Aftermarket VDO Fuel Gauge and Sender

[lowdowndub]

Hello-

My fuel gauge seems to have a mind of its own and I was curious if anyone has installed a VDO fuel gauge and sending unit in their van?

Which sending unit is appropriate and does the tank need to be removed for install?

Just looking for input on ease of installation and accuracy.

Of course pictures are always helpful.

85 Westy BTW.

Thanks
Ben

[MarkWard]

Ben, I am 99% sure you have to drop the tank to access the sender unit on a Vanagon. I don't have any experience with using a VDO fuel gauge in a Vanagon, but I would suggest spending a little time trying to figure the stock one out before condeming it. Does your temp gauge work properly? They share the same voltage regulator.
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[lowdowndub]

Nope the temp gauge doesn't work and the PO put in an aftermarket VDO.

-Ben

[MarkWard]

Ben, I suppose if you are inclined to install the VDO fuel gauge you can. Not sure if you can use the stock vw fuel sender or not. It may read, but not accurately. Most sensors are resistance to ground. Since your temp guage is out, assuming the wiring is ok, most likely your guage problem can be traced to the voltage stabilizer/regulator on the back of the cluster or the printed circuit foil. I still think you would have a better result fixing the stock cluster. The regulator is a common part to many VW vehicles. Part number is 171 919 803. If it is the printed circuit, I believe new they are NLA. I see good used clusters for sale here on Samba and Fleebay. Good luck.
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[Christopher Schimke]

The Vanagon fuel level sender reads 560 ohms empty and 55 ohms full. I could not find a single aftermarket gauge that would work with the stock sender. The alternative would be to adapt a sender that matches the gauge that you want to use. In order to do this, you would need to drop the fuel tank and fabricate and adapter to mate the new sender to the Vanagon's fuel sender opening, which is not standard.

For the amount of work involved, if it were me, I would follow rsxsr's advice and fix the real culprit instead.
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[VisPacem]

[lowdowndub]

Seems like fixing the Stock Gauge would be the easier way.

Thanks for the input. I'm sure I'll be back asking how to fix voltage stab/reg.

-Ben

[J Charlton]

I actually found something using the search function!! I too am having problems with a fuel gauge - I've replaced the voltage stabilizer, no joy - I don't want to get into dropping the tank to replace the sender though. Anyone have any trouble shooting tips?
jc
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NAHT hightop availability May 18 2023 -
Bend Oregon - for Oregon, California- (7 tot , 3 available), Kennewick Wa (6 tot, 1 available), Small Car Performance Fife Wa. (7 tot 4 avail ), Fairbanks Alaska (1 tot 0 avail)
Future availability TBD : Springfield Mass. Staunton Va, Florida, Colorado, Grand Junction Co., SLC probably late 2024

[MarkWard]

Does the temp gauge work?
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[J Charlton]

No the temp gauge doen't work either - but I'm not worried about it as I plumbed in an h2o temp sensor and an aftermarket gauge to give accurate temperature readings. The fuel gauge is another matter though. It would be nice to have a visual idea of the remaining fuel in the tank. The van has an AAZ TD diesel in it, and fuel consumption is somewhere around 30mpg but it would still be nice to have a gauge.
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NAHT hightop availability May 18 2023 -
Bend Oregon - for Oregon, California- (7 tot , 3 available), Kennewick Wa (6 tot, 1 available), Small Car Performance Fife Wa. (7 tot 4 avail ), Fairbanks Alaska (1 tot 0 avail)
Future availability TBD : Springfield Mass. Staunton Va, Florida, Colorado, Grand Junction Co., SLC probably late 2024

[DAIZEE]

yes it would. Will fill tomorrow as I have no idea how much is left. Just had my speedometer changed from miles to km so if I top up I can see in km how far I've gone BUT would be nice see fuel level BUT if I have to do without it, well then I will. TY
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'09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 98 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (sold)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold)

[MarkWard]

The temp guage and the fuel gauge share the voltage stabilizer on the back of the cluster. If both are failed you should trouble shoot at the cluster first. You should be able to work both gauges by grounding one of the nut studs through the foil with the key on and a 12volt test light.
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[Goshen]

I was able to locate a good sending unit that will work.. Egauges does have a universal one # SN38

This is the VDO 301-303 that i am using:

Here is the egauges link:

http://www.egauges.com/vdo_indS.asp?Sender=75_10ohms&PN=SN38

Part Number: SN38
Range: Fuel Sender - 0-90 Ohms
Thread:
Warning Contact:
Compatibility: 0-90 Ohms
Notes: Tank Sender - 0-90 Ohm - Adjustable 6-24”. By Classic Instruments.
List Price: $41.00
Our Price: $34.85

[redeyeksc]

Has anyone tried on of these? http://www.intellitronix.com/fuel-gauges.html
I can't find any specs that verify the Ohm rating of the gauge. My 84 has a toast fuel gauge and I cannot find a replacement.
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84 Westfalia, now with Bostig Zetec 2.0L, Manual Transmission
Alex

[redeyeksc]

found this in another forum the procedure might work for us as well.

This procedure will wire the two fuel level senders in series so that the fuel level becomes the sum of the two.
Unfortunately, the Auto Meter gage is made to work with a maximum resistance of 270 ohms. When we add the 2 senders together, they total 500 ohms at Empty. To overcome this, I installed a 560 ohm resistor in parallel with the senders, to reduce the total resistance. However, this causes the resistance change to be non-linear from Full to Empty {for resistors in parallel, the total resistance RT=1/(1/R1+1/R2)} so the gage must be programmed using the values below.

This will cause the gage to remain on the Full mark until about the tank is about 7/8, and at 3/4 tank, the gage will read about 7/8. From 1/2 to Empty, the gage will be pretty accurate.

Refer to the schematic below for a description of what to do with the existing wiring.
1. Cut wire number 2759 at connector D6 (C2). If you don’t have a factory ECU, you won’t need to do this, as it obviously is not connected.
2. Connect wire number 1937 to ground.
3. Connect wire number 1936 to the purple lead for the fuel gage. Use a spade connector so that i

What do you guys think?
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84 Westfalia, now with Bostig Zetec 2.0L, Manual Transmission
Alex

[cvbill]

Fuel gauges use one of three differing ohm ranges. Get a gauge that is the same ohm rating as the VW gauge. I am currently using an Equus gauge (from O'Railly). Gauge is cheap, so go play with it. Mine is wired to stock VW sender, and is also wired to a Summit Racing universal fit (but specific ohm range) sender in my aux tank. I can switch between the two to get fuel levels in either tank ( I use the same type setup to read engine/trans temp. I have had VDO gauges, but gave up on them, their reputation far exceeds their quality. I have an extra good used Syncro fuel level sender if anyone is interested in it.
The whole stock gauge setup/system in the Syncro (to me) is an over-thought piece of junk

[redeyeksc]

Do you have a model number for that gauge, the only ones listed on that site stop at 240 ohms

Thanks for the reply.
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84 Westfalia, now with Bostig Zetec 2.0L, Manual Transmission
Alex

[cvbill]

if you are addressing me Redeye, the gauge is:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/equ-8363/overview/

The values (instead of ohms) cited in the Bentley are of some unspecified units used by VW and are not useable, or needed. I did my own ohm measurements on a new VW sender and bought the corresponding gauge; ie, this one
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[redeyeksc]

Thats good to know. I just replaced the sender in the fall so I will check before I order just to make sure.
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84 Westfalia, now with Bostig Zetec 2.0L, Manual Transmission
Alex

[Franagon]

So you're saying that the VW fuel sender is actually 240 ohms empty, 33 ohms full?

My cluster is dying and I want to basically can everything and go with a full set of glowshift or speed hut gauges (leaning toward speedhut) and really am getting hung up on the fuel gauge. My stock one seems to work, but I am going to create a custom cluster getting rid of all the 'stock stuff' that leaves me wondering if I have a problem or if my gauges are just being dumb. I see a glowshift fuel gauge that is the 240/33 combination as well.

Can someone please confirm? I may just buy that gauge listed from Summit. Worth a check to me. If I go forward with the gauge from Summit, I'll report back.

Thanks all, good thread.

Fran
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84 Westy Wolfsburg Manual - RG6 Bostig