Fuel Guage

[Ak1]

Hey lads,
just picked up my mk1 the other day and yesterday i noticed it was in the orange on my fuel guage, so i filled it up, cost me $23..... doesnt seem right?
the guage read 3/4 full after about 5kms and goes up and down each time i turn it on, sometimes sits at half, sometimes at 1/4.
is this common on Mk1's or is my fuel sensor buggered?

[BonsaiTiger]

I filled mine up couple of weeks ago when I first got it, $34 and it was clicking. After a short drive the needle barely hit 3/4 so that's fair enough maybe.

I had a small read around and it could be that the sender in the fuel tank is worn. I'm not sure of specifics but this seems to be the case on a few older models not just vw. Makes sense though I mean the tanks aren't that small are they?

If its not that then it must be a wiring issue somewhere down the line? I wouldnt know how to check that though, stick a multimeter in somewhere probably :s

Incidentally I came downstairs after filling mine up to see most of the fuel on the floor of the car park - hole in the tank!

[Peter Jones]

Tanks are 40L except the Cabrios which are bigger (60L ?)

Fuel gauge and tem gauge issues are often caused by the three pin regulator on the back of the cluster.

The 3 pin reg fails when the cluster earth fails.

The cluster earth fails when someone forgets to do up the earth straps on the motor and the starter motor draws it's entire load via the speedo cable and the cluster earth.

If your speedo needle is bouncing or not returning to zero that's also usually due to the same earthing issue blowing up the clock spring in the back of the speedo.

[Ak1]

Hrmm, the speedo it's pretty stable but theres no way that the fuel gauge is correct.
Maybe I'll look at getting an aftermarket fuel gauge and sensor and see how that reads.

[Aussie]

My fuel gauge shows full accurately and then after by my calculations hits empty after 10litres. This meaning I have 30 liters of complete guess work seeing as my odo does not work at the moment either... My speedo I don't think is quite right as I knocked the needle off when I was getting at my odo and I don't think I put it back right. Let us know how an after market one goes if that is going to be your chosen method of overcoming this problem...