Gas gauge question

[Wayne Kever]

The gas gauge on my wife's '54 does not work, it shows dead empty all the time as if the key was off.

So I took the voltmeter to it and discovered that the terminal the hot wire from the ignition connects to is open (infinite resistance) with respect to ground and with respect to the terminal the sending unit connects to. This is probably due to 12V being connected directly to the hot terminal instead of using a voltage reducer (the car was converted to 12V, but not very neatly). I expect the electromagnet coil burned up. The sending unit terminal on the gauge shows ~25 Ohms to ground.

I'm thinking that the '54 Corvette gas gauge must be the same (except for the gauge face printing, maybe) as the '54 passenger car. Has anyone on the list opened one of these up and tried to substitute a good mechanism from a passenger car?

Hoping to fix something cheaply for a change,

- Wayne

[Fred Oliva]

Re: Gas gauge question

Wayne,

The part number for the gas tank sender for 53-55 Corvettes is 1517911. The part number for the gas tank sender for 53-54 Passenger cars is 1517761. Different parts. I suspect that it would be a challenge to modify one to fit the requirements of the other.

The gauge in the instrument panels have different part numbers also.

These part numbers are from a 1964 dated parts book, so the actual part numbers may have changed from the original. However, the fact that GM is stocking different parts for the Corvette & passenger car 10 years later probably means that the parts are REALLY different.

Hope this helps....

Fred Oliva

[Fred Oliva]

Re: Gas gauge question

Wayne,

The part number for the gas tank sender for 53-55 Corvettes is 1517911. The part number for the gas tank sender for 53-54 Passenger cars is 1517761. Different parts. I suspect that it would be a challenge to modify one to fit the requirements of the other.

The gauge in the instrument panels have different part numbers also.

These part numbers are from a 1964 dated parts book, so the actual part numbers may have changed from the original. However, the fact that GM is stocking different parts for the Corvette & passenger car 10 years later probably means that the parts are REALLY different.

Hope this helps....

Fred Oliva

[Craig Nicol]

Re: Gas gauge question

Wayne, I suspect that you are correct about the guage coil burning up due either to hi current or age. In my experience, the tiny wire gets cooked where it leaves the coil and heads to a solder connection at the terminal. If you have experience with soldering ICs, you may be able to repair it. Your theory about the mechanism being similar to the passenger car is most likely true. However, I have done that kind of stuff and I can tell you this: You'll probably be time, money and hair ahead just sending the guage out to one of the vendors and getting it back good as new and calibrated. If you decide to try to do it yourself, get a good sending unit and bench calibrate the guage. As far as voltage reduction is concerned, AC guages work best with a very stable voltage source. Ran Francis makes a good one (transistorized) that is about $35.

[Craig Nicol]

Re: Gas gauge question

Wayne, I suspect that you are correct about the guage coil burning up due either to hi current or age. In my experience, the tiny wire gets cooked where it leaves the coil and heads to a solder connection at the terminal. If you have experience with soldering ICs, you may be able to repair it. Your theory about the mechanism being similar to the passenger car is most likely true. However, I have done that kind of stuff and I can tell you this: You'll probably be time, money and hair ahead just sending the guage out to one of the vendors and getting it back good as new and calibrated. If you decide to try to do it yourself, get a good sending unit and bench calibrate the guage. As far as voltage reduction is concerned, AC guages work best with a very stable voltage source. Ran Francis makes a good one (transistorized) that is about $35.