A tale of two senders....

[Bren]

The fuel level sender unit on my SD1 packed in. Being an EFi it is more expensive than a standard carb one.

 

 

 

A pity really because it looked quite new and in stark contrast to the used one I was given to try-

 

 

 

 

This one looked like it had come from the boiler room of the general belgrano - it was fucked as well.

 

So I opened it up -

 

 

 

The float is attached to a metal strip which runs over the plastic that has wire coiled around it. The arm has worn through the wire - I can only assume it is some sort of resistance wire.

I could get a new one from Rimming bros. for around £50, however the whole thing looks a bit heath robinson and I not convinced it would last very long as to be fair, the whole thing is a bit shit. Good to see AR were using turd like this in top of the range motors.

Anybody repaired one of these? Any ideas how I could do it myself?

[New POD]

 Any ideas how I could do it myself?

 

I'm not an electronics expert, but I guess any Sender unit until about erm 2015, will probably have a potentiometer in it, so It's a case of "making it fit"

[beko1987]

Tin foil and glue?

[Eddie Honda]

Anybody repaired one of these? Any ideas how I could do it myself?

 

Resistance wire and shit-load of patience? (or pay some bloke who has said items)

 

DSCF4979a.JPG by E Honda, on Flickr

 

I couldn't tell you what resistance that wire is in ohms per metre or whatever units. I think it is nickel chrome or something. All these old Smiths ones do that and folk repair them. e.g. http://www.jdo1.com/Other-Services.html

[Eddie Honda]

See also post on #6 on this for the tight mingebag solution: http://xwebforums.org/showthread.php?t=14295

 

a) Carefully unbunch the windings at the fuller end of the coil and gain a bit of slack

b ) twist wires together so the join lies on an unswept zone.

c) reassemble and head to pub.

[hauserplenty]

You might have enough parts to make one that works out of the two. A multimeter set to the ohms scale, connected to the terminals should show 0 ohms, (and/or make a beeeep sound) which should steadily increase as the float is raised. If possible, test it plugged into the car before you reassemble it. Grounding the wire to the sender should dime the fuel gauge in around 20 seconds' time.

Empty=0, full= 3K or so. Your mileage may vary.

Then head to the pub.

[Station]

As said easy to fix in theory. I don't think your could solder them as they're probably oxidised.

[Bren]

Am I a mingebag? Possibly - however the whole thing looks so dodgy I would sooner attempt a repair than fork out on a new one that may not last very long.

[spike60]

From memory when I was a kid and loved taking things to bits Rover seem to use Scalextrix 1960's technology. Get yourself in the loft for an old style pistol grip handset and get the resistor or the wire out!

 

[colnerov]

Hi, they are all pretty much the same, as is Lucas,s way. So just get another one, the cheapest are usually Land Rover or Mini parts suppliers and change the resistor pack over in the box.

 

 Colin

[Clanger]

Bren - I think you were looking for SD1 bits recently - can't remember though...

 

Anyway, someone on TCRF posted a link to an ebay seller that may have a few SD1's for breaking.

http://www.classicroverforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=21774&p=181579#p181579

[Squire_Dawson]

It was typical of the engineering of the time, fortunately they can easily be repaired with some knowledge of electronics.