VW Polo Petrol Gauge Not Working

Mar 12, 2007 4 Replies

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Driver 19 years ago

My daughters 10year old Polo, "P" reg Petrol Indicator stopped reading.

Things I've checked:

At sender unit, connector has 4 wires, non show more than 4.63 volts, yet two are for petrol pump and that is working fine.

Fuses are all OK.

Checked wiring under carpet, the v4.63 volts is present all along, nothing appears to be leaking to earth.

The Haynes manual is not clear as to where the supplies originate, i.e. they just come out of boxes with multiple wires going in and out.

Anyone know what voltages should be present?

Any suggestions as to the way forward.

Cheers

I know a garage would probably fix this but with a car this age, well I'm sure know where I'm coming from.

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Chris Whelan 19 years ago

With the greatest of respect, either your meter is broken, or you are not using it correctly.

The fuel pump supply voltage must be at, or *very* near, the battery voltage if the pump is working. I'm reasonably confident VW would not have designed a pump for 4.63 volts...

The fuel gauge sender unit is usually a variable resistance. Usual DIY test is to short it, then open circuit it to see if the gauge moves from full to empty. DO NOT try this until you are absolutely sure you can correctly identify the wiring.

Chris

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