Fuel sender = resistor?

[MEngineer]

I want to replace my fuel gauge with another means of displaying the fuel level, but I need to know what exactly the fuel sender is?

Is it a potentiometer? If it is, does the fuel gauge pass a voltage through it in order to measure the level?

If not what is the fuel sender and is it safe to pass a voltage through?

Thanks!

[92xjunker]

It's a rheostat, the negative voltage feeds through it. The exact resistance, I do no know.

[MEngineer]

It's a rheostat, the negative voltage feeds through it. The exact resistance, I do no know.

Gotcha! FYI 3 Ohms is full and 110 Ohms is empty. The numbers are in the manual.

[steves]

Who reads the manual

[MEngineer]

Who care how much fuel we have?

[MEngineer]

It's a rheostat, the negative voltage feeds through it. The exact resistance, I do no know.

What would happen if I were to connect a 12V lead to it? Ideally I want to build a voltage divider circuit with it. So I hook up a positive lead to the fuel sender and then another resistor then to ground. Then I could measure voltage change across the resistor.

Can I do this safely, and not blow myself up?