1990 Festiva Fuel Gauge bad Sending Unit

[the_feist_in_festiva]

I wonder if those little wires can be repaired. What kind of shop do you guys think might be able to do this type of fine wire repair? Watchsmith? Blacksmith? Astrophysicist?

[db2u]

yes of course it would exceed the cost of a JY unit, but there are not always a bunch of festivas in the JY, and when you do stumble across one, this seems to be a common enough issue that the fuel sender is either already gone or is worn through as well. This is why we are trying to source them somewhere.

[M3NTAL]

Man I replaced mine on the 88' and it went out again. Too it would be nice to have one working properly again.

[the_feist_in_festiva]

90-93 sending units only for FI, the carb units aren't compatible.

"To what I know."

-Joe

Sadly I just learned that, lol. Got a fuel sending unit from an 88 Festiva, brought it home, and saw it wasn't compatible. Brought it back for store credit and got a super nice set of 2 tires for $19 each with plenty of tread for my other car. New they'd cost like 80 or 160 total or something. So that feels good saving a hundred and twenty bucks.

Found the part number for the fuel pump. On the fuel pump metal lid it has a Mazda sticker with these numbers; 196100-0470 and also B37613350. Found it online for $140 but I don't enough know if that includes the sending unit. So yeah I think I'll live with guessing on my fuel tank and constantly living in horrifying panic and fear of running out of gas rather than shelling out $140. Should have bought a Metro. Did I just say that? No but I saw some junkyards online selling them for about $80, so I think we'll be alright here.

But funny enough, the wires in the sending unit out of the 88 Festiva I brought home also had bad wires, so it would have had the same problem anyway, heh. Oh I'm good at this.

[Spike]

90-93 sending units only for FI, the carb units aren't compatible.

"To what I know."

-Joe

[the_feist_in_festiva]

I think the cost of shipping from the Philippines to the US would far exceed the cost of finding a unit from a junkyard here in the US. And I wouldn't even know where to start as to how to contact a junkyard in the Philippines, learn how to speak Filipino, pay for it somehow, and then wait 6 to 8 months for it to come home!

I'm kidding of course, but would a sending unit from an 88 carbureted Festiva be compatible with a fuel injected 90 Festiva?

[TominMO]

I'm thinking Philippines for a sending unit, since they seem to have so many parts available for Festys. Also, driving distances are far less there, so the JY units probably have less wear on them.

Ernst or Junspeed? What about it?

And for Canadians and Aussies, there's always Iran.....

[the_feist_in_festiva]

I've got this same issue. When I fill a full tank of gas, it shows full. Then after just a few gallons, it goes to empty. I snap photos of the odometer to keep track of how many miles I've driven.

Where can I buy a sending unit?

I may try to look for one at a junkyard. I have a 1990 Ford Festiva L fuel-injected engine. Are all 1986-1993 fuel sending units compatible? I'm looking at a few 88 and 89 Festivas in some junkyards.

[SLW in Oregon]

Thank you, BigElCat. What a great photo. I really appreciate seeing what it looks like without having to pull mine. I'll keep looking for a new/good used unit, but in the meantime I think I'll look around for one that is not working so that I can have it for reference and/or to tinker with. I found a webpage about rewinding a unit for an MGA. Very interesting and informative. Makes me want to give it a try!

[FestYboy]

typical units use the GM range of 2-90ohms (ford is something like 96-4ohms) so either can be used with relative accuracy.

[DON SVO]

^ no need, just have to reverse the polarity at the unit (very easy).

Yes, but the Ohm range is not going to be correct for almost any Auto Meter gauge. The sender needs to come out regardless (inop), if this can be done easily then I'm good to go!

[Bert]

I don't know if anyone alerted you to the fact that there is a gas tank and pump access cover inside the car just behind the rear seat. You do not have to drop the tank to get inside.

[FestYboy]

^ no need, just have to reverse the polarity at the unit (very easy).

[DON SVO]

I'm looking into this as well... I'm replacing my dash cluster with AutoMeter Z series gauges. Because of the dumb backwards Ohm range in the festy, I'm planning to replace my sender with a mustang unit and use the AutoMeter Mustang fuel gauge.

[BigElCat]

:mumum: Ignore my previous post, except the pics. It is just one layer of windings, I'd guess about 300 of them. I'm on board for the re-wrap.

I haven't found the wire yet...but get this...if I'm not mistaken, any exposed wire wound resistor of the same ohm range and same physical length of the coil would work with modded brackets. This task is not a priority for me. All input is welcome.