I am looking to fix up my interior in the future and need a little tid-bit of info about the fuel guage. I need to know the full/empty ohms ratings of the stock sending unit for a 1980. Unfortunatly I am FAR away from my car and cant go measure it myself for about a year and i'm wanting to get all preped up for when I go back.

Thanks for the help!

 

7 ohms is full, 32.5 is half, and 95 is empty as per the 85 service manual. Not sure about a possible difference in the 80 though. I would think so IF the part number is different (sending unit part number). Hope that helps some.

Edit -

AT THE SENDING UNIT:

Full: 1-5 ohms
Half: 28.5-36.5 ohms
Empty: 103-107 ohms

 

Ihave a GM 0-90 ohm sending unit in a fuel cell that I modifed to reverse the resistance curve so it would be compatible with my Mazda guage. I also had to add a 10 ohm resistor inline. It now outputs closer to 100 when empty. I could care less if it's accurate when full. I'm more interested in the near empty reading so I don't run out of gas.

I don't know if you can use any of this info, but I suppose since GM guages are quite common, you might consider one if you decided to get a fuel cell as well.

 

How does one test the sending unit when it is out of the tank. I can do most things on my car, but when it comes to the eletrical side, I fall flat on my face.

Not trying trying to jack your thread, but I thought it might be nice to know how to test them.

 

Just hook the output terminal (signal) and the housing (ground) to an ohm meter and move the lever arm up and down. The resistance should change from high to low.

 

That's what I tried, so either I did it wrong, or have 2 bad senders. One didn't work in the car, had poor repair on one of the wire connections.

 

that sounds something like what I remember, thanks for the info i'll work with that