tobee1k
Member
I have a late 2002 75bhp TDi. For a while now, I've had issues with the fuel gauge - when I filled the tank, the needle would go to the top and would accurately come down until it reached the half-full mark, it would then just sit there. On Saturday, I finally got round to doing something with it. To cut a long story short, despite trying everything suggested on posts on this forum (cleaning contacts), I couldn't get anywhere.
A stroke of good fortune - a similar age TDi was in the local scrap yard. I nipped over there, and swapped my faulty sender with the scrap one. The fuel level after all my fiddling about, and the drive to the scrap yard, was below half and I was very pleased to see the gauge show the correct level - the new sender would appear to be working.
I drove about 100 miles to climb some hills on Sunday and kept an eye on the fuel gauge which seemed to behave itself - slowly moving towards empty at about the correct rate. On the way home, I stopped and filled up with diesel - alas, the gauge only went up to the three quarter mark and has not budged from there over the 40 miles or so that I've done since.
I have a theory as to what is happening and I'm hoping some smart person can tell me if I'm right. Is it possible that I've got the sender sitting in the wrong position? Looking at the shape of the fuel tank, I wonder if the little arm with the float (?) is pushing up against the inside of the tank somewhere and is not able to extend fully to indicate a full tank? I saw a little arrow on the plastic top of the sender but couldn't see what that was supposed to line up with, is there a corresponding mark on the floor of the car that I missed?
A stroke of good fortune - a similar age TDi was in the local scrap yard. I nipped over there, and swapped my faulty sender with the scrap one. The fuel level after all my fiddling about, and the drive to the scrap yard, was below half and I was very pleased to see the gauge show the correct level - the new sender would appear to be working.
I drove about 100 miles to climb some hills on Sunday and kept an eye on the fuel gauge which seemed to behave itself - slowly moving towards empty at about the correct rate. On the way home, I stopped and filled up with diesel - alas, the gauge only went up to the three quarter mark and has not budged from there over the 40 miles or so that I've done since.
I have a theory as to what is happening and I'm hoping some smart person can tell me if I'm right. Is it possible that I've got the sender sitting in the wrong position? Looking at the shape of the fuel tank, I wonder if the little arm with the float (?) is pushing up against the inside of the tank somewhere and is not able to extend fully to indicate a full tank? I saw a little arrow on the plastic top of the sender but couldn't see what that was supposed to line up with, is there a corresponding mark on the floor of the car that I missed?