Morris Minor Owners Club

The faul gauge on my 1969 Traveller is not showing a true reading.
If I fill it up to the brim it is on half full,a few miles down the road and is saying nearly empty.
Have taken out the sender for a look at the float and it seems to be fine so do I just buy a new sender or should I look elsewhere?

when you have taken the sender out of the fuel tank, run an earth wire to the car from the sender and turn it upside down. do you then get a full reading or is it still half?

If you get a full reading with it upside down you then need to bend the wire with the float on it to allow for the full deflection when it is in the tank.

I realise that this is probably unlikely but worth a go before you spend any money.

I have no idea how to check the fuel gauge to rule that out..

Which way was the float pointing when fitted?
I have a feeling it can catch on the side of the tank if it's in the wrong direction.

If you earth the wire to the sender the gauge should read full, if it doesn't start looking at the gauge, not the sender.

The fact that it goes down to zero from half-full v quickly suggests to me that the sender it's not compatible with the gauge.......

Was going to have a look at this tomorrow but could not resist one go, so earthed the wire going to the sender.
The gauge went to just over half which is a tad more then it's been upto. This proved that that wire when earthed showed
as full as per the reading when a filled the tank but it did not show upto the full mark.Hope that makes sense?
I've a feeling that the clock was changed just before my good lady bought this car a few years ago,the old MOT's
say the clock should read 70k now but only reads 45k. So has the faul gauge not been working since then?
If I buy a new sender will it work correctly? Looking at senders on the Web they all come with a gasket mainley made of cork
But there is no gasket on mine will this make the difference?
Alan

The fact that the gauge didn't go up to full shows the fault is there, as Roy says it may be the wrong gauge for the sender.
Not sure if a fault on the 10 volt regulator could be a culprit.

I'm amazed the car doesn't stink of petrol and the sender leak when the tanks full as there is no cork gasket.

Looking at the 10v unit this morning,try and gave it a clean up and see if it works then.
Will buy a gasket today.

Checked the wiring, cleaned the connections in the complete system and still the same.
Time to sit down with a cup of tea and collect me thoughts.
The good part is the system is so easy

What colour is the replacement speedo gold or black?
To test the output of the 10 volt regulator you need an old fashioned meter with a needle, on a digital meter it will look all over the place as it just averages out at 10 volts.

Any chance the needle is getting caught up somehow?

Have bought a new 10v stabliser and waiting for delivery with the new cork gasket.
The clock is black which is correct,

Could not find a new 10v stabliser so bought a second hand unit from ESM for a fiver and a pound postage and it works.
Was going to look for a new unit but if it works then fine but if I find one I will buy it.
Thanks for your help.
Alan

Result!
The quality of "new" parts can be quite suspect anyway, you have probably done the right thing.