Removing Fuel Tank Sender 70 Bug

[dualref]

After sitting for 2.5 years I am still working on getting my bug running again. I keep running into problems along the way. Here is what I have.

I thought before starting it I'd open the top of the tank and look and see what is in the tank (rust, water, etc.) I imagine not much since the fuel guage is on "R".

So I go to pull the fuel tank sending unit:

And I can't get it out. The hole in the fuel tank is very small and the sender seems to be about 3 inches long the white part you see is only about 1/2 of the sender length. I have tilted it every way imaginable and even tried a straight pull out. It seems like it can't get enough clearance around the hole in the tank to be removed. Am I missing some kind of trick to pull it out? I don't want to damage it.

BTW, the sender says "Encho En Mexico" so I imagine this sender has been replaced before. I wonder if they stuffed the wrong one in there?

[JerryMCarter1]

It went in there
It will come out

keep trying
_________________
Experience always triumphs over hearsay and You get to select which theory to believe

[Roostalee]

Mine was a VDO, but it came right up and out of my tank in my '68. I recall a notch in the hole in the tank (you can see it in your pic), but I don't think I had to align the sending unit with it to install or remove it. Have you tried turning the whole unit clockwise or counterclockwise, then pulling up?
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Every morning, Greggery drives his little red Volkswagen to the ugly part of town where they keep the government buildings. "Voodn, voodn! Boy it's so hard to find a place to park around here!"

[dualref]

Yes, I tried to turn it around but it only turns about 30 degrees before the float hits the side of the tank and stops any movement. I have tried clockwise and counterclockwise.
If I bend that white shaft I probably could get it out, and destroy the sender in the process.

[JerryMCarter1]

I remember this exact thing
I think imight have took a coat hanger and pulled the float up - something of that sort
_________________
Experience always triumphs over hearsay and You get to select which theory to believe

[dualref]

The problem with the removal process is that the hole in the tank is too small. When you pull straight up or tilt the sender the right side scrapes the side of the tank opening and the left side still has about 1-1/2 inches of sender left in the tank. I haven't even got to the point about the float sensor support wire yet.

I'm at a point that I feel it may be cheaper to buy a new tank and sensor on the chance that they may be contaminates in the tank. Since I can't see I don't know.

When this bug was parked two and a half years ago it had a full tank. Now the gauge reads "R". So did all that evaporated fuel leave any tar, water or varnish behind? When I had the tank open it smelled just like regular gasoline. It didn't stink or anything.

If I start the car now, won't I be sucking all of that into the engine?

[jlex]

Absolutely; Don't start the engine until you've replaced it with fresh gas. I'd disconnect the fuel pump from the carb and let it pump a bit before reconnecting it to the carburetor.
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jlex.
'70 std. "Elsie"
'88 Carrera

[JerryMCarter1]

Two years is a long time
Drain the fuel out of it from below.
You could try to run some fuel through it my pouring and then catching and then pouring and catching for a few times - then new filter
If the car changed temperature often throughout the day or week then condensation will built up and you will get rust.
I just cannot believe that that sending unit will not come out.
If you buy a new tank you just get a tank
It just has to come out - the tank was pressed together then the sending was added later

Jerry
_________________
Experience always triumphs over hearsay and You get to select which theory to believe

[dualref]

I figured another way to do this.

I'm going to the autoparts store and get one of those small hand pumps you can use to pump fuel, oil, etc. Then I'll send the hose from it down the fuel filler hose and pump some of the whatever is in the tank into a large glass mayo jar. That way I'll be able to see if there is rust or water in the tank (water always sinks to the bottom, fuel stays on top). If the fuel is orange I'll know there is rust in there.

When you have a fuel gauge needle that points to "R" on the guage, isn't there only about a gallon of fuel or so left in the tank?

[JerryMCarter1]

from zero, or to the far left of r,, to max R, at the right is about 2 gallons in mine
_________________
Experience always triumphs over hearsay and You get to select which theory to believe

[wbrown45]

Is it the two tabs on either side of the slide contact that is not letting it come out?You should be able to see in the tank to tell what part of the sender is giving you trouble. I just got a new sending unit that I had to play with after bending those tabs to adjust my fuel reading level. As stated before it went in, it should come out.
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OK Thang

[Kensp]

I just learned the hard please remove the tank take to a local radiator shop have them clean and coat. Start at the tank and clean forwad to the carb. filters are cheap.

[dualref]

After I check the fuel in the tank by the method listed earlier:

I'm going to drain the tank by pulling the fuel line at the bottom of it.

Then pull the fuel filter (behind the fuel tank) and then disconnect the line just before the fuel pump and blow it all out with compressed air.

Then replace the fuel lines with new German cloth braided ones. (5.5).

Put a new filter in.

How much does a radiator shop charge to clean up a tank and recoat the insides? Does the 10% Ethanol in our fuel hurt the liner? Would it be cheaper to just buy a new tank? ($140.00 or so).

I'll tell you, after this ordeal I'm never going to let my bug sit again!

[webdawg]

When I restored my 1952 Aliss Chalmers Tractor I used this stuff on my gas tank. Worked great. I also put a chain inside the tank and shook it all around to help remove any heavy rust, but the kit took care of the rest.

http://www.eastwood.com/ew-gas-tank-sealer-kits-fo...RQod4VhnZQ
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My first Bug '63 and My current bug' 73

Kingman, Az VW Club http://www.brownsbacker.com/club/

[JerryMCarter1]

There is some tank sealer at checker
I just took mine and had it cleaned for $75
Many just put some chain or marbles in there and shack it with lacquer thinner or strong cleaner - they seem to get buy
save you money
Jerry
_________________
Experience always triumphs over hearsay and You get to select which theory to believe

[Cadaver]

probably the wrong sender, mine ,68, comes out every-time, but has correct parts. (id replace it)

the SpectraPremium tank is plated inside, buy that and you dont need to Kreem the tank. solving the Ethanol issues.
IS your tank a collectors item? (period year correct and all that...)?

As you stated , siphon the fuel at the filler and get all you can there.
then pull the bottom hose (or risk eating 9 gallons of fuel landing in the garage)
please, don't do this indoors.
most those drain hoses are in Gram-crackers shape, one touch and boom busted.

btw those sender mount holes are indexed , non symmetrical. (look close)
1 way only.
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for sale now.
in Samba classifieds....1968 T1.

[Roostalee]

Candy, I wished I would have known that about the sender mount holes. I topped off my new (to me) '68 a few months ago and immediately smelled gas. Found a big leak at the sender mount. Turns out the PO thought the sender would go on any old way and forced some of the screws in. It made a terrible seal. I finally realigned it and realized the holes look close in a lot of configurations, but only look "right" in one orientation.

Also, there's a web site out there where you can search for gas stations in your area that have gas without alcohol. Hopefully there will be a few closeby.
_________________
Every morning, Greggery drives his little red Volkswagen to the ugly part of town where they keep the government buildings. "Voodn, voodn! Boy it's so hard to find a place to park around here!"

[dualref]

That's what I suspect, it's the wrong fuel sender. I have removed VW senders before and all of you are correct, they just lift out. This one won't and since it's "henco en Mexico" lord only knows what it's made to fit in.
But I've owned this car for 6 years and I must say that the sender was accurate i.e. doing it's job correctly. It' looks like I'm going to have to destroy it to get it out. I hate wasting parts like that.

Yes, this is the original VW tank to the car and I don't see any rust on the outside of it at all. It's still a nice semi glass black.

I can get a new tank from my local VW FLAPS for $135.00. The cost of sending out and cleaning and relining the original comes pretty close (maybe about within $30.00). Plus where do you dispose of all these chemicals you us to clean the tank? That's part of the hassle I don't look forward to.
The fuel lines shouldn't be brittle at all as I replaced them just before I stopped driving the car two years ago. I intend on replacing them again, just to be safe.

Yes, I have experienced the feeling of fuel running out of the bottom of a gas tank before. I have a Squareback and when I first got it I ran it until the gas quage was on "R" and then pulled the fuel line at the bottom of the tank with a waiting gas can. I was truly amazed at how fast that gas can come out of that little hole. And the amount of fuel that came out was much more than I was ready to handle! It kind of sprayed everywhere including all over me!

Does anyone have a spare 68-70' fuel pump they could take a photo of so I could compare what I have to the proper one?

[Cadaver]

yes, that is rotten dirty trick by VW.
the hole spacing is so hard for mere humans to see that.
but i didnt like the fit. and cussed, and fumed, way are screws canted i said.
then found out they are not symmetrical.... wow.

one nice guy here, has a single photo of all his senders
including plastic clones and arrows with sucks on them, this plastic one is crap. ect.
somewhere....

benleys page s2-5 shows the acid fix on tank.
i' never park a tank like than in my home (when a kid, no problem)
I have relic MC's back to 61 and many a kreemed tank done over 20 years
ago when Yamaha first sold Kreem kit. (one of the first and Kawasaki)

but my bikes are parked in a bike barn from from house 100feet +
I have NASA friend that can do Nasa stle tank cleaning. it looks like
a sand powered lawn sprinkler. he puts it in the tank and comes back 1 hr.
later it is virgin steel. genius guys they are....a fun tool....
But Muriatic works as the bentleys states.
if will not eat steel only the rust so, what happens , happens. (holed)

bentleys is silent on sender (fuel)
page S10-p56 , reverse order for reassemble. bah.


at no time do i ever want 10 gallons of fuel in my home based garage.
no way.
the gas can go to the seam and walk slowly to a pit hole
gas is funny that way.... ask your fireman or ins co. that one...
but Kreeming a new tank is cool. huh?
_________________
for sale now.
in Samba classifieds....1968 T1.

[JerryMCarter1]

It' looks like I'm going to have to destroy it to get it out.

I bet not !
_________________
Experience always triumphs over hearsay and You get to select which theory to believe