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Wed Apr 08, 2020 1:16 pm

Hello,
Recent owners of a 76. We've only had the bus a couple of days and haven't driven it on public road yet until we get insurance. However, the gas gauge was working but suddenly isn't. Fuse is good.
We had to jump start a couple of times but are now in a good battery.
Everything else seems good.
Any ideas?
Thanks

Wed Apr 08, 2020 1:54 pm

common intermittent problem. Often the gauge unless someone was working with the wiring etc..

Wed Apr 08, 2020 1:55 pm

Welcome,

It would be a great idea to familiarize yourself with the search function on the forum, and probably read the FAQ at the top of the page. You might get eaten alive asking a question that's been asked and answered a billion times.

There are electrical connections on the sending unit itself. The sending unit is in your gas tank. A lot of people have holes cut in the luggage area of their buses to access the top of the gas tank. Check- do you have one of these lovely gifts from a PO? Start by cleaning the connections, power and ground. You may need to replace the sending unit. Buyer beware - most aftermarket senders S.U.C.K. Even replacing it may not fully solve your issue.

Then you have the gauge itself and all of the things that could go wrong with it. How are the electrical connections on the back of the gauge? Have you had the instrument cluster off to check? Make sure you unplug your battery before you go diving behind the dash - there are live wires here! It gets pretty complicated on the back of gauge, beware!

I just replaced the sender in my tank and cleaned all the electrical connections I could find- which made my gauge go from not working at all to reading about 70% full when it's actually full. I decided I can live with that.
Good luck!

Wed Apr 08, 2020 1:57 pm

SGKent wrote: common

mos def?

wagohn,
Do you have a bentley? The official workshop manual for fixing these cars? It's a bigass green book. Older versions have color wiring diagrams, newer versions do not. If you have questions just pop a GOOG "bentley 1968-1979 vw bus"

Wed Apr 08, 2020 1:57 pm

secretsubmariner wrote: Welcome,

It would be a great idea to familiarize yourself with the search function on the forum, and probably read the FAQ at the top of the page. You might get eaten alive asking a question that's been asked and answered a billion times.

There are electrical connections on the sending unit itself. The sending unit is in your gas tank. A lot of people have holes cut in the luggage area of their buses to access the top of the gas tank. Check- do you have one of these lovely gifts from a PO? Start by cleaning the connections, power and ground. You may need to replace the sending unit. Buyer beware - most aftermarket senders S.U.C.K. Even replacing it may not fully solve your issue.

Then you have the gauge itself and all of the things that could go wrong with it. How are the electrical connections on the back of the gauge? Have you had the instrument cluster off to check? Make sure you unplug your battery before you go diving behind the dash - there are live wires here! It gets pretty complicated on the back of gauge, beware!

I just replaced the sender in my tank and cleaned all the electrical connections I could find- which made my gauge go from not working at all to reading about 70% full when it's actually full. I decided I can live with that.
Good luck!

sender has been replaced and not adjusted so it sends the right signal when full. Another common issue.

Wed Apr 08, 2020 2:01 pm

Quote: I decided I can live with that.

Thu Apr 09, 2020 6:39 am

Thanks, all. I tried the tapping on the glass trick, and replaced the fuse again - no luck.
Sounds like a Bentley manual is in my future. The PO has a lot of dangling disconnected wires from the dash, though they seem to be from the radio and oil pressure gauge he installed.
I will get my circuit tester out and try to process-of-elimination the wires.
Thanks again

Thu Apr 09, 2020 8:22 pm

Drove the bus to the gas station and because we dont know the state of the gas tank yet, put in 5 gals. The gauge came to life and now reads full - but drops slightly going uphill. Strange.