and bolts.

**NOTE**
With this unit, and the fact that the measured height of the tank at the top is 10", you are going to need to make sure that the pivot point of the new sending unit, where the arm rotates, is 5" from the top of the tank. Once this is completed, you can drill and place the new unit on it's bracket as seen here:

Set the new length that is listed in the instruction manual for the floater, test when hooked up to your gauge, and then reinstall into the tank.

I did notice that I was not able to get o Ohms when I hooked it up to the Fluke, ( 5.2 was the lowest ) so when installed into the car, I didn’t get all the way to the "E" It was ½ a line away from the "E" and I figured that if I was that low anyhow, I knew that I was about to get out and start to "hoof it" anyhow…

I will say, that reinstalling the tank w/ fuel in it at o215 is just insane, but hey….its in there and now it actually works like advertised!

Sorry I didn’t get a step by step account, but w/ the old out, the new in your hand you should be able to get the "jist" of what needs to be done.

Enjoy;
--Mcaanda

[This message has been edited by mcaanda (edited 01-14-2004).]

Beautiful job and write up !

So you took the VDO sending unit and adapted it to the stock unit?....... OUTSTANDING JOB.............Paul

Great Work and Thanks !!!

Awesome write up and pics... thanks.

------------------

Very good work!
But let me ask you a question....
Why did you need a new one?
Was the old one unrepairable?

The OEM senders are so uncomplicated that I just can't fathom buying a aftermarket unit.

No flame intended here...it's a great write up, just curious.

good job

but to get the pointer to hit "E"
just move it
the pointer is just pressed on the guage shaft
eazy to pop off and move to the corect spot
btw most pointers over read
ie go over "F" when full
and most will read better if indexed to be on "F" when full
NOT OVER THE "F" LINE
then they will read "E" or much nearer to"E"
and remember it take a few clicks on a station pump to fill a Fiero to the top

I like to repoint the guage FIRST as it just may save droping the tank

DONOT risk running the tank dry as that can FRY the fuelpump
to get the true "E"

------------------
Question wonder and be wierd
are you kind?

[This message has been edited by ray b (edited 01-14-2004).]

quote Originally posted by ray b: good job but to get the pointer to hit "E" just move it the pointer is just pressed on the guage shaft eazy to pop off and move to the corect spot btw most pointers over read ie go over "F" when full and most will read better if indexed to be on "F" when full NOT OVER THE "F" LINE then they will read "E" or much nearer to"E" and remember it take a few clicks on a station pump to fill a Fiero to the top I like to repoint the guage FIRST as it just may save droping the tank DONOT risk running the tank dry as that can FRY the fuelpump to get the true "E"

I think it would be better to make the adjustments on the sender. Prop up the unit, get a DMM and measure the OHMS on the full and empty making the adjustments there unti they read acurately. Just my opinion.

quote Originally posted by intlcutlass: Why did you need a new one? Was the old one unrepairable?

Yes, & yes...I tried and it was to no avail.

quote Originally posted by intlcutlass: The OEM senders are so uncomplicated that I just can't fathom buying a aftermarket unit.

I totally agree, if you were even able to obtain one. I have looked at a number of different places to locate one, and after finding out that you can do this, Im actually glad that I didnt find one.

Even if you were able to locate one, why? They are selling for well over $2oo.oo-$3oo.oo from the dealer and aftermaret sources like AZ and Pep Boys. This is a fix that will consist of less than $4o.oo and about 3 hours of your time including dropping the tank.
Being that I replaced the pump with one that is for a Vette to feed the 38oo SC, I was not in need of an entire unit, which is how that are comming from those that are selling ones that are for the Duke.

Thanx for the compliments tho!

While I've got the tank dropped to do this....

Should I go ahead and install a Corvette fuel pump even if I'm not ready to swap in a bigger engine yet?

In other words, I replaced the fuel pump about a year and a half ago when it quit with a stock GM pump which is working fine, but as a Preventative Maintenance sort of thing and looking towards future mods, will the Corvette pump push "too much" fuel to the injectors or build too much pressure and cause leaks with a stock 2.8?

Thanx,

Rob

P.S. Sorry to hijack this excellent write up thread...

Woo, just about like I described in the other thread. That's 99% exactly how I did mine. I mounted the VDO sender a bit lower than you did I think, (tried to put the VDO pivot exactly where the factory pivot was) and bent up the float arm to resemble the factory arm. Except for me needing the backwards ohm reading, that's just how I went about it. I even have the pump for the 3800 installed too. Works great, doesn't it? Good job!

------------------
Bob Williams
Multi-colored '87 Mutt, a work in progress! (3800SC installation in super-slow-motion progress... I turn the key and it starts, I turn the key off and it stops. I give it gas and the axles spin. WOOHOO!! It works!! It works!! It works!! Did I mention IT WORKS!?!?)

Good Info!

I guess I got lucky on mine... I just needed to clean it, re-solder the board making it truely 0-90 ohms, tested it a bunch before re-installing. For me, this was a free fix.

For the guy that was asking for it, so that it dosent hit the archive just yet!