Tuesday,, Sept. 7, 2021
I posted some photos from our cruise to Taylorsville Saturday on Facebook, and Lisa, the widow of the man who owned the car all those years, let me know that the Plymouth’s gas gauge has NEVER worked correctly — which explains why we’ve run it out of fuel twice!
I had to laugh — it all makes sense now! I had believed the gauge worked properly; the guy I bought it from never mentioned the gas gauge being inaccurate. So now, I’m left wondering … is the problem the dash gauge or the sending unit in the tank??
I’m betting the problem is the sending unit in the tank — but unless I drop the tank and buy a replacement, I’ll never know. There’s a classic Mopar parts dealer who sells reproduction sending units and reproduction tanks, and neither is cheap. The sending unit is $165 alone, and the tank is $350.
However, tonight I located a replacement sending unit with the gasket and locking ring for $60 — quite a deal. I hit the Buy It Now immediately. There’s a reproduction of the special locking ring tool on ebay too, and I’m thinking of springing the $20 for the tool.
Once the cruising season is done, I plan to drain the tank and drop it and replace the sending unit. I probably should run the checks on the wiring as recommended in the manual, but I’m guess that the sending unit is the problem. If not, then its time to replace the fuel gauge!