VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 1941Gas Gauge

The gas gauge on my '41 Special Deluxe 5 pass. coupe indicates almost empty at all times. The indicator moves a little so I suspect the gauge is ok and the sending unit is bad.
I have a repair manual but it does not show or tell about removing and installing a new sending unit. Could someone walk me through removing and installing a new sending unit.
Pictures would be helpful. Thanks JIM

Let's see what we have going first. Place the back of the car on stands. Up over the differential area, on top of the tank, you can find the sending unit. Remove the single wire. With a jumper cable connect to the wire, find a place where you are positive of obtaining a ground. Turn on the ignition key, observe the action, connect the jumper wire to the selected location. Observe the action.

Did the needle (don't forget to turn the key off) go fully to each end of the dial? If it did we will go to the next step.

Connect the wire back to the sending unit. Clean a good spot on the SENDING UNIT, use the jumper wire to touch that spot and your chosen spot on the confirmed ground. Confirm you have needle movement in each on/off condition. If the gage reacts normally you have a bad ground connection at the sending unit. Remove one of the screws and place a jumper from that screw to a screw you place in the floor pan. Clean an area to bare metal, punch a hole with an awl, use a sheet metal screw to attach the jumper wire. Job finished.

Other condition. If in the first case, you remove the sending wire, ground it, switch on/off, no reaction------bad dash gage, poor ground at the gage, no voltage. If this is the case come back here and give exact results and we will help in that direction.

Back to the confirmed bad sending unit. Remove the 1/8 NP plug and drain as much fuel as possible. Replace the plug. (Did you turn the key off). Under the RR fender is a joint in the filler line with a hose with two clamps, loosen the clamps, twist the hose to insure it is loose. Remove the fuel line. Tie a baggie or piece of rubber over the end. Remove the nuts on each tank strap. A shot of your favorite loosen-er would be nice. Run one almost off and then do the other, now one man can hold the tank up and remove the two nuts. Drop the tank down and start the work of removing the fill pipe from the hose. Remove the tank to an outside location where you can place the tank on a table. Remove and install the new sending unit. This is a major project if using an after market unit and I will not address that problem unless we need it.

The tank is no more difficult to replace than it was removing.

Now it's off to work and COME BACK AND REPORT RESULTS.

Ray: I am a newbie. Recently was give a dash board guages from what I believe to be a 1941 Chevy. I took it apart and got serial numbers i.e. Speedometer Part # 1565749, Temp guage #1511264, Fuel guage #1516221, Amp Guage #1506002. I do not know if these guages work or not. I want to sell these parts. Can you tell me what website would be good for selling these parts. Thanks, Mike Morris, Wichita, KS

Ray:
Welcome to Chatter! There is a "For Sale" section on this site. Scroll down and try listing your items there.

Hi Mike, and welcome aboard. We are glad you have chosen to visit us. I think you will find we are a fairly jovial bunch.

I see you are not a member of the VCCA and would encourage you to join us. You will receive a very informative magazine, have access to more sections of this forum, and have access to many more people who have Chevrolet's like yours.

If you need help with an application, send me a message.

Again, WELCOME!

Ray,,,, Thanks for the instructions on the '41 gas gauge. I will let you know how I come out on the repair job. Soon I hope. Also my radio you serviced some time back is doing good. I installed a FM converter. FM stations come in good. I think it would do better with a correct antenna. I have a generic one now. JIM JAR41