You could do it by measuring the resistance of a certain number of wraps and dividing by the number of wraps to get the resistance per wrap. I noticed someone mentioned nichrome wire if we had the diameter or gauge of the wire I could figure it out assuming it is nichrome.
Has Anyone ever found a "Source" for the "Rub Strip" itself ? I have 2 gauges here with the wire on the Strip completely "disintegrated". oh, 1000 grit sandpaper works reals well to clean up the surfaces.
I have a closely related question : does anybody have a 3 view drawing or even just a sketch with the overall dimensions of the Fiero gas tank? I am using a non-GM fuel gauge in my OPM2000 Pantero Re-Body, and it would help to know the top to bottom distance of the shorter and taller portions of this tank since I may have to use an aftermarket sender to get the ohms needed to make my crazy Italian gauge read properly ! Cheers, Dave
I just wanted to say that this tip from the OP works really well.
Before my gauge used to jump all over the place so I took the sending unit apart and polished the resister. It reads almost perfect now, empty is at 1/4 a tank and full is about 1/4 above full. Once I re-position the needle on the gauge it should be perfect.
I'll be doing this soon. There are a couple good sized dents in the tank, it's in good shape, I think the dents were from a forklift, this tank wasn't original. What's the best way to get them out?
[This message has been edited by Stainless1911 (edited 04-04-2014).]
Hey fellas, I wanted to attempt this repair on my 84. It has been sitting for 12 years so of course everything varnished up and I lost the fuel pump as well as level indication. I sent the tank out to a radiator shop and figured I would soak the sending unit in Vinegar. I have used the vinegar trick several times on motorcycle tanks and the like with great success; however I found the downside of this process. Vinegar will eat the material inside the potentiometer that the coils are wrapped around. so let me be the cautionary tale. DO NOT SOAK SENDING UNIT IN VINEGAR. Fortunately The Fiero Store now has sending units in stock again, so I can source one there while I try and find the correct POT to repair the old one.
Today I checked my sender since I had dropped the tank. The car hasn't run in 14 years, so I couldn't recall if the sender worked or not. At any rate, the resistance readings were all over the place. Looking around for help, I found this thread. So I took the potentiometer apart. Sure enough, it was varnished and dirty. So I cleaned it up with scotchbrite and contact cleaner, and now it works. Sort of. The reading was still erratic. So, I looked at it closer, and realized that the ground reference for the potentiometer is through the lever arm. Which has a sloppy fit to the case that is crimped on...well, you get the idea. So I measured resistance grounded on the lever arm itself, and it is perfect and no more erratic readings. So tomorrow I'm going to figure out how to attach a ground wire to the lever. Will let you know how it goes.
