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How do you calibrate a fuel gauge?

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bellj View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bellj Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: How do you calibrate a fuel gauge?
    Posted: 05-May-2019 at 4:23AM
My car is a 72 Gran Torino with a GT gauge cluster. I replaced the fuel sender and now the fuel gauge does not read correctly. I removed the fuel gauge from the cluster. On the back of the gauge there seems to be 2 places to adjust the gauge. 1 adjustment in the upper left of the gauge and one on the lower right of the gauge. Does anyone know what these adjustments do? Does 1 adjust the full and the other adjust the empty? I tried calibrating the the gauge using the adjusters but I don't seem to be making any progress. Any help would be greatly appreciated
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Rockatansky View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rockatansky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-May-2019 at 7:51AM
bend the float rod in the tank, where the discrepancy began
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote californiajohnny Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-May-2019 at 9:22AM
if you have the old one compare them to see if the rod is the same distance from the pivot point to the float can affect the ratio and the distance it has to travel up and down from F to E, may just need bent? also check that the float isn't hitting the pick tube or something, limiting it movement???
JOHN
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77 CELICA CUSTOM
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Big Bird Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-May-2019 at 1:22PM
Is the sender for the same size tank?
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bellj View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bellj Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-May-2019 at 3:31AM
Before I installed the new sender in the tank. I compared the original one to the new one. They are identical. I would prefer not to bend anything. I may be off a bit, but bending the float arm seems to be a band aid approach to fixing the problem. What I really want to do is adjust the fuel gauge to match the new sender. Does anyone know what the 2 adjustments in the fuel gauge do? 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rockatansky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-May-2019 at 12:27PM
never heard of any adjustments on the gauge

did you happen to ohm the rheostats in each sender before you installed the new one?

bending the float arm is no big deal, it's the only way to correlate the bottom and top of the tank with the throw of the sender.

if it seems like a band-aid approach, all it needs is a band-aid
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hogfiddles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-May-2019 at 12:39PM
Originally posted by Rockatansky Rockatansky wrote:

bend the float rod in the tank, where the discrepancy began


Exactly right---- it doesn't take much of a bend to change it, either
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote californiajohnny Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-May-2019 at 2:35PM
never noticed if the fuel gauge had those adjustments? but the water temps do, i contemplated adjusting the sport temp as it read high but i just put my std temp gauge in it
 yes resistance value is very important when it comes to fuel gauges! mainly when swapping to aftermarket fuel gauges as they are a different resistance range when using the stock sender....probably not the case here but just a thought
JOHN
74 GRAN TORINO S&H CLONE
74 VETTE CUSTOM
90 S10 BLAZER 4X4 LIFTED
77 CELICA CUSTOM
75 V8 MONZA SUPERCHARGED
79 COURIER VERT. SLAMMED
75 VEGA V6 5 SPD
70 CHEV C10 P/U
68 MUSTANG FB CONVERSION
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