61Scout
Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2011
Posts: 1297
Location: Shoreline/Yakima WA
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 Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 9:33 pm Post subject: Repairing an old 2wd fuel tank sender unit |
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(I did a quick search but didn't see this idea posted anywhere. Don't mean to repost. Mods if this has been done/shown before please feel to remove this post.)
So I pulled out the old fuel sender from the '85 2wd and tested the sweep with an ohm meter. The signal was choppy and it was obvious the track was worn. Furthermore, that light green corrosion was covering all the metal pieces.
I popped off the arm/float assembly and cleaned all the contacts (green arrows). The board can be removed carefully with a pick and a little bit of patience. Two plastic hold down tabs secure the board are on either side. Cleaning the contacts was the easy part. The main problem I saw was the track on the board. The delicate arm assembly that comes down to meet the board is at a fixed distance from the center which it rotates around. I quickly determined I couldn't modify the arm. So I looked at moving the board. Sorry I don't have a before picture, but basically I simply took my dremel with a cut off wheel and notched away the stops for the board (red arrows). Once that was done, I simply re-installed the board into it's clips and then used a small screwdriver to force the board down, and hence allow the arm to ride on a new track. Same idea as the air flow sensor repair except in this case you move the board and not the arm. Put it all back together and re-tested... works like a charm. If you look carefully at the board you can see the new higher track the arm now rides on. Though the '85 project will receive a new sender (about $60 from the vendors), I thought I'd share this technique.
Edit: A couple more thoughts on this repair. Be careful how far you push the board down. Underneath the top edge you could loose your support by falling off the edge of the supports. The board is held between the supports below and the two tabs on the short ends. In this one you can see the solder joint is right up against the tab. If you needed more movement you might have to unsolder and move the connection point up.
I forgot to add that when reinstalling, be careful of the tiny arm on the round end of the piece that attaches to the float arm. You have to rotate that piece in place so it slides under. You'll see as you go to install, just watch that tiny arm. I also, added a little tension on the tiny arm as it didn't leave much of a track previously and was pretty much sprung. The long arm that meets the board was okay.
I'm about to drop the tank in my '86 and when I do I'll run this sender you see in the picture. Then we can see how many more months or years I can get out of it.
-Kevin
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1986 Westfalia Weekender Wolfsburg, RJE 2.3
1985 Tin Top, Subie 2.2 + 5MT
Floppy Mirrors no more: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=653018&highlight=
Remove the front spindle nut with ease: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=679567&highlight=
Remove the rear wheel bearing housing without messing with the big 46mm nut: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=679507&highlight=
-Nec Spe, Nec Metu
Last edited by 61Scout on Fri Apr 17, 2015 4:28 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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