Just finished a tech article on how fuel gauges work. Been putting this one off for a while.
Look on the front page of my web site and click on the article.
Good New Year to all,
Speedy Jim
I bow to your approximate direction, Jim.
toot away, you deserve it...
excellent article Jim...well done. i have an "issue" with a fuel guage in one of my "non-vw's".....may i email you? (that is if you think you can help in some way, which I'm sure you are capable of, hehe)
To you also Jim....
------------------- Chris Perdue
*All opinions are those of the author of this post* "Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug"
Jim,
how about adding instructions on reviving a faulty sender... the contact point "arm" that swoops across the rheostat windings, will eventually eat it's way through the thin wires. Usually only one or two are bad, and depending on which ones they are, the gauge might read ok part of the time. (When the fuel level is such that the arm mostly swoops across the remaining good part of the wire screen.. ).
In this case you can take the sender apart, bend the casing tabs open and open the case to access the wire windings. The "swept" side is obvious, and shows the wear pattern. You need good eyes to spot the wire or wires that got worn through. Gently pull the two loose ends off of the backing material (it's glued and wound around a piece of cardboard), and pull them to the backside where there's no wear. Now take a piece of very fine sandpaper and clean the wire ends, then tie them together. (Solder might work but the wire material doesn't like soldering.. hard to make it stick).
Now you have almost all of the needle movement back, just one or two sections "blacked out". Due to the constant sloshing of fuel in the tank, you will never notice this because the needle is so slow to react. The reading of the needle will be slightly off, but it will still serve it's purpose. Better than nothing eh?
Jan
e-mails welcome. No guarantees...
Speedy Jim
but do i get a refund if the advice doesn't work? LOL
------------------- Chris Perdue
*All opinions are those of the author of this post* "Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug"Jim, Excellent article as usual.....Eric 62 Ghia cab 68 Bug cab
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