01-06-2011

Necessity being the mother of invention, I recently set about to find a way to repair the fuel gauge sender on my '85 CFI Vert.

The '83-'86 CFI and EFI fuel gauge senders, Ford part number E3ZZ-9375-C, are no longer available from Ford, and none of the usual sources are able to find NOS ones anymore. What's worse, they are not reproduced by anyone in the aftermarket, even though they seem to have a higher failure rate than the senders for the carbureted cars, which are reproduced. I don't know if it's because the people selling the senders are unaware of the unique nature of these senders, but whatever the reason, I really like having a gas gauge that works.

The '83-'86 CFI/EFI sender is very different from the sender for the carbureted cars. It's actually a lot like the sender for the '87-'93 cars, but the resistance range is 80 Ohms empty and 10 Ohms full, while the '87-'93 sender is 10 Ohms empty and 165 Ohms hen the tank is full. Since I wasn't having any luck finding the E3ZZ sender, I started looking around for other Ford senders that could be used as organ donors, to repair my existing sender.

The CFI/EFI style senders use a ceramic printed circuit resistance strip, unlike the wire-wound resistor elements in the carbureted cars. Over time, wear and corrosion from oxygenated fuels take their toll, and the result looks like this-

For this particular sender repair, I ended up finding a donor from a very unexpected source. Dorman Factory Solutions makes a line of factory replacement fuel gauge senders, and the one I used is for, of all things, the 1984-1987 Tempo/Topaz, 2.3 Liter, without fuel injection. Who knew? This sender is Dorman part number 692-120, or Ford part number E63Z-9275-A.

Here is the donor sender, alongside the original unit from my '85 (the grungy looking one).

The senders are very different, but that doesn't matter, because we're only going to use one part. Well, maybe two, if your original float is not serviceable. It may be possible to use more of the parts from the donor sender, but there are differences that would make that a bit more work. More about that in just a bit.

First thing we need to do is take the senders apart. The float arm is a press fit into the old sender, and will need to be pulled out before removing the sender cover. I used a pair of needle-nose pliers to gently lever the arm out of the wiper. On the new sender, the float arm is a bit easier to remove. Once the float arms are off, the housing unclips from the metal backing plate, leaving you with something that looks like this-

(Yours will still have a wire soldered to the resistance strip.)

The new sender had some of it's pins heat-smashed on the back side of the plate, but once I trimmed those, I was able to unclip the housing just ...

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Tools Required:

Current condition of drivers seat. Not bad for 20 years old.

First step after seat removal is to separate the seat upper and lower frames. This is accomplished by removing the 2 Phillips head screws from outboard trim cover of seat back adjustment mechanism. Then remove (1) T45 Torx bolt from inboard side, and (2) 1/2 inch bolts from outboard side. (note, if vehicle is equipped with upper power lumbar adjustment, removed plastic vacuum line from lower seat section.)

Part 1 - Lower Seat Cover

We will start with recovering the lower seat frame. First step is to remove the 2 small roll pins from the adjustable knee bolster support (if equipped). This section will slide out after pins are removed.

If seat is equipped with adjustable side bolsters, remove knob by loosening the 2mm allen set screw. The knob will slide off afterwards.

Switch for power lumbar support is removed by lifting up on trim plate, and removing (2) Phillips head screws on switch. wiring and vacuum lines will come out with switch.

Start removal of seat cover by first removing 4 plastic retainers on frame by rolling upward on them, secondly snip hog rings securing seat cover piping to frame.

Fold seat cover sides up, and cut 2 hog rings on each side where metal seat cushion rods are secured to side bolster adjustment flaps. Also cut hog rings along front of seat frame. Now fold seat cushion/cover upward from rear, and slide off of rods. rods will stay attached to seat frame.

Here is lower seat frame ready for assembly. I opted to remove the power lumbar, so i removed the hoses, wires and motor assembly.

Place seat cushion on lower seat frame. Slide seat cover over metal securing rods.

Remove metal rods from old seat cover and install in new seat cover.

Start re-ringing seat cover to cushion and frame. Install rings where originals were removed from.

Pull seat cover down and over to attach the plastic recurring strips to the frame. Also be sure to re-ring the seat cover piping to frame, for proper stretch on cover.

Part 2 - Lower Knee Bolster

Start by removing (4) 5/16 bolts from frame to cushion support.

Place knee bolster cushion and support inside new cover, and staple with 1/4 inch staples, pulling tight over cushion. Bolt frame back to new bolster. Reinstall in seat frame and reinstall roll pins in brackets.

Here is the finished lower seat frame/knee bolster assembly.

Part 3- Upper Seat Cover and Final Assembly

Factory seat cover is secured at bottom with a zipper. Unzip seat cover, reach up back of seat cover and push in on retaining tab for headrest, now remove headrest.

Removed headrest guide by pulling upward on it, it takes some effort, but pulls out of top. Also remove trim bezel for rear seat entry level by removing (1) Phillips screw.

Fold front of seat cover up slightly to access ...