OEM Fuel Sender Repair 1967 Dart
by Herb Beer “Dart67”
This is a step by step of how I repaired the Original Equipment Manufacture fuel sender on my 1967 Dodge Dart.
Here is a photo of what I started with. This sender came out of a car that had set in a salvage yard for well over 20 years.
As you can see. It is in pretty rough shape.
The first problem was that the float arm was frozen and would not pivot. To resolve this, I sprayed and soaked both sides of the pivot point with a good quality rust penetrate (You choose which brand to use) and slowly moved the arm back and forth until it worked freely.
The next and very common problem was a severely worn wiper
See the hole. That SHOULD be a “dimple”.
To repair this the sender has to be disassembled.
The first step is to bend this tab 90* toward the float arm.
Like This.
Now you can see the wiper with the hole worn in it and the wire wound resistor board.
IF the wire on this board is broken you are pretty much OUT of LUCK.
IF the wire is not broken you can continue.
Apply rust penetrate to the sender stud and nut. Then carefully disassemble the nut and stud.
The stud will push out of the resistor board mounting bracket and a fiber spacer. Be careful not to damage these parts,
Here are the parts you should now have disassembled.
Now find a small PLASTIC bowl. Make Sure you used a PLASTIC bowl.
Now place all of the above small parts in the PLASTIC bowl.
BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL IN THE FOLLOWING STEPS.
PLEASE WEAR EYE PROTECTION AND RUBBER GLOVES.
With the parts in the PLASTIC bowl and your eye protection and rubber gloves on, Cover the parts with MURIATIC ACID.
Then let the parts soak while you media blast the Sender Body to remove all the rust and corrosion.
Once you have the Sender Body cleaned up. Put your eye protection and rubber gloves back on and Remove all the small parts for the plastic bowl and wash them well with Hot Soapy water and rinse well. Then dry the parts completely.
Now it is time to do a little repair on the worn wiper and the resistor board.
Again Put your eye protection and rubber gloves back on and using a Q Tip soaked in Muriatic Acid wipe and clean both sides of the Wiper Arm so that it is bright and shiny. Then was with hot soapy water, rinse well then dry.
With the Wiper arm clean and dry it is ready to tin with solder. I used a 30 Watt pencil type soldering iron and a Small diameter ROSIN Core solder for the job.
You will most likely need to put a toothpick through the wiper hole while tinning it so that the hole does not close up.
Now on to the actual Wiper repair.
You will need to go to the local hardware store and purchase these nails.
Once you have the nails, take one and TIN the head area with solder. I found that sticking the nail in an eraser to hold it was the easiest way to hold it.
Once you have the nail Tinned, cut it to about 3/16” long. The length does not really matter as long as it is long enough to go through the wiper arm to solder in place well.
Install the nail in the Wiper arm with the head facing toward the area where the resistor board will be installed.
This can be a little tricky to get the nail in the hole and held in place to solder. Once I had the nail in place I used a flat blade screw driver to hold it while soldering.
Once the nail is in place touch the soldering iron to the tinned areas of the wiper arm and nail so th solder will flow together. You may have to apply a small amount of additional solder at this time.
Now on to the Resistor Board. It needs a little attention to make sure it works as it should.
You will see a small wire tail protruding from under the head of the small brass rivet. VERY Carefully scrape this wire with a sharp knife to help clean it a little more. Then VERY Carefully bend this wire back over the head of the rivet and solder it in place.
Turn the Resistor Board over and solder the wire and rivet there as well.
Now assemble the Resistor Board back into the Slot on the sender housing. This can be a little tricky. Make sure you do not force or bend the Wiper Arm or push the resistor boar wires out of shape.
Now reassemble all of the small parts in the reverse of what they were disassembled.
While you have the sender out and clean, You may want to resolder the fuel line to the mounting base.
Wire brush the tube and mounting body area around the tube on the outside and inside. Then apply enough heat with a propane torch to melt solder. Apply a little plumbers solder paste to help the solder “take”.
You may also want to add a ground wire to the mounting base at this time if you do not have a factory ground bridging strap.
by Herb Beer “Dart67”
This is a step by step of how I repaired the Original Equipment Manufacture fuel sender on my 1967 Dodge Dart.
Here is a photo of what I started with. This sender came out of a car that had set in a salvage yard for well over 20 years.
As you can see. It is in pretty rough shape.
The first problem was that the float arm was frozen and would not pivot. To resolve this, I sprayed and soaked both sides of the pivot point with a good quality rust penetrate (You choose which brand to use) and slowly moved the arm back and forth until it worked freely.
The next and very common problem was a severely worn wiper
See the hole. That SHOULD be a “dimple”.
To repair this the sender has to be disassembled.
The first step is to bend this tab 90* toward the float arm.
Like This.
Now you can see the wiper with the hole worn in it and the wire wound resistor board.
IF the wire on this board is broken you are pretty much OUT of LUCK.
IF the wire is not broken you can continue.
Apply rust penetrate to the sender stud and nut. Then carefully disassemble the nut and stud.
The stud will push out of the resistor board mounting bracket and a fiber spacer. Be careful not to damage these parts,
Here are the parts you should now have disassembled.
Now find a small PLASTIC bowl. Make Sure you used a PLASTIC bowl.
Now place all of the above small parts in the PLASTIC bowl.
BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL IN THE FOLLOWING STEPS.
PLEASE WEAR EYE PROTECTION AND RUBBER GLOVES.
With the parts in the PLASTIC bowl and your eye protection and rubber gloves on, Cover the parts with MURIATIC ACID.
Then let the parts soak while you media blast the Sender Body to remove all the rust and corrosion.
Once you have the Sender Body cleaned up. Put your eye protection and rubber gloves back on and Remove all the small parts for the plastic bowl and wash them well with Hot Soapy water and rinse well. Then dry the parts completely.
Now it is time to do a little repair on the worn wiper and the resistor board.
Again Put your eye protection and rubber gloves back on and using a Q Tip soaked in Muriatic Acid wipe and clean both sides of the Wiper Arm so that it is bright and shiny. Then was with hot soapy water, rinse well then dry.
With the Wiper arm clean and dry it is ready to tin with solder. I used a 30 Watt pencil type soldering iron and a Small diameter ROSIN Core solder for the job.
You will most likely need to put a toothpick through the wiper hole while tinning it so that the hole does not close up.
Now on to the actual Wiper repair.
You will need to go to the local hardware store and purchase these nails.
Once you have the nails, take one and TIN the head area with solder. I found that sticking the nail in an eraser to hold it was the easiest way to hold it.
Once you have the nail Tinned, cut it to about 3/16” long. The length does not really matter as long as it is long enough to go through the wiper arm to solder in place well.
Install the nail in the Wiper arm with the head facing toward the area where the resistor board will be installed.
This can be a little tricky to get the nail in the hole and held in place to solder. Once I had the nail in place I used a flat blade screw driver to hold it while soldering.
Once the nail is in place touch the soldering iron to the tinned areas of the wiper arm and nail so th solder will flow together. You may have to apply a small amount of additional solder at this time.
Now on to the Resistor Board. It needs a little attention to make sure it works as it should.
You will see a small wire tail protruding from under the head of the small brass rivet. VERY Carefully scrape this wire with a sharp knife to help clean it a little more. Then VERY Carefully bend this wire back over the head of the rivet and solder it in place.
Turn the Resistor Board over and solder the wire and rivet there as well.
Now assemble the Resistor Board back into the Slot on the sender housing. This can be a little tricky. Make sure you do not force or bend the Wiper Arm or push the resistor boar wires out of shape.
Now reassemble all of the small parts in the reverse of what they were disassembled.
While you have the sender out and clean, You may want to resolder the fuel line to the mounting base.
Wire brush the tube and mounting body area around the tube on the outside and inside. Then apply enough heat with a propane torch to melt solder. Apply a little plumbers solder paste to help the solder “take”.
You may also want to add a ground wire to the mounting base at this time if you do not have a factory ground bridging strap.
