Green Mk 2 ??

[AmbulanceMan]

drive your nearest scrapyard and leave it there

Ah, it is running quite well now. Fuel gauge still reads full all the time, but apart from that, it is running great.

[Luke]

good to hear

[AmbulanceMan]

Since the diesel engine was put in, the fuel gauge reads full, very full, all the time, (as any who have followed this will know),

Question is, is the fuel sender unit in the Mk2 petrol not compatible with diesel?

The tank was not changed.

Is this a common problem with these conversions?

[madmark]

somehow it sounds like your wire is going to earth,this will make the gauge read full!

[AmbulanceMan]

somehow it sounds like your wire is going to earth,this will make the gauge read full!

Any tips on what I need to do to check that? I had an electrician look at it. He crawled under and did a few things which made the gauge not read at all. He then said he thought it was the sender unit. He must have replaced what he did, as it is reading full all the time again.


There is also talk about the diesel not being calibrated like the petrol. Frankly I am amazed at how little these people know. Much of what made this possible so far has come directly from this forum.

Any advice welcome.

[alanwh]

The auto sparky will have earthed the cable at the sender end to se if your guage was working.
As it is, the fault is with the sender unit

[AmbulanceMan]

The auto sparky will have earthed the cable at the sender end to see if your gauge was working.
As it is, the fault is with the sender unit

Ford parts supply say they no longer supply a sender unit for 1984 Mk2 transit, (diesel, if that makes a difference). Any sources for these you might know of?

[AmbulanceMan]

The saga goes on. I drove the van for several trips to London from Hastings. Couple of weeks ago I heard a noise as I pulled out in first. Looked under and could see nothing obviously wrong. I had come off the motorway about an hour before and was in slow traffic in London. Next thing I know I heard the prop shaft hit the ground, and just made it to the side of the road.

The AA took the van to a garage I knew in London, where they discovered that the bracket weld which held the two sections of the prop shaft up had failed. The Garage in Hastings, Moores Commercial had not used bolts and the weld just failed.

They claim even if this had happened at 70 MPH that it would not have been a problem. Others have said it might have dug in to render the van out of control, and the AA Man pointed out it would have not been good if this had happened while in the motorway passing lane. All I can say is it stopped pretty quick, and if traffic had been speeding behind me on a motorway , I would have been a likely target hard to avoid.

At first Moores indicated they would pay for the repair, which trading standards says they should do, but when it came time to pay, they offered to put 100 pounds towards it.

It cost me more than that for accommodation and the return train journey as I waited for the repair. I am now pressing for a full refund, and the cost of the repair. I suspect this could have been very serious at speed, and that I am very lucky I was only going about 5MPH when it happened.

Not much of a weld.

Anyone here have any experience with prop shafts dropping out of transits? I'd love to hear your stories.

[chrisvmax]

Hi Ambulanceman,
Never had a problem with prop-shafts dropping out... although my centre bracket is bolted in.
But on the subject of the fuel gauge, my ambulance has a 2.5di and the fuel gauge has not worked as long as I have owned the van (about 10 years) but mine is stuck on empty!
I just zero the mileage trip when I fill up, I go about 230-240 miles and then fill up again.

Cheers,
Chris

[AmbulanceMan]

Yeah Chris, my bracket is now bolted in as well. It is obvious that the weld was not all it needed.

[cartooner]

Still, I do think there is a problem with the alignment. When properly set up the bracket for the centre bearing should not be under a lot of stress. Remember the bearing itself is only supported by a rubber sleeve in which it more or less floats. Was the rubber still intact?

[AmbulanceMan]

I think the rubber needed to be replaced, but remember, the shaft hit the road. I have driven it since, now that it is bolted, and it runs fine.Cross fingers.

[baconsdozen]

Sort of come in on this thread a bit late.....................
Is it the mounting for the centre bearing that fell off?.
I've seen a car break the world record for the pole vault when its propshaft broke and fell down,I'm guessing you were lucky that it happened at low speed,on a motorway the thought of the whole prop flailing around underneath is mind blowing.

[jerry2]

Yeah a flapping prop is a bit dodgy.

[AmbulanceMan]

More on the story no pun intended. Someone going past while I was working on the Funbalance asked me if I was the guy who got shafted by Moores on the Transit forum. Word is getting round.

The fuel gauge is working fine now. It was not the sender unit, but was poor wiring as well. Their electrician did a very poor job on the wiring. I am still trying to get the temp gauge working. It did work for a bit, but packed in.

They had no respect for this vehicle at all. I'll bet they get away with this stuff a lot.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy working on the van, but what I hate is having to redo what was working perfectly before. It has been months now just trying to get this back to what it was when I handed it to Moores Commercial, in Ore. To those of you passing by shouting your encouragement I say thank you. It is working now, but I have had to put two lots of Z seal in the water, because it was leaking water a bit each time it ran.

I am seeing a solicitor this week about this. Will keep you posted.