1990 E350 sender unit/ fuel lines

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Happy Saturday BITOG!

I'm getting into tearing into my 1990-91 23' Fleetwood motor home with a Ford 460 and Econoline cut-away front end. Gas gauge shows empty. Tested at the gauge and sender unit, found 75 ohms to ground at both. Leads me to believe the sending unit is bad, or, more likely, the float got gas-logged and sank to the bottom.

Have the tank hanging down, and am fighting with the quick-connects. They curve as they go into the flexible lines and don't give me enough room to start both halves of my quick connect tool. I've also tried stabbing in there with a pick, pushing the lines toward the sending unit, etc. Not budging.

Does anyone know what they used for flex fuel lines? I've got a foam rubber outer layer, braided steel, and then unknown. If it's rubber I may wind up cutting and splicing the lines back together. I've done it with vinyl as well but really hate doing it as they go poorly. May try a sharkbite style fitting instead of barbed, if I have to.

I'd like to reuse as much of the sender as possible. Does anyone know a source for just a float, preferably plastic? I have one, or a couple, of small engine carb floats I could safety wire in place, but that's kludgy even for myself, LOL.

Does anyone know how the sending unit seals to the tank? One-time-use goo, gasket, O-ring? I like O-rings.

Additional notes: 75 ohms empty was a Ford spec that, per my research, ended in 1986-87. I am assuming I have this old-style because motor homes are conservative and use older stuff, longer. That being said, I don't want to deal with buying new parts for this thing by guessing it's an E350 van. Fuel tank is a pleasant rectangle, almost like a fuel cell, aft of the rear axle, boxed in by the Ford frame. I "guess" it might be a Ford part, but it could be an aftermarket with the Ford sending unit flange, or it could be a real bastard child since there's an extra nipple for the fuel line for the generator. VIN shows 1990 but title shows 1991.
 
I seriously can't believe you're asking this, I need to do this very thing on a '91 EFI460 motorhome right now and have NOT been looking forward to it.

Customer complaint is fuel gauge inop and I'm betting it's the sender although I've been procrastinating touching the vehicle at all because I don't want to deal with it (effective, eh?)

I'm no help but PLEASE share whatever you learn. I've done plenty of EEC-IV era pumps but never an E-series or motorhome
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Well, the sender's out, so halfway there. Brass float is heavy, figure it's gas-laden. They don't put cork in them or anything stupid, right? Wound up cutting the lines. Plan to get new quick connects, stuff them on a few feet of vinyl line, then get those vinyl-steel compression fitting and splice the works together on the frame where I can get at it.
 

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Fuel tank is a pleasant rectangle, almost like a fuel cell, aft of the rear axle, boxed in by the Ford frame. I "guess" it might be a Ford part, but it could be an aftermarket with the Ford sending unit flange, or it could be a real bastard child since there's an extra nipple for the fuel line for the generator. VIN shows 1990 but title shows 1991.

It's a Ford part, it has a Ford part (or more likely engineering) number stamped on it. E9UA-9002-NB. And E9 means it was first used in 1989. 9002 is probably the base part number for a fuel tank, and NB is a revision or version code.
 
Kludge, first attempt.

Used a float out of an old OPE carb because noone will sell me just the float. (Omix Ada 17729.01 if anyone's following.)

And it doesn't have enough floatation to work.

**** a duck!

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Used a float out of an old OPE carb because noone will sell me just the float. (Omix Ada 17729.01 if anyone's following.)

Summit Racing and Amazon have that part. I doubt any parts store around here has that in stock. Sometimes you have to order things because the brick and mortar stores are lacking or non-existent.

Especially in areas that don't have a lot of industry, like where I live.
 
I HAVE GAS!

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So I got thinking, if one OPE carb float wasn't enough to float, maybe two will do. So I strung another one in with more safety wire.

As I was rotating the sender trying to line up its bolt holes, I could feel more drag-- this was the float sticking out, caught in the gas.

Lessons: The pictures of a 1990 Econoline E350 float are not reflective of what I had in this thing-- and I didn't expect it to match, honestly, given the pre 1986 ohm values. Those brass floats really are terrible, people used to grouse about them, for good reason. Ford quick disconnects suck, I got some Dorman GM style and nylon fuel line which will actually come apart, worst case with a pick, if it needs later service.

PS I paid like $2.54 for all this fuel last fall, LOL. Finagling the tank around is the joy you all must imagine.
 
They put the B-team up on Sunday. I drove around with mine, stuck it on the counter, and hoped for a twinkle of familiarity in the clerk's eye.

They asked me year, make and model... "here we go", I thought.

NAPA/ O-Reillys, AZ, AA all struck out. OReilly's found it in the computer and offered that for $10.99 shipping I could order it through them and have it in 3 days.
 
@eljefino am I seeing the tiny low pressure pump there?

If so definitely the older system. In '90 all trucks (not sure about E-series) went to the larger, single in-tank pump

Did you spot a second pump on the framerail somewhere?

Nice work BTW and thanks for the follow-up
 
It's a Ford part, it has a Ford part (or more likely engineering) number stamped on it. E9UA-9002-NB. And E9 means it was first used in 1989. 9002 is probably the base part number for a fuel tank, and NB is a revision or version code.
I definitely missed something, where did we see this part # in the thread?
 
Those brass floats really are terrible, people used to grouse about them, for good reason.

You could probably solder the brass float where it's leaking gas to repair it. I did that once with a carburetor float on a small engine. And then you could tin the whole thing with solder to make it more corrosion-resistant.
 
^ That's some Cuba-level mechanic-ing!

I was wondering about that tiny pump, LOL. It would make sense in a two-tank system like the trucks.
 
Following up, I finally tore into this '91 today. The float appears fine but the sending unit itself is pretty toasted. I actually managed to pry it open and tried to bend the arm a tiny bit and/or get it to ride in a different area on the resistive material, but no luck

This also has a third hard line for a genny to suck fuel and I thought I was SOL, but I found contenders on RA. The bummer is that they're either Airtex, Delphi or Carter, none of which blow my skirt up.

In reading Amazon reviews I found one (Airtex) part # reads zero ohms at full while one reads zero ohms empty. Get the wrong one and your gauge will read backwards. I know I need 75 ohms empty but I can't find specs on the various part numbers, so I'm calling Airtex tomorrow.

It's between the Airtex E2060S or the E2071S. I'm not necessarily going to purchase Airtex, I'm just looking for a part # that reads the way I need then I may be able to cross reference.

I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of room under the RV; once I climbed up under the rear skirt I could comfortably sit and get at the top of the tank. I did drop it a few inches on a floor jack but no further.
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I spoke w Airtex tech support this morning. He said I'd need the E2060S as it reads 73-78 ohms empty and 12-18 full

I'm glad I called because I almost ordered the E2071S yesterday before stumbling upon an Amazon review.

Unfortunately I'm having trouble determining how this cross refs to Ford F1UZ9H307A (obtained from RA listing for the correct E2060S) because even the "wrong" ones seem to cross ref with a near-identical Ford part #

So, as much as it pains me to order Airtex I think I will solely because I can be relatively certain the sender runs the way I need it to.

@bdcardinal , any thoughts?
 
The online manual only goes back to 1992, so I am not sure if anything changed in that 1990-1992 range.

Section 13-03B: Gauge, Fuel, F-Super Duty Motorhome and Commercial Chassis
1992 Bronco/Econoline/F-Series Workshop Manual​
DIAGNOSIS AND TESTING

Fuel Gauge, Resistance​

With the sending unit float arm in the empty stop position, resistance should be 15 ohms (below E). With the sending unit float arm in the full stop position, resistance should be 160 ohms (above F). The fuel gauge should read empty at 22.5 ohms and full at 145 ohms.


 
So, as much as it pains me to order Airtex I think I will solely because I can be relatively certain the sender runs the way I need it to.

What's your gauge say when the sender wire from gauge is disconnected?

What's your gauge say when the sender wire from gauge is grounded?

That's going to be the easiest way to figure out what sender you need.

If the gauge is pegged out below empty with the sender wire disconnected, and pegged out above full with the sender wire grounded, then the Airtex guy is correct that you need "E2060S as it reads 73-78 ohms empty and 12-18 full".
 
What's your gauge say when the sender wire from gauge is disconnected?

What's your gauge say when the sender wire from gauge is grounded?

That's going to be the easiest way to figure out what sender you need.

If the gauge is pegged out below empty with the sender wire disconnected, and pegged out above full with the sender wire grounded, then the Airtex guy is correct that you need "E2060S as it reads 73-78 ohms empty and 12-18

My apologies- I wasn't clear. I've run through all that and know I need the values stated.

I was just hoping for a miracle suggestion of something that wasn't Airtex level garbage and closer to OEM.

I'm not positive the Delphi or Carter options have the right resistance values, but I'm not sure I care to call because I fear they're all low quality.

The assy includes the fuel sender and a low pressure pump so it can be a show stopper and I'd like to avoid a comeback.
 
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