Has anyone ever repaired the tiny wires of the fuel sending unit? I pulled the dent from my fuel tank and one of them broke.
Also, (i' a new guy around here) how do I give you all the list of all the cars I've owned?
thanks

I haven't repaired them, but I'm familiar with the setup....if you could find the wire with the same electrical resistance as the OE wires, then repair would be simple...I believe the fuel guage is calibrated to the range of electrical current through the fuel sender circuit, dependant on the position of the sliding contact on the two wires (on the sending unit). That said, I suspect that these wires are stainless steel....I would just take off the wire, check the resistance of a specific length of wire, find some SS wire of similar diameter and see if the resistance is in the ball park...if so, you're good to go!

good luck,

Mark

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1984 300TD Wagon, 407,800 mi (current daily driver)
1985 300DT Sedan, 330,000 mi (gone to that great autobahn in the sky)

Buy a new sender, it's not worth the effort to fix the old one. I've tried, forget it.

Edit your signature line to put the list of cars in, it's in the user cp.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

peter,
Forgive me for being a bit of a moron and a stubborn one a that. From what point of view is it not worth it?
I am a auto shop teacher and it may be worth it to show the kids how to fix it(and that it's not worth it 99.99% of the time.
thanks for the quick reply cole

I DID FIXED THEM
FIRST they are 3 wires 2 made of stell and one made of coper. I can be wrong but i think the coper one masure the resistance when it slides up or down ,the stell are for guiding the floting device betwen the contacts and transmit the signal to the vdo instument at diferent situation .Now all 3 has to be very well tight not lose and if you broke the coper one at the contact you can solder with the soldering gun .If it is broke in the midle you have to find another one with same resistivity and lenght like the original( very hard) or your readings will be very aproximated
If you broke the stell ones you have to find some thing the same and lenght. Sounds complicated but is not , i did it and now my instrument works good. You will have to experiment and let me now
whish luck

I say it's not worth it because the wires are very fine, they are crimped in place, and a replacement wire is going to be both difficult to find and a real pain in the sitter to replace. A new sender is less than $100, and it won't have corrosion on the chromed center post, either.

Too much work for a possibly poorly operating gauge, when new parts are a phone call away. Save all the repair effort for things you can no longer get new.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Ok so I'm looking to get a new sender. BUT I can't find one for an 82. 85-87. Will these work in my 82?

Actually the copper wire is just an electrical lead. The two silver wires are nichrome wires and actually are variable resistors. To replace these you would need to get the same guage and the same metalurgical content as the original. Which isn't likely. If the copper wire breaks you can replace that with a wire strand from a lamcord. I have done this and tested it against the tank at 1/4 1/2 3/4 empty and full and it was accurate. You will need a soldering iron to do this. If the silver wires are broken I think you should just replace it. These come up in pick and pulls all the time and are cheap. In fact I know where two are right now that could be had for $8.

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1978 Mercedes 240D
1981 Mercedes 240D
1982 Mercedes 240D

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/231269-diy-w-pix-w124-fuel-sender-disassembly-cleaning-testing.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/321653-fuel-sender-td-wagon-tweaked-wire-help.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/tech-help/130321-fuel-gauge-wire-resistance.html#post947752

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).