Fuel Gauge Issues - 1957

[Calistoga T-Bird]

My '57 is having fuel gauge issues. When full the gauge registers 3/4. When empty the gauge register 1/4. I have replaced the fuel sending unit in the gas tank with no changes. I'm thinking it is the dash fuel gauge itself that needs to be replaced ? I can't find any replacements new or rebuilt.

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[vermbird]

i think you have to bend the sender arm so when tank is full bend the arm up and the fuel level should go up. my guess is that your gauges are adjustable. take the gauges off and hook up the wires from the cvr should be black/green stripe. ground the gauges. then take out the sender, power it and ground the body. then with key on, move the sender arm full or empty. on the back of the gauges there should be 4 nuts and two insulting strips. under there there are some holes with little gears. you need to carefully move the gears with a screwdriver so the gauge reads full when sender arm is in full position. same with the hole for empty. now this i know is applicable to square birds an bullet birds. i am not that familiar with baby birds but i guess the gauges are all alike for many years. feel free to send my a private message for clarification.

 

[vermbird]

my mistake, it look's like baby birds have separate fuel and temp gauges. makes it easier. google 1957 t bird fuel gauge for more help and info.

 

[paul5456]

Because of the type of fuel gauage that ford had, not all senders are compatible, even the ones that the vendors sell. CASCO has a gauge and sending unit combo that is supposed to solve the problem. Gauge looks like factory

 

[57TbirdCarGuy]

My '57 is having fuel gauge issues. When full the gauge registers 3/4. When empty the gauge register 1/4. I have replaced the fuel sending unit in the gas tank with no changes. I'm thinking it is the dash fuel gauge itself that needs to be replaced ? I can't find any replacements new or rebuilt.

I am having the exact same problem with mine. Glad to know I am not the only one! I have yet to find a fix either.

 

[Ward 57]

Are your temp gages working correctly? There is a small canister voltage regulator on the back of the speedo for the gages. could be bad or poorly grounded.

 

[Rogvh]

Years ago I coasted into a gas station when my gauge read more than empty. I always thought it ran hot by the temp gauge. I replaced the cvr and no change. I put one of those temperature stickers on the radiator that registers the max temp and it wasn't too hot. I pulled the gauges and had them re-calibrated. After re-installing it showed a couple of gallons of gas at empty and also, not showing it was running too hot. So, adjusting the gauges may be a solution.

As an aside, on two other Ford products, my gas gauges did not read correctly. I replaced both with new repros and the gauges read differently but not correctly. Reading an article on the subject, I found that repros are linear and not variable like the originals so they never will be accurate at all positions of the gauge. Attached pics show the original and then the repro. I made a drawing of the cross sections of the tanks and bent the float arms so I had two+ gallons at empty. The orher gauge positions were off but I knew I wouldn't run out of gas. I did add two gallons at a time from empty and wrote down the gauge position. I keep copies in each car for reference. There is a "gizmo" I think is called Meter Match that you can wire-in and make the readings accurate on repros. I learned later that there are people/companies that can restore original sending units but only after scrapping mine. On one of the cars I found a NOS sending unit. Just last week I found a rebuilder who had an extra core so bought that for the second car. Now just to empty tanks, etc.