Gary Lewis Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 Sounds like a theme here. My '86 only has one working fuel pump, so I only use the front tank, but it acts the same as the rest of you report. Full is full, and empty means empty, but it goes fast from full to half, then slows noticeably. Even my 90's FDMs do the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 Sounds like a theme here. My '86 only has one working fuel pump, so I only use the front tank, but it acts the same as the rest of you report. Full is full, and empty means empty, but it goes fast from full to half, then slows noticeably. And this is a nice feature of the TechnoVersions MeterMatch. You can calibrate intermediate settings and have the needle pointing at a "true" position. Since mine is around 150 miles to where I want it to read empty, I'm going to put 50 miles on a full tank, set it to 2/3, and go 100 miles and set it for 1/3. (I haven't gotten this far yet, but it's coming) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 And this is a nice feature of the TechnoVersions MeterMatch. You can calibrate intermediate settings and have the needle pointing at a "true" position. What are you talking about here Willis? Fill me in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 And this is a nice feature of the TechnoVersions MeterMatch. You can calibrate intermediate settings and have the needle pointing at a "true" position. What are you talking about here Willis? Fill me in. Jim and I are both running TechnoVersions MeterMatch units. They are supposedly able to match about any fuel level sender to any gauge, but we are using the later sending units with Bullnose gauges. And that is quite a feat as the later senders not only have a different resistance range, but empty is full and vice versa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 And this is a nice feature of the TechnoVersions MeterMatch. You can calibrate intermediate settings and have the needle pointing at a "true" position. What are you talking about here Willis? Fill me in. Gary and I have a calibration unit wired between senders and gauge. He has '90's FDM's in a Bullnose cluster and I have Bullnose senders and a Bricknose dash. Bullnose are 10-70 ohms and Brick are 16-160ish. But they read in opposite directions. Gary had plans to use Arduino to fix the problem, but this little 1/2 x 2 x 3" box does it all and can have intermediate points made if the sender is not a linear signal. I think mine was $65? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Gary and I have a calibration unit wired between senders and gauge. He has '90's FDM's in a Bullnose cluster and I have Bullnose senders and a Bricknose dash. Bullnose are 10-70 ohms and Brick are 16-160ish. But they read in opposite directions. Gary had plans to use Arduino to fix the problem, but this little 1/2 x 2 x 3" box does it all and can have intermediate points made if the sender is not a linear signal. I think mine was $65? Oh yes, I forgot you have Bullnose senders and Bricknose gauges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Oh yes, I forgot you have Bullnose senders and Bricknose gauges. My '87 is a "one year wonder" with mechanical pump and 16-160 ohm senders. I can (did) get large bung '85-86 senders. But my truck would below empty when full and about 7/16 scale when it ran out. I wanted to point out the whole "drops like a rock, then runs forever" situation can be tuned out by the MeterMatch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcarlisle Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 Mine does the same thing to a lesser degree. Full is full, empty is empty, but it races down fast but slows down as it approaches empty. Almost seems like the replacement sender has a logarithmic or exponential response and the gauge has a linear response. Found this thread in a search. Just wondering about fuel levels. I've filled up twice now. Each time the needle was on E or close. Didn't want to run out so filled it. First time it took 8 gals and second was 11. Second time was a bit lower. My mom had a 78 Granada with similar instruments. The fuel gauge basically had 6 quarter tanks. A quarter over F, a quarter under E. Wondering if the 81 is going to be the same? PO has reciepts for new tank and sending unit, but no idea what they are. Do I just adapt? Is there something to do? to check? adjust? Easy? I'm not taking bed off - I'll just fill it up and keep experimenting with how low I can go without running out, if it's too complicated - everything works, just not like I would prefer. It does seem consistent at least. And the mileage is bad right now (10-ish), but there has been quite a bit of idling, and just running around the block in the first couple weeks. And as Rat Dude said, it drops quick then seems to level out on the gauge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 Found this thread in a search. Just wondering about fuel levels. I've filled up twice now. Each time the needle was on E or close. Didn't want to run out so filled it. First time it took 8 gals and second was 11. Second time was a bit lower. My mom had a 78 Granada with similar instruments. The fuel gauge basically had 6 quarter tanks. A quarter over F, a quarter under E. Wondering if the 81 is going to be the same? PO has reciepts for new tank and sending unit, but no idea what they are. Do I just adapt? Is there something to do? to check? adjust? Easy? I'm not taking bed off - I'll just fill it up and keep experimenting with how low I can go without running out, if it's too complicated - everything works, just not like I would prefer. It does seem consistent at least. And the mileage is bad right now (10-ish), but there has been quite a bit of idling, and just running around the block in the first couple weeks. And as Rat Dude said, it drops quick then seems to level out on the gauge. Before I had two tanks working I drove around with a 5 gallon can of gas in the back until I had a good understanding of how far it would go. And it seems that every fuel sender is very different. But many go for a long time on empty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1986F150Six Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 Before I had two tanks working I drove around with a 5 gallon can of gas in the back until I had a good understanding of how far it would go. And it seems that every fuel sender is very different. But many go for a long time on empty. Once one determines their truck's actual gas mileage, the odometer becomes a good friend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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