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"...assuming you are "THE" Foster in "Fosterizing". As far as photos..."
That other Foster is a complete moron. Don't believe anything he says, particularly his stupid puns. Definitely a screw loose someplace.
The first photo below shows an OD relay before resoldering. The areas that I indicate as "possible" cracks were indeed cracked. I resoldered this relay about 3-4 years ago, and as far as I know it's still working fine.
The second photo shows the relay AFTER resoldering. The pink wire at the top left is a repair to a section of foil trace that burned through when the solenoid wire chaffed through and shorted to ground. The excess current burned the foil.
Incidentally, your fuel pump relay deserves precisely the same resoldering treatment. In fact, resolder every relay in the car -- what's to lose except a little time?
On a 240, the gas gauge and temperature gauge are both powered by the same voltage regulator. If both gauges are dead, then it's a good bet the VR is dead. However, if only the gas gauge is dead then the gauge, the gauge mounts, the tank sender, or the wiring is defective.
The most likely cause is a loose nut securing the gauge to the cluster circuit board. The gauge mounting studs also act as the electrical conductors -- and when the nuts loosen, the gauge (gauges) become intermittent.
The picture below shows the back of an '86 instrument cluster -- almost identical to yours -- and the gauge votage regulator is marked. Around the VR are the four nuts for the two gauges (two for the temp gauge, two for the fuel gauge).
If you can ABSOLUTELY identify the wire at the tank (and be careful to not confuse it with the tank pump wire), then you can ground the wire and see if the gauge responds.
With the instrument cluster removed, installing a replacement gauge is easy. You only need to find a good used cluster. Replaceing the sending unit is a more difficult chore, and carries risk because you're diddling around an open tank of fuel.
Be wary of crankcase pressure. It will cause weeping by the seals, and on the B230F engine in the 240 (first year '85) can cause the big plug to pop outta its hole in the back of the head (happened to my '86 -- long, cold repair story). You can prevent this by assuring that the ventilation system works and also with a retaining strap. You can buy a strap from IPD for around $20, or so, or you can make your own for $0 and a scrap of aluminum strapping. See the picture below for dimensions and bolt size.
--
Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)
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