Sputters when running

[harveyp6]

Maybe Harvey knows the answer ?

I'd say it was on there when it was new, to stop anything getting in the pipe when in storage and blocking it, I would think it would have had plastic plugs on the other end (outside the tank) as well, both of which should have been removed before fitting.

 

[SydneyRoverP6B]

harveyp6 wrote,...

I'd say it was on there when it was new, to stop anything getting in the pipe when in storage and blocking it, I would think it would have had plastic plugs on the other end (outside the tank) as well, both of which should have been removed before fitting

Hello Harvey,

The brand new assembly that I have, still in its original Smiths box does not have all this on it. No fibreglass matting or plastic plugs, although that does not preclude the possibllity that some may have been packaged in such an elaborate way.

It would be very poor form indeed to install the sender into the tank without first removing such, epecially while on the Rover production line during assembly.

Ron.

 

[Fraserp6]

I replaced a fuel sending unit a while back, probably the begining of the year and the unit I used was a NOS complete with BL box. It, like the one pictured, was clad in a nylon mesh which I can only desribe like a Chinese finger trap. On close inspection, there is a metalic strip, rather 2 metalic strips running tip to tip, with a slight overlap, running inside this nylon shroud.

I imagine this metalic strip opens or closes depending on the current passed through it, perhaps for a fuel light? I imagine also that the mesh prevents the debris in the tank from blocking the contact tips.

I don't know how you put a current through a metalic strip submergedin petrol, without the risk of blowing your car up. So the above is just from my experience.

 

[SydneyRoverP6B]

Looking at my NOS sender unit, the connection which runs from the electrical terminal on the underside of the sender unit to the float pivot housing is clad in a woven grey marial, which feels quite stiff and very much like plastic. It is tightly bound around the full length of the electrical connection, so measures some 15cm or 6" in length.

Now looking closely at my NOS sender and the photos that Dave posted, it looks very much like the material that may once have been fully around the electrical connection has been seriously effected by the petrol and has been dissolving. Now that would seem unusual given that the material would be resistant to petrol, but maybe it is not resistant to additves subsequently added, such as octane boosters or those to prevent valve seat recession.

FraserP6,...

are you saying that the new sender that you had installed looked just like the one in Dave's photos, that is the woven material was all loose and frayed?

Ron.

 

[Fraserp6]

hahah,

no, not at all, I was stating that the mesh on my sending unit was present when I bought it, its was in perfect condition akin to a "chinese finger trap"

The picture shown is somewhat more tired than mine.

 

[SydneyRoverP6B]

Fraserp6 wrote,...

the mesh on my sending unit was present when I bought it, its was in perfect condition akin to a "chinese finger trap"

So that would definitely suggest that the mesh on the sender that was removed from Dave's fuel tank had been seriously degraded. In original condition, the mesh will indeed form a tight cylindrical cover around the electrical connection being some 15 cm (6") in length and no more than 5mm in diameter. Such degredation never even entered my mind as being a possibility.

Dmcsweeney was spot on, it had indeed been fitted by Smiths at the time of manufacture. My apologies Dave,...just the way it looked completely through me...

So given that the material should be completely resistant to fuel, or so you would hope, then something else later added to the tank most likely has been responsible for initiating such a breakdown.

Ron.

 

[harveyp6]

Remember that when the cars and the senders were new we had 5*, and always during the production life of the cars there was leaded fuel, now there is only Unleaded which does cause other fuel system components to degrade, so it's quite possible that this has been affected in the same way.

 

[dmcsweeney]

Dmcsweeney was spot on, it had indeed been fitted by Smiths at the time of manufacture. My apologies Dave,...just the way it looked completely through me...

No need for apologies Ron , to be honest I think my cars suffer problems no one else has ever seen! The replacement unit didn't have this fitted as far as I remember. When I bought the car the previous owner gave me the replacement sender unit now fitted to the car. He said at the time that he had heard of senders failing due to the use of fuel additives. I'm not sure where he got this information, but I do know he used fuel additive until he'd fitted SD1 heads.
Regards,
Dave