Any ideas on what might be wrong.... the tank doesnt have holes in it, could the celenoid be broken or something? AND, im thinking of lowering my car....is there an easy way to get the springs out and cut them? will the suspension or anything else be affected if i do that?
Pull the signal wire off the fuel level sender (the one in the tank), with it off, the guage should be all the way one way, then ground it (stick it to something metallic on the body), the gauge should go all the way the other way. If it does this the problem is with the sender, if not, it is the gauge or the wire to the gauge. If nothing happens at the gauge doing the first test, move on to this one. With the signal wire still off at the tank, ground the signal post on the back of the gauge, the needle should move all the way in one direction. If it doesn't the gauge has a problem. If it does, there is a problem with the wire from the tank to the gauge. If the second test points at the gauge, check for proper power and ground. If it has good power and ground, the problem is internal. Start looking for someone to rebuild it, or for a new one. As for the other questions... what kind of car is it? And, lowering the front spring height will change your camber, but an alignment should be able to take care of that, as long as you don't get too carried away
2 coils may be a bit much. I'd start with one and see what it gets you. Guesstimate will be about two inch drop per coil. Individual results may vary. I coulda swore you were from California. I was gonna say, if I lived in California my gas gauge would be stuck on E also.
Try running a ground from the corner of the tank to the frame. Just drill a hole in the corner of the tank outside of where the top and bottom of the tank is welded together and fasten a wire with a sheet metal screw to the tank. Run the wire from there to a clean spot on the frame. If the tank looses it's ground from rust and crud the gage will not work.
I betcha the float is sunk. Fords from that Era used a hollow brass barrel that cracks and eventually fills up with gas. I have found a holley bowl float ( the phenolic ones) are easily adapted to take thier place. it's a 1 zip tie job. ( or a single peice of safety wire if you're all "high tech" like me.) make your Dad/Brother/significant other pull the sending unit ( because it will surely involve gasoline in your armpits.) and check it out by simply shaking it. if it feels like a half full soda can, problem solved! then, to be sure that is the problem, do this. you will need a volt/Ohm meter. ( someone near you has one. they're gonna look at you like you have lost your mind when you ask for it. ) take the sending unit ( no need to have it hooked up to the car, by the way) and attach the BLACK lead to the body of the unit- the part you can see from the outside of the tank. take the red lead and attach it to the little post that had the wire runing to it. switch the dial on the Ohm meter to "Ohms" which one is it? the spot with the "Omega" symbol on it ( upside down capitol "U") and move the arm up and down. If I am right, in the "empty" position, you should have around 30, and in the "full" position, around 200. (Ohms, that is.) What did you just test? The amount of resistance the guage has. Hand it back to ol' Gassy Pits and tell him to put a new float on it.
No need to do any adapting. The floats are readily available at any Ford dealer. eBay too. Very little to no difference between a broad range of makes and models of cars. I think I paid about $8 or so. Maybe less.
my dad was telling me that we could just do it ourselves, but that car is soo rusted out, im scared of breaking the bolts trying to get the tank open, then have to drill them out. i was thinking of taking it in to get that looked at, but then ill be charged up the ass to get that fixed. Sooo, i suppose ill go out in the garage and oil up those bolts and hopefully get them off.
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