Fuel gauge sending unit repair with pics

[GrampsUK]

Try this first

My recent GS650 purchase had many problems including the fuel gauge. The previous owner told me the guy he purchsed it from said it hadnt worked for a couple of years and had been checked over etc etc. After reading this article I decided to pull the sender unit and see if it was beyond repair, adjusted the tension but there was still no reading then Duh!! I realised that the spade connector on the unit that is steel was badly corroded. A quick rub some petroleum jelly and a new connector and all was hunky dorry. I now know the potentiometer will be ok for a long time now. Thank you Jethro.

[jwhelan65]

Awesome thread!!! We need more of this kinda thing from senior members! Hats off Jethro!

[woodman]

What does the hose that comes off the cover to the sender do ? Its open to the air anyway under the cover it goes on because the cover doesnt go over the whole sender ?

[hp1000s]

in case the sender unit gasket leaks, it diverts the leak away from the motor.

[Jethro]

Awesome thread!!! We need more of this kinda thing from senior members! Hats off Jethro!

Hey! There ya go! My 15 minutes of fame has lasted years with this thread!

Glad to see people are still getting some good use out of this!

[jadesystem]

Nice infom Mr. Jethro.

I rebuilt my GS1150 gas sending unit and gas gauge last week. That
was a pain-in-the-ass after taking it off 5-6x. Make sure the sending
unit is good with an analog Ohm meter whereas you can see the sweep
from 0-100 Ohms as you move the float up and down. And that it is stable throughout the entire sweep without any glitches. Just remove and bend the tap. Once this is good, the rest will be point to the meter as suspect.

My situation was unique, as it reacted very different. It would always
stay at 3/4 full with nothing in it. The short test goes to full, and needle
does not go to zero when open.

So, the guage was and is the suspect after passing the gauge test. I found the 56 Ohm resistor completely separated from the PCB, as it tested fine out of the circuit. I've never seen a soldered resistor comepletely fall-off a PCB. When it is hooked-up, the resistance will
be pulled down to 35 Ohms, so the resistor must be isolated to test, or have one end desoldered and measure across resistor.

Mine is working great now as it should. I also recommend 10-25-40-60-
80 Ohm 1/4W resistors resistors to aid in the troubleshooting procedure.
It is a very simple economic technique as resistors are only a few cents each.

I can't ride a bike without a gas gauge !!

[woodman]

Thanks for the explanation on the hose to the sender cover, makes sense now.

[schlyme]

just did this on my 81 1100e and now the needle moves don't know how accurate it will be, but its cool. i always keep track of my miles per tank.

[Colorado85gs550]

Hey Jethro,

did the 2 wires from the sending unit have the same end connectors or were they different/opposite so that it would only be connected to the harness 1 way?

Paul

[posplayr]

Mine are color coded GS1100ED

[Colorado85gs550]

Mine are color coded GS1100ED

I'm asking to see if I could plug them in in reverse

[Colorado85gs550]

I'm asking to see if I could plug them in in reverse

so that Full reads Empty and vice versa

[Jethro]

Hey Jethro,

did the 2 wires from the sending unit have the same end connectors or were they different/opposite so that it would only be connected to the harness 1 way?

Paul

Ummm, pretty sure they have the same, cheap Suzuki bullet connectors on both sides. You could plug them in reverse- I think.

[alke46]

Very informative thread jethro....thanks.
I took my tank off to remove a failed sealer job and found out the PO must have left the unit in the tank when he sealed it.

I was trying to clean up all the old sealer and found that I did not like the possibilities involved and so I ordered a new unit.
Now the dealer I ordered from has told me that the unit is no longer available. Guess I will have to clean my old one up as good as possible and try to get by with it.

The clean one in your photos sure puts mine to shame.

BTW, anybody know where I can get a good sending unit?

Thanks again for your thread, I can see it has helped many GSer's.

[renobruce]

Very informative thread jethro....thanks.
I took my tank off to remove a failed sealer job and found out the PO must have left the unit in the tank when he sealed it.

I was trying to clean up all the old sealer and found that I did not like the possibilities involved and so I ordered a new unit.
Now the dealer I ordered from has told me that the unit is no longer available. Guess I will have to clean my old one up as good as possible and try to get by with it.

The clean one in your photos sure puts mine to shame.

BTW, anybody know where I can get a good sending unit?

Thanks again for your thread, I can see it has helped many GSer's.

I think I have a spare off a 78 GS1000 if you are interested.