Mike kZ Posted January 31, 2001 Share Posted January 31, 2001 Hey Pete, in another post you mentioned getting the Ford fuel gauge to read full and empty correctly with the Datsun fuel sender. Did you come up with anything yet? ------------------ http://members.tripod.com/~SnowSurfer/mikekz1.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted February 1, 2001 Share Posted February 1, 2001 Hey, if you could post the Ford part number for the sender, I can try to get you the specs for it. The part number should be a 3-part number, like f5cz-14a464-aa, or similar (that won't be it, but you get the idea ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted February 5, 2001 Share Posted February 5, 2001 It really depends on what your Datsun sender reads at Full and Empty. I have three, and they all read a bit differently. Taking the average of the resistance values for Empty for the senders I get about 88 ohms. The average value for full is about 8 ohms. The stock Ford sender (according to Autometer) is 73 ohms Empty, and 8-12 ohms full. So to use the stock Datsun sender and have the gage for the Ford fuel level to read Full when the Datsun sender is at full, and the gage to read Empty when the Datsun sender is at empty, you need to add some resistors to the circuit. Here's the circuit that will make the gage read full and empty with the Datsun sender: You need to hook a 2 ohm resistor to the fuel sender output at the tank, then hook the sender wire that went to the stock gage to the Ford type gage sensor terminal (I used the Autometer Pro-Comp, PN 5416). Then hook a 380 ohm resistor to the sensor terminal and the other side of the resistor to ground. These two resistors will change the sensitivity and offset of the Ford gage to match the Full and Empty signal from the Datsun sender. No telling if it will be correct between empty and full! The Ford movement appears to be more non-linear than the Datsun gage, so it may read 1/4 tank when you have 1/2 tank. You might need to experiment with different values of resistors to get it to work right at E and F. If somebody wants the equations to solve for the resistors, let me know. Hope that helps, ------------------ Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project pparaska@home.com Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted February 5, 2001 Author Share Posted February 5, 2001 Thanks, Pete! Did you try this yet? What about using a variable resistor where the 380 ohm one is, to adjust for F and E? would that work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted February 8, 2001 Share Posted February 8, 2001 Sorry, I was away on work/travel and then a (shortened) vacation. The 380 ohm adjusts the "range" of the meter. The 2 ohm adjusts the "offset of the meter, mostly affecting the Full reading. I tried it with one of the senders I had out of the tank and it was good with these values. I need to get my tank full to mak the final resistor selection, since I can't find the notes I made for the full and empty outputs of the new sender in the tank. The problem with a variable resistor is that they wander a bit, especially the cheaper carbon based ones. A wire wound potentiometer would be better. I tend to just keep trying different resistors and combinations of parallel and series resistors to the the effective resistance that works best. I also have a resistance "decade box" that I can adjust from 1 ohm to 10Megohm with rotary switches for each decade - makes it real easy! You still have to find a resistor or parallel/series set of resistors that will actually give the resistance you need. They have a tolerance and for this type of small resistance, it can really add up and screw you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted February 8, 2001 Author Share Posted February 8, 2001 Pete, did you forget about me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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