Yea not only the Floats go bad but the the Wire on the Swivel part that makes contact with the Plate risistor gets loose and then the plate and wire do not make contact and does not register.
Here is what I did but you have to find a Brass cylinder small enough to fit the hole. If I remember correctly it CANNOT be bigger than 1INCH in diameter A Tiney bit under 1 inch would be better to fit in the tank hole. But if your tank hole is just a little bigger than 1INCH then most OLD CAR BRASS FLOATS should work.
Alleyoop
This is the FULL Position:
This is the EMPTY Position:
Here you can see I used a SMALL BRASS COLLAR with setscrew to hold the Wire and Plate nice and snuge against the Resistor plate:
Here is a write up of the problem and problems:
THINGS THAT CAUSE THE GAS GAUGE TO READ EITHER FULL ALL THE TIME OR EMPTY WHEN FULL:
1. Gauge reads EMPTY when its full:
This is caused by the CHEAP THIN PLASTIC FLOAT taking on gas and weighing it down to register as EMPTY.
2. Gauge reads FULL when its EMPTY OR ITS ERRATIC:
a.The wire that holds the FLOAT is stuck on the plastic pivot in the up position. Probe inside the tank with a small stick or wire and move the wire that holds the Float and see if the gauge needle moves and frees up. But it will probably happen again.
b. The plate that rotates up and down and also holds the wire with the Float is loose and wobbles and does not make contact with the resister plate all the time. In this case the Clip that holds the wire on the other side of the platic holder is not tight enough and causes the wire and plate to wobble. I took the clip off and used a small Brass collar with a set screw to keep it nice and tight against the Plastic Holder.
In Either Case 1 or 2 to fix it correctly you have to take the Gas Sensor Out. Either order a new one or Fix the one you have. But a new one will be of the same quality and will have the same problems sooner or later.
I fixed the one I had so all of the problems of 1 and 2 would be solved. But then the Float leaked and it would read empty most of the time even though it was full or half full. So what I did is get a Brass Sealed Float and hooked it up to a New Wire that I made up. Since the Float is a Sealed Brass Float it will not take on gas anymore. Below is a picture of my New Gas Float.
Now Some of the Trikes will Register Full until it is down a gallon or two, it depends on the size of your tank. The reason is because the Pivot Plate that holds the wire with the Float only pivots so much. So when your tank is full the Pivot Plate does not Pivot enough to allow the Float to reach the top of the tank. That means the Float is actually under water as they say and will show full for quite a while until the gas level is low enough that the Float is now actually working and floating on top of the gas.
This also holds true when it is reading very close to EMPTY when its Not you may have 2 gallons left and its reading EMPTY. That again is because the Pivot Plate only moves so much up and down. So now the Pivot is at its max in the down position reading empty but you still may have 1-3 gallons left. The gallons left depends on the size of your tank. On my PST150H Trike the tank is almost 5 gallons so mine reads empty and I have almost 3 gallons left. But I fixed that and have it read EMPTY when I have about 1 1/2 gallons left.
Alleyoop
..BAD TO THE BONE..
