Fuel Sender Removal Tips

[ESilva]

I want to inspect my gas tank since it has been in storage for 10 years.
I removed hex nuts but I'm not able to pull out fuel sender so i can look inside.
Any tips on getting it out?

[Pawel66]

From my experience with this: mine was stuck as people use all kinds of sealants to make it tight. I moved it by gently and patiently prying it out from all directions around. It is easy to bent or break the alloy "collar" of the sender.

If you do not have the tank in the car, you may want to try warm air or some thinner to dissolve a bit what someone might have used for sealing, I think.

If you have the tank in the car and the new type of sender - pull it out very slowly. There is gas in it that will spill all over around if you pull it quickly.

When you put it back in the tank - I used a seal bought from Mercedes that simply was not tight and immediately "deteriorated" when in contact with gas. I had to buy 3-4mm thick gasproof cork sheet and cut the gasket myself. The holes in the gasket are not symetrical. There is also a "notch" in the sender collar that needs a small cut in the gasket.

[scoot]

I've used a screwdriver to push the sender sideways all around, and pulled up on the pins with pliers.

I've _never_ had a problem with a new cork seal not properly sealing.

[Benz Dr.]

I'm not sure if this relates to anything about this but some might find this interesting. Over 35 years ago when I was restoring my first 190SL I found that the fuel gauge wouldn't work and always showed empty even when the tank was full. Removing the sender showed a wire with a cork float on the end. I stuck two cork bottle stoppers on the wire and it worked for a while until it also sank to the bottom of the tank.
Somewhere in all of this I met a guy who told me to coat the corks with shellac and sure enough it worked like magic. Never needed to use this trick again but it's still there waiting in case I do. It might be possible to preserve some cork gaskets we use on our cars that come in contact with fuel using this method. 

[Pawel66]

Dan, thank you. What you are describing was advised to me by my wife, actually (coating with shellac), but I just found it easier to buy a new cork sheet...

I might have come across some old stock of gaskets at Mercedes and I did not coat it with anything when installing.