Finally. FINALLY. F-I-N-A-L-L-Y, I get to post some non-nerd content 😉
A few weeks ago I was driving my 1986 Buick Grand National around, and while waiting at a red light, glanced down to check my fuel level. Now, normally the gauge was, well, not very precise. If the needle moved, it probably had something in it, and if it was sorta-kinda resting near E, there’s a chance it was close to bone dry. That day though, the needle was…well…gone, like out on vacation, nowhere to be seen. After making sure I was awake, I realized it was probably pegged, and a quick love-tap to the top of the instrument cluster brought it back to earth. I laughed it off, then realized that after owning the car for 16 years, the gas gauge never really worked right, and pondered if I could actually do something about it.
When I first got the car in 2004, there were no aftermarket fuel senders for the tank, so you were stuck with the original factory GM sender. I did drop the tank and install a newer fuel pump back then, but had to reuse the original sender, and even tried to “fix it up” a bit, as it was so loose the wiper barely touched the sensor wire. That fix was in vain, and I just lived with it until now.
Fast forward oh, 16 years, and come to find out a new fuel sender was offered by Spectra (Part #FG156A) to replace the original crusty GM one, and companies like Racetronix were offering a ready-to-install sender kit with upgraded fuel pump and wiring. As such, I decided it was time to actually get the gas gauge working properly, so I ordered the Racetronix 255lph fuel pump and sender assembly (generally the stock replacement) from Full Throttle to both update the fuel pump as well as finally have a working gas gauge.
Once the parts arrived, and with social distancing and homebody-ness being the new norm, I got to work getting it installed. Below are the steps I took to install it, with some notes along the way.
Please follow along at YOUR OWN RISK – Gasoline is highly flammable and explosive!
