A few problems with a 96 Taurus

I bought this car for $500 off the neighbor of a friend of mine. its in real great shape looks really nice power windows locks and all that. It has air conditioning that works great. They couldnt get it to start so we rolled it to his garage and put some gas in the tank. Gas does wonders. The gauge always reads around full but when i put a couple gallons in it itll go up to full. How can I fix the gauge? The drivers side tire is also rubbing against something, I can't tell what but has anyone else had this problem? struts going bad perhaps? I know the stut was moved waaay over from looking at the mount so I moved it back over but it hasnt quit. The ac works but it wont switch over to heat for some reason. Aaaand last but not least my friend who isnt experienced with cars hooked the battery up backwards. Id checked everything he did that day but I didnt notice that. the key was on and it fried the fuses for the radio and destroyed the battery but the alternator tested ok and seems to be charging the new battery alright...what could that be about? Aaaaaany suggestions would be absolutely amazing.

Welcome to the forum!

The fuel gauge sending unit is an integral part of the fuel pump, located in the fuel tank. I'm not aware of any source for just the sending unit, you'll probably need to replace the entire fuel pump assembly. And you don't want to go with the Universal fit style as those typically just include a pump motor, no housing or sending unit.

Without seeing how the tire is rubbing, I can't offer much of a suggestion to that. I don't understand what you moved with the strut. The caster/camber is not adjustable (unless a camber kit has been installed).

For the heat issue, you probably have a vacuum leak for the heater control valve or an electrical solenoid issue for the blend door.

There could be a lot of electrical gremlins waiting to strike due to the reverse polarity battery. Electrolytic capacitors, and tantalum capacitors especially (although I haven't seen many of these used in automotives) don't like reverse polarity. Some devices are designed with reverse polarity protection. A simple design is a high current diode across the power and ground rails. The cathode of the diode is connected positive and anode to ground. If a battery is connected in reverse, the diode conducts and blows the fuse (short between power and ground). If the diode is not derated enough, it may short circuit, causing the fuse to continue to blow until the device is disconnected and the diode repaired or unit replaced.

-Rod

I'm not all that worried about the fuel thing I can pretty much always keep gas in it without running out. As for the strut the bolts for the strut mount were moved waaay over from where they should have been so I moved it back to the correct position. Its still rubbing like hell though. Also I turned the heater on last night and it seemed as though there was heat coming out of the ducts but now I can't really tell, the blower is no longer working right. I do believe it was on when he put the battery in backwards cause we were trying to figure out the heat problem. If I could only fix that rubbing tire I would be extactic..I'll see what I can do about getting some pictures and video up so you can hear the sound and stuff. Thanks for your help!

Well, it kind of sounds like someone did quite a hack job on the front end trying to repair some structural issue prior to your ownership. Unfortunately, you might need to visit a frame shop to get that squared away.

Something you may want to consider is taking the car to your local community college assuming they have an auto body program. Often the college will take on auto body projects like straightening a frame for no labor cost. The car's owner pays for parts, that's it. The downside is you could be without your car for a few weeks while the students learn about straightening a unibody on your car.

-Rod

That'd be ok with me. I didn't see any bends in the frame but I could be wrong. Could it be the strut and spring maybe? If you drive it down the road hold the steering wheel just a tad to the left it doesnt make the sound but as soon as you let it straighten it goes nuts. Also the tensioner pulley is froze as could be, any advice for that?

If holes were drilled to relocate the strut mounting point, I doubt the strut assembly would be the problem. If it's bent enough to cause the tire to rub, I'd expect the strut to be locked up and not able to dampen. I also suspect something in the suspension arm would have to be out of whack. Either bent parts or bent mounting locations.

Just so we're on the same page, what I interpret you found were new holes had been drilled for where the upper strut mount is nutted to the front end of the car, at the strut towers accessed from under the open hood.

As for the seized belt tensioner pulley, the simple answer is to replace it, the idler pulley, and the belt. Chances are the idler pulley won't fail too much after the tensioner.

-Rod