still having fuel gauge problems!

[GregEdgar]

i replaced the sending unit, and still no sign of fuel in the tank. could the fuel gauge not work properly without the right fuse. my dad was telling me it could be the wrong fuse in the fusebox? im just not sure.

so ive replaced the sending unit. and i dont know what to check for now. please help. any suggestions?

thanks,
Greg

[QUADRADO]

check your grounds near the tank.
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"Sometimes you're the bug sometimes you're the windshield"

[KTPhil]

Ground the wire at the sending unit using a jumper wire to a good chassis ground. The gauge should read full. If it does, check the grounding of the sender, and suspect the new sender is brokewn or the wrong one. If the gauge doesn't read full when grounded, suspect the gauge, the wire, or the gauge cluster wiring.

[busman78]

Also verify you have power at the gauge

[COFBack]

check the procupine ground behind the gauge.
Clean up all the terminals and use some dielectric grease
then
check the terminals on the gauge.
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[Russ Wolfe]

The screws that hold the sender in the tank have seals on them. They are a plastic seal, except for one. It is supposed to be a copper washer. For ground.
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[spoon]

I need to bring this up again. My gage is reading about 1/4 tank LOWER than what's really in there. Is this a gage issue? In the meantime, I will go and try jumping the wire at the sender to ground, and will observe my gage's reading while doing so.
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[abgwin]

and not to hijack, but on a sort of related note: my gas gauge is my next project too. it currently just jumps a bit when the car starts, but nothing more.

on other 6v to 12v conversion threads, some people say you have to swap out the gas gauge and some say you don't. do you?

since i don't have the luxury of a handy 12v gauge, will a voltage drop work?

sorry if i'm being dense, but electrical stuff makes no sense to me - just does not compute

[tstracy39]

The fuel gauge is sensitive to fluctuations in voltage, so when the engine is starting up and the generator isn't spinning at the proper rpm the needle can jump around. On my car it would even read Empty whenever the engine was turning less than 1000 RPM but whenever I opened the throttle it would read the actual fuel level, though I'm sure it's not supposed to do that.
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[Mike Fisher]

The fuel gauge on our 69 read about 1/4 tank MORE when we got it. We'd run out of gas when it showed 1/4 tank! We robbed the sender out of the 67 after Jack had wrecked it and the 69 reads real accurate now!
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69 FI/AT square Daily Driver
66 sunroof,67,70,71,71,71AT,72,72AT,73 Parts
two 57 oval ragtops sold
'68 Karmann Ghia sold

Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you end up with a lot of scum on the top! - Russ_Wolfe/Edward Abbey

[ggreenggiant]

Where are the grounds to the tank? I am also having issues with my tank reading anything. I replaced the sending unit and even went direct from tank to back of gauge to make sure to eliminate the wire being broke. Can I get some help on where to check the ground?

[gt1953]

What I had to do was to run a wire from ground to one of the screws on the tank sending unit. Works fine. My gauge does read weird but it does let me know when it gets near the R on the gauge.
When I fill the tank it takes about 90 miles for it to move off of full mark.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[Bobnotch]

[blues90]

My fuel gauge has always had issues since I got it. I'm not sure if earlier model year gauges are different I know the senders are the same.

Mine always jumped when it got near 1/4 tank and when the tank was full it would read a bit past full. I removed the sender once to see that might be wrong, Then I used to long jumper wires one to ground and one to the gauge to sender and had the round cover tube off and slowly moved the float and it read perfect , couldn't get it to jump it still read a bit over full.

Once I put the sender back in it did the same thing jumped. I have two gauges a 72 and 73 both complete in their housings with all the other lights.

There are stops on each side of the needle so you can set where the needle stops they are small L shaped tabs. I could see the 73 stop allowed the needle to pass full.

In 2015 when it was hit on the right front bumper guard by a red light runner it does not go to past full any more. I tried the ground on the sender deal didn't work. I added a ground to the gauge even though one exits on the bakelite black plug yet it had a loose connection so I used a good spare I had cleaned all the three contact pins and didn't change a thing. At one point used to jump if the 4 ways were on.

I pulled in the 72 and it did the same thing jumping. I checked the wire from the sender disconnected to the pin it connects to on the gauge and read 44 ohms I cleaned the tab on the sender and the 1/4" female connector no change . I was going to run a new wire and never did thinking this would affect the reading and possible make it jump.

After the accident it jumps no matter how much fuel is in the tank more so above the 1/2 tank and below.

Some day I will fix it , for now when it is steady near the red I know I need gas meaning it stops jumping. Maybe the jolt knocked the tube cover off and this is why is moves on turns then comes back. I don't see how the jolt could yet it may have.

Why VW didn't it different on the type 3 than on a beetle I have no idea. Old american car/trucks have a float and a voltage regulator , all fuel tanks slosh fuel never had a problem unless the float went bad and sunk of the reostat on the sender went bad or the VR. They just got a pulse voltage.

[gt1953]

Oh My. Fuel sending unit issues.
Have you disassembled the unit. If not be careful. It is a simple float that slides up and down on two small wires. Be careful with those.
What I had to do with mine was to clean the wires and small electrical contacts that contact the wires on the float that slides up and down.
Took care of the problem and ground it good.
Jim Adney repairs them.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[blues90]

[Bobnotch]

[gheezerghia]

Bobnotch, Do you have Jims info so I can send him my fuel gauge if I need to? Thanks man!

[Ossipon]