Modified or standard fuel sender unit? Advice please!

[greymrj]

greymrj said:

The problem with any alternative sender unit, and there is more than one which will fit into this hole, is to get the length of arm and the position of the float correct so that an empty tank has the contact at the bottom of the arc and the full tank has the contact at the top of the arc. You have little choice but to bend the wire until you achieve that. I think you will find, for example, that the Landrover Defender unit is initially too long and actually hits the first baffle in the tank so it reads the same over about 70% of the tank level.

Car Builder Solutions and Demon Tweeks do a generic unit which will fit the opening, and has two terminals, but you will need to adjust it to match the fuel level range in the tank. I got it reasonably close, and even fitted a small 'paddle' on the wire to act as a damper. Unfortunately the 'generic' unit recently seems to have given up the ghost after less than 2 years.

While we are SCH I am going to look at one where the float position is adjustable that Car Builder Solutions are bringing. Might offer an easier solution

[Oldred_V8S]

jim290s said:

I've ordered a new landrover defender sender unit and locking ring. If I'm going to go through the hassle of re-sealing the sender anyway, it may as well be a brand new one! This job has now fallen a little down the TVR list as my alternator has now packed in...
Don't want to change the theme of the thread too drastically, but has anyone got advice on where to source a new one.
The one on my car is exactly the same as this but I don't fancy spending £132 unless this is the only option.

There are plenty of places that will repair and refurbish a lot cheaper than buying a new one. I don't understand why some people immediately think buy new. Let's keep the small people in business, it would be a shame if they vanished.

[jim290s]

phillpot said:

No secrets here, what brand of "super goop" have you used?

I used Hylomar Universal Blue, which states it is fuel resistant... I'm yet to top the tank up and see how resistant it actually is.

Oldred_V8S said:

There are plenty of places that will repair and refurbish a lot cheaper than buying a new one. I don't understand why some people immediately think buy new. Let's keep the small people in business, it would be a shame if they vanished.

I did end up taking it to llandaff recons in Cardiff for a re-furb, only for the chap to tell me that there was nothing wrong with it. Currently waiting for my replacement alternator lamp/resistor combo to turn up so I'll see whether that fixes the problem by this weekend.

[jim290s]

As a final follow-up on the alternator issue, I ordered a new alternator warning lamp of the variety that phillpot suggested on the assumption that they are around 1.5W standard, as that's what a couple of internet sites quoted them as. Also ordered a 20 Ohm 4W rated resistor and wired this up in series with the lamp. Fitted both, and the alternator is now charging again! As instructed by the TVR handbook, the charging only starts after the throttle is blipped, and the light goes out over about 2000 rpm in my case (probably due to the resistor and lamp combo i've used). I'll remember to pay a bit more attention to these lamps in future... Thanks for the advice all!