Fuel Gauge questions

[Kurt]

I was thinking about adding a fuel gauge to my 79 xs special. I know that I will probably need to get a different tank and display, I just am not sure what I should get.

Any help would be great. Thanks.

[mro]

not sure what I should get

Standards (E,H,G etc..) have fuel gauge and sender in tank.
Not sure if you can "rig" the sender into a special tank or how much trouble to install standard tank on special
Could be p&p if standard petcocks used. Gauges are square on the standards too.


mro

[Kurt]

I've seen some of the 80's specials have senders, but I was hoping to keep the round stuff. Did any of the ones after 1980 have round speedo+tach with a fuel gauge in it? If I have to do some fab to get it to fit that's fine. I am not trying to keep it stock.

[TopCatGr58]

Sorry Kurt,

But all of the Specials with round gauges only had the idiot fuel light! Also have heard, but not tried myself, that the fuel sender float assembly won't fit inside the Special tank, not enough room!? Don't know if would be a matter of bending the float arm or what?

But, the square gauges are not that rare, and so you could put a set of them on your special so that you could utilize the fuel gauge sender from the standard, just not sure if it will be able to be modified to fit the special tank! Good luck, let us know what you find!
T.C.

[Kurt]

I actually just found a round tach from a yamaha snowmobile that is the same size as the original I will have to figure out the neutral and high beam lights, but I think I can make it work in the tank that I have. This would be a great time for an extra tank .

Does anyone know if the wires for the sender go straight to the gauge or if they are connected to something else? I can't seem to find the right diagram for it.

Thanks,
Kurt

[mro]

oem fuel gauge

green wire from tank to gauge
red/black from gauge to regulator (7V DC)

Tac

from generator to tac, white wire (5 to 7 V AC )
from fuse box to tac, brown wire (12V DC)
Tac to ground, black wire


mro

[Kurt]

In all the diagrams that I have looked at there is a fuel gauge connection in the system even if it didn't come with a gauge. Hopefully this will be a-lot easier than I had originally anticipated.

[Kurt]

No dice

After destroying one tank and putting a large hole in another I have came to the conclusion that the special was not meant to have a real fuel gauge.

I could only get it to read at full and empty. there just isn't enough room inside the tank to get a good reading. I tried to cut down the float, but just couldn't get it right. Might as well keep the stock warning light. Oh Well... at least I gave it a shot.

Thanks to everyone for all of the input and help.

[mro]

originally posted by Kurt
After destroying one tank and putting a large hole in another I have came to the conclusion that the special was not meant to have a real fuel gauge.

Since it sounds like you FUBAR'ed a tank......
Might try seeing how much trouble it is to take tank apart at the seams. With it open this way might enable to fit a float/sender?!

Adjusting the sender "if" installed should not be to big a problem.
Manual has ohm meter readings for empty/half/full.

Tank seam can be brazed back to gether.



mro

[Kurt]

Yeah. I had thought about doing that, but I have no tools to put it back together, nor the funds to pay someone else to do it. It was giving me the correct ohms at the full point but I needed about another inch and a half to get it to go all the way down to empty. So if I would have made it shorter it wouldn't get the correct read, and if I made it longer it wouldn't read at full.

I know that I could just use a tank from a standard model, but I like the looks of the special tank.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. I still have the idiot light and I can still read the trip meter.

I'll probably try it again later when its warm enough to melt this damn snow.

[Pat Kelly]

So it just needs a different shaped float?

[Kurt]

I would need a float with a smaller range for the gauge. There just isn't enough room for the float that I was using. And the one that was in there won't work for the gauge.