Fuel sending unit

[nssracer]

The fuel guage is sweeping back and forth in my 2006 Alpine. The Cummins dealer says I need a new fuel sending unit. Any idea where I can get one? Thanks, Doug

[EngineerMike]

About Transfer Flow

[Algoma]

There is nothing unique about the Alpine, everything is off the shelf from some supplier, you just have to track them down. Take out the existing sender, go to NAPA and they will find you a match. My tank may be different to yours but FYI my sender is SW-391D-D.

[Dale777]

nssracer,

Since July, my fuel gauge has been doing the same as yours. When I called Transfer Flow to order a replacement, they told me they no longer make the sender that is in the Alpine Coach. They told me to send in my sender for them to rebuild it. I haven't done that yet, since I have been using the coach. So, I use the Silver Leaf fuel usage tracker to know how much fuel I have used since the last full tank. If you find an off-the-shelf solution, please post the solution so that all of us know what to do.

[Beagle RC Air]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Algoma There is nothing unique about the Alpine, everything is off the shelf from some supplier, you just have to track them down. Take out the existing sender, go to NAPA and they will find you a match. My tank may be different to yours but FYI my sender is SW-391D-D.

Some of the Napa sending units are universal fit. They will work fine if you use a couple of jumper wires to test the calibration of the sender. One jumper to MH frame as ground then to sender mounting plate. The other jumper to sending unit wire connection post and then to fuel gauge wire.

Have someone observe fuel gauge and swing arm thru its range to correlate how it reads on fuel gauge. You can bend the arm to fine tune its accuracy.

Sometimes it is necessary to shorten the arm for shallow tanks. Empty should read about 3-4" from bottom of the arm range. If I remember right there is metal tang that will limit the range to avoid having float hit top of tank. Easy DIY project!

[takepride]

1999FDS alpine coach fuel gauge

fuel level question

Here are the results of related threads I've subscribed to (including part number/cost). A search of this forum turns up multiple hits. Use "sender", "sending unit", or "fuel gauge".

BTW it seems that in their entire history, WRV never bothered to install a better sending unit.

[nssracer]

My Silver Leaf is always shows 0 miles to empty.

[Dale777]

nssracer,

On my Silverleaf, there are 3 Trip Odometer functions. When you fill up, RESET one of those, then monitor it.

[Wayne R]

nssracer,

I find the 1ST trip meter with the miles to go set,the gallons to-go is very accurate. Between the gallons to-go and gallons used I find that I have a very accurate prediction of how much fuel I have left. My fuel gauge works fine but the last 1/2 is much smaller than the first 1/2. If I let my tank get to 1/4 on the fuel gauge I make sure I fill up in the next 100 miles.

[Snuggery]

For months, my fuel gauage was bouncing up and down from full to empty every few seconds. I wiggled all of the wires I could find and after reading posts on this forum, I concluded that the sending unit was probably bad so I took it in for repair. My RV is a 2005 Alpine 40' FDTS with a 115 gal fuel tank and Actia gauges. (Not Silverleaf)

My RV dealer contacted Transfer Flow who said that they built the sending unit as a "custom job" for Western/Alpine. No replacement parts were available, but they offered to rebuild it if we would ship the old unit to them.

I told the RV dealer to check at NAPA. They apparently found a replacement unit at West Marine.
My RV dealer indicated Part # 9398488
They charged me $105 for the new part - plus $182 labor to trouble-shoot the faulty fuel gauge and another $149 for 1.5 hrs to replace the new part.

It appears to be working OK now, although I haven't run through a full tank of fuel to see if the calibration is accurate.

It would be a pretty easy do-it-yourself job. I later found the part at West Marine online using the above part number. It is a Moeller 4"- 28" Electric Fuel Gauge Sending Unit, Mfg Part # 035725-10 priced at $44.99 by West Marine.

see www.moellermarine.com and www.westmarine.com

[Ted III]

Just how do you go about removing the sending unit from the fuel tank?

[Snuggery]

The sending unit is accessable through the wheel well under the driver's seat via an opening in the frame. Turning the steering wheel to the right gives you more room under there. The mounting plate is bolted to the fuel tank and the float pulls right out. Don't do this with a "full" tank of diesel.

[Snuggery]

Followup - the new sending unit works, but is not calibrated correctly. It stays on "Full" until the tank is over half-empty and then comes down quickly. When it reads "1/4" the tank is nearly empty.

I'm too lazy to crawl under there again and try to recalibrate it. Easier to just reset the trip odometer whenever we fill up. We can safely go 700 miles between refueling with a safety margin.

[Algoma]

I would say it is NOT working. It sounds as if you have a sending unit that has the wrong resistance to match the gauge.