Lucas may have 'fixed' stuck fuel sending unit

[JDD]

Vehicle: 1998 Ford Contour, Mileage 92K.
Only anecdotal, but here is the deal: my daughter said her gas guage is not working and had not been working for a couple weeks. She said the low fuel light is on but the guage is reading 3/4 full and that she had been putting gas in when the light would go on (teenagers!). This was a few weeks ago. So I start putting in Lucas fuel treatment at about 4 oz per 10 gallons and about halfway through the third tank, my daughter says that the guage seems to be working. To check it out, she let me know when the low fuel light went on and sure enough, the guage was at empty where it should be. We did this with two fill ups now and the guage seems to be working fine.
Don't know if the Lucas did anything or not, but I thought that a slight lubrication of the unit could not hurt and maybe the float was just stuck. Figured I would just start with something simple. Anyway, take it for what it's worth, but maybe the lube properties of the Lucas freed up the float---

Just sayin.....

 

[HerrStig]

It is ny subjective impression that the pistons on constant depression carbs, like the Bings on airhead BMWs may benefit from a little lubrication in the fuel. I think it might help the fuel shutoff work more smoothly as well.

 

[SuperDave456]

Yep. I started using Lucas a 4oz a tank a long time back.
Once I became a BITOG member I realized that I could do 2oz of TWC3 2 cycle oil and 1oz of MMO in every full tank and it would save me some $$ in the long run.

I get it into almost every tank. Nothing to report. No dead cats, no buildup on spark plugs, and 285,000 miles on my Ford Taurus with nothing to report.

Ethanol and the crud it leaves behind is the problem. I'm sure that not every tank of gas is the same and a little extra lubrication and detergents make a difference over time.

 

[Errtt]

I have heard of Techron getting gauges to work.
Must be something in some stuff to clean the wiper.

Maybe I should have said sending unit instead of gauge.

 

[demarpaint]

It's possible, I had MMO fix one on a used car I bought several years ago.

 

[KCJeep]

Techron fixed one in my wife's Chevy.

 

[Vikas]

From reading internet forums, Techron has been known to fix the sending unit in Corvettes. There are many testimonial on it.

 

[JDD]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
From reading internet forums, Techron has been known to fix the sending unit in Corvettes. There are many testimonial on it.

I have run Regane in it before a couple of times every 3K or so, but have not put Techron in it since I've owned it. My hypothesis was that it was the lube properties of the Lucas that freed up whatever was sticking. I started using MMO and lately Lucas when I owned a GMC SUV and I wanted to see if keeping the pump assembly lubed could keep the notoriously weak fuel pumps in those trucks going a little longer. I did not have any issues with the fuel pump in the years that I owned it.

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: JDD
Vehicle: 1998 Ford Contour, Mileage 92K.
Only anecdotal, but here is the deal: my daughter said her gas guage is not working and had not been working for a couple weeks. She said the low fuel light is on but the guage is reading 3/4 full and that she had been putting gas in when the light would go on (teenagers!). This was a few weeks ago. So I start putting in Lucas fuel treatment at about 4 oz per 10 gallons and about halfway through the third tank, my daughter says that the guage seems to be working. To check it out, she let me know when the low fuel light went on and sure enough, the guage was at empty where it should be. We did this with two fill ups now and the guage seems to be working fine.


I'm pretty sure there's only one sender in that tank. The sender is not the problem.

 

[mechtech2]

Faulty sending units?
My first advice is a healthy dose of MMO in the fuel for a tank or two.
This has worked on bunches of cars - it is a good first step.

 

[JDD]

Follow up to this thread. Continuing to use Lucas fuel treatment in every tank at about 5 oz per tank--which is about 14.5(+-)gallons. Fuel guage seems to be working and accurate. Now if I could just fix the oil leak--!