Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

I’ve got an ‘87 F-150 that I am building that apparently falls into the same category as Bigfoot, unicorns, and honest politicians. This is a factory 4bbl 351w/C-6 truck...the very last of the carbed ford trucks. I finally received my replacement fuel tank, but I need to replace the fuel sender as well and cannot for the life of me find a replacement. I can find them all day long for the EFI engines (4.9 and 5.0 engines) that have 2 lines (fuel return and outlet) but they are shaped completely different and have a completely different electrical connector. The ‘86 and earlier versions have the wrong rheostat in them, and have a 5/16” outlet instead of the 3/8” that mine has. Mine appears to be a one year only deal.

I’ve checked all the chain auto parts stores, several fuel systems only businesses, LMC, etc and have come up empty. Any suggestions on other places I could look?

My other option, for 2-3x the money of a normal FSU, is getting mine rebuilt. There is a place up in New York that rebuilds them, but I am saving that as a last resort.

Does your sending unit have a part number on it or do you know the correct part number?

Kevin Johnson wrote: ↑Thu Sep 10, 2020 10:55 pm Does your sending unit have a part number on it or do you know the correct part number?

It’s not stamped anywhere that I can see. There is a paper tag attached, but I can only read the first couple letters (E7.....) which confirms it is an ‘87 part. In ‘88 the entire truck lineup was completely EFI so that sender is different as well.

go to this website ford-trucks.com go to forums and look for the forum for your year truck there is going to be someone on there that can help you with this, as there are a lot of guys on that hole website and it only deals with ford also look up tanksinc.com someone there might be able to tell where to find that sender,, they have lots of tanks for older cars and trucks when you are changing over to EFI..

jred wrote: ↑Fri Sep 11, 2020 12:32 am go to this website ford-trucks.com go to forums and look for the forum for your year truck there is going to be someone on there that can help you with this, as there are a lot of guys on that hole website and it only deals with ford also look up tanksinc.com someone there might be able to tell where to find that sender,, they have lots of tanks for older cars and trucks when you are changing over to EFI..

I’ve got some feelers our in multiple forums. Unfortunately the “tech” in a lot of them revolves around how big of a tire can I run on my unlifted truck, what is the biggest cam I can put in my 200k mile 302 without changing valve springs because I like a really rough idle, etc

travis wrote: ↑Thu Sep 10, 2020 11:54 pm

Kevin Johnson wrote: ↑Thu Sep 10, 2020 10:55 pm Does your sending unit have a part number on it or do you know the correct part number?

It’s not stamped anywhere that I can see. There is a paper tag attached, but I can only read the first couple letters (E7.....) which confirms it is an ‘87 part. In ‘88 the entire truck lineup was completely EFI so that sender is different as well.

It is possible that someone has the part on their shelf but it has been long ignored because it is uncommon.

When I tried to look up the part number the access given to consumers is too limited. Perhaps you have a local sympathetic Ford dealer parts manager who would be willing to look it up. You will definitely need to supply the VIN number, so have it handy.

Kevin Johnson wrote: ↑Fri Sep 11, 2020 4:48 am

travis wrote: ↑Thu Sep 10, 2020 11:54 pm

Kevin Johnson wrote: ↑Thu Sep 10, 2020 10:55 pm Does your sending unit have a part number on it or do you know the correct part number?

It’s not stamped anywhere that I can see. There is a paper tag attached, but I can only read the first couple letters (E7.....) which confirms it is an ‘87 part. In ‘88 the entire truck lineup was completely EFI so that sender is different as well.

It is possible that someone has the part on their shelf but it has been long ignored because it is uncommon.

When I tried to look up the part number the access given to consumers is too limited. Perhaps you have a local sympathetic Ford dealer parts manager who would be willing to look it up. You will definitely need to supply the VIN number, so have it handy.

That’s an idea I didn’t think of!

I did get some feedback from another forum stating that it looks identical to the sender used on the 6.9 diesel of that year in the F250’s. The gas tank shows to be the same...but again I can’t find a sender for the diesel version. This is nuts!

If you can get something to fit, there's an electronic box you can buy to match the sender to the gauge.

Found it:

https://technoversions.com/MeterMatchHo ... e%20gauges.

emsvitil wrote: ↑Fri Sep 11, 2020 7:35 am Found it:

https://technoversions.com/MeterMatchHo ... e%20gauges.

That’s pretty cool!

Have you looked on Rockauto’s site? They show 5 different part numbers for that application, with fairly detailed descriptions and photos. They also show numerous others for that year truck under different engine options. Some have cross references to OEM part numbers. Maybe one looks right? A possible resource at least. Good luck, hope you can find your part.

Kevin Johnson wrote: ↑Thu Sep 10, 2020 10:55 pm Does your sending unit have a part number on it or do you know the correct part number?

I was able to clean the paper tag off enough to read it...E7TF-9275-HA. So far 3 Ford parts warehouses have been unable to find one.

Rock auto does have one the looks “close”, but there is no specs to be found for it, other than it is made in China.