Fuel level sending unit broken

[SynthOkami]

Recently, I changed out my fuel pump (85 GTS Hatch), and when I bought my car, I knew that something was wrong with the gas gauge. It would sputter and die in between a quarter of a tank and half a tank, and would never max out, I also couldn't put more than 5 gallons of gas in the tank or it would stop me, at basically any fuel level. So when I replaced my pump, it started blowing fuses, and I was like that's a little odd, so I put a 20a fuse instead of the 15, and the fuel pump still worked, but the gas gauge completely stopped working, and it has melted the back end of the harness for the sending unit. Which sucks, but it's my fault for putting a bigger fuse. But, I've looked around at sending units and oooooh boy. Used Ebay ones that are just as rusted and broken as mine are 150-200$, and a new-ish one is 299 on Ebay. Toyota discontinued it, no parts dealers have it, Autozone, and all those places don't have one, RockAuto doesn't, Napa doesn't, this part basically doesn't exist anymore.

So, with that being said, does anyone know how I could go about fixing the sending unit in my car, or find a new/gently used one? If anyone has a parts car I'd happily buy it off of you.

Also, this is the part number I've found for it, but idk if it's the right one. I may be barking up the wrong tree here.

Part #: 8332029456

[twotone_ra64]

Could you post a photo so we can understand the extent of the damage? Then we can make a call if it's irreparable or not.

[sirdan]

I don't know if this will help or not but, Allegedly this one fits toyota pickups/4runners with slight ovaling of the holes and is pretty close to the original ohms range. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tnk-tan-gml

[SynthOkami]

Thanks a ton fellas. I made a Pull-A-Part run today and got some good stuff, but the sending unit in one car was absolutely shot, and was rusted, cranked, and not usable, and the other car didn't have one at all. But I'll make sure to get a picture of it tomorrow. It's late right now.

[SynthOkami]

These are the connectors. The white connector is the one is attached to the sending unit, and the brown one is the one on the chassis. After looking at them taking them apart I didn't look inside the connector... They're REALLY gross lmao. That might've been the issue with it not working properly, because the actual assembly seemed to be working in order, like nothing was getting stuck and the connections in the tank looked okay. I wasn't the one reconnecting it back there so, I didn't see all the crap in there until today. Got any ideas on fixing it?

[ozzie]

Start with some wd-40 to loosen things up, then clean it off with electronics cleaner. Hard to say if those wires are melted, corroded, or just dirty.

[SynthOkami]

Oh the white connector is melted alright. But the thing is, if I can find a way to quick-connect them together and just yoink the harness that'd be ideal. Trying to fix the gauge is on hold at the moment. I'm having some stuttering issues at the moment and I'm trying to track everything down.

[twotone_ra64]

One thing I did with my 1UZ harness, where certain connectors were irreparable or broken, or replacements couldn't be found, I got parts from TE (Tyco Electronics) in their "Econoseal" line which are similar to many of them OEM connectors on the harness. I cut, stripped, re-pinned, and re-connecterered the wires to have brand new connections on both sides. eBay might be a good place to get a connector kit:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/254450276454

Here's an easy solution; grab this 4-pin O2 sensor connector above, use 3 of the 4 positions to make your connections, and voilà! C'est la vie, baby. Don't forget to see some solid wiring notes here from swan song:

https://www.celica-gts.com/forums/index.php?topic=30530.0

Edit: These are the crimpers I've bought. Good quality, and gives you plenty of dies for various crimp / pin styles: https://www.amazon.com/Crimping-Tool-Wirefy-Interchangeable-Non-Insulated/dp/B07Q32PYP3

[danf]

Edit: These are the crimpers I've bought. Good quality, and gives you plenty of dies for various crimp / pin styles: https://www.amazon.com/Crimping-Tool-Wirefy-Interchangeable-Non-Insulated/dp/B07Q32PYP3

Argh. Added to my wish list lol. 

One more thing: don't forget to check the ground on that harness. Mine turned blueish with crud, and as such, my sending unit didn't really want to work properly - especially below a half tank. It really was a guess how much I had when it dropped below 1/2 tank. 

[SynthOkami]

Thanks for the help guys! I'll post some progress when we get around to fixing it. Right now the car needed a TPS and I found out both the set-screws for the throttle body are missing, so tuning the TPS isn't going to happen, and until I come up with a solution to fix that, the car can't really be driven. Which means the fuel gauge is taking a back-seat.

[twotone_ra64]

Ah man, yea the TB issue is definitely more important. I think you can still get new idle and TPS set screws from LCE or 22RE Performance?