I am looking at my sending unit on the in-tank fuel pump on my 1986 245 wagon, and I don't see a float. I looked in the tank with a flashlight - nothing loose in there. I haven't found a good picture on the net of what it should look like. I am attaching a picture I just shot of it. Also, when I was removing the hoses, the hose for the return split. There was something like hard plastic over the hose barb that would not come off, so I clipped it with pliers past the hose barb. Is this part of the hose or did I just FUBAR my sending unit (which may be FUBAR'd anyways if the float is missing). When I replace the hose, what hose should I buy?

Hmmm. It surely does look like you are missing a float and the arm and the sender wiper and the pivot... How long has the gauge been lying?

The hose between output pipe and pump is 5/16" ID neoprene. The hard plastic one was the fuel return line, spilling gas back into the tank, so therefore not under much pressure. The plastic line runs about a foot and a half or so to a flare fitting mating with the steel return line from the fuel pressure regulator up front. There's no cool way to splice the plastic, so I think folks will replace the line all the way to the steel with 5/16 fuel line, BUT, I discovered that barb is really for 1/4" ID line. As the steel line you'd probably cut the fitting off of is 5/16" OD, you might be able to get a tight fit if you clamped 5/16 hose around the remaining plastic over the barb. I just worry the plastic is slippery. Fuel is nothing to fuel around with.

ed. Maybe you can get a new sender assembly from a junkyard with plastic hose intact. In the yard you could just cut the steel line with a small tubing cutter, saving the line wrench task for home.