Gas gauge goes to zero on hill

[02Berry]

Only 90 miles after filling the tank, I stopped the '02 EVW on a steep uphill behind other cars at a traffic light. When the light a turned green, I hit the accelerator a little more firmly than usual, and as I was moving up the hill & through the intersection, the low fuel light and alarm beep came on. I looked at the gas gauge, and it showed empty. The car kept on running fine, and after 6 or 8 blocks, the gas gauge started to move back up to its correct position.

So I'm wondering if this is an indicator of a problem, or just one of those things that might happen now and then.
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Learned to drive in a '67 Splitty.
First car, '72 Squareback.
New to '02 T4 EVW world.
Third generation VW camper household.

[67rustavenger]

Your fuel level gauge is behaving strangely.
It should read correctly when going up hill.

The fuel tank is under the drivers seat extending toward the passenger side with the access panel to the tank right next to the drivers seat. The level sender is forward in the tank but, it shouldn't read low fuel on hill climbs.

Sorry, I don't really have an answer as to why it's doing this but, it's not normal.
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I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!
2003 Astrovan? GFYS again, Xevin!

[WorthaTry]

I have a [non-VW] vehicle with a somewhat similar anomaly. When we fill the gas tank the gauge reads empty and the fuel low alarm sounds. After ~ 20-30 miles of driving it then behaves normally, but then runs out of gas when the miles-to-empty display gets down to ~ 50.

It's old and rusty enough that it's not really worth paying someone to drop the tank just to replace the sender. If/when it needs a fuel pump we'll tend to it then. In the mean time we have a family rule that we don't let miles-to-empty get below 100, and we let each other know when we fill it.

Also, to add some EV content, I just installed a ScanGauge 3 in my EV today and noted that one of the many things it can keep track of is fuel level. It doesn't read the fuel sender signal, but you give it the fuel tank capacity and then calibrate it by telling it # gallons used for a few fillups to get it started, and then poke it each time you fill up after that.
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2001 EV MV Wk

[xEVC]

I drive a 2000 EVC and was recently on a trip where I was watching the gas gauge closely - the level is definitely affected by whether I'm going up or down hill.

I was seeing these effects while on mountain passes, so perhaps no more than 6% up or down grade. I would estimate the effect as about + or - 0.5 gallon, so perhaps 1 gallon indicated difference depending whether the van was going up at 6% grade vs down.

Your experience seems bigger than that, but it depends, how steep was the grade you were on?

Also, there are several threads about replacing the fuel pump where people mention difficulties getting the fuel sender aligned correctly.

Maybe your van had work done on it and the fuel sender isn't at the right position?

Possibly related:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=651202
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=790544
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2000 Eurovan Camper (Winnebago)
Upgraded with 16" wheels