Fuel Guage Stuck...hell Its All Over The Place

Silv.4X4 · August 30, 2007

Alright well my girlfriend Drives a Volkswagen Beetle lol ( I know I tell her she wouldnt have problems if shed buy something made in america) lol. But anyways the beetle is a 2002 (I Think) with a 1.8L engine ( that info probally doesnt make a difference) but the fuel guage is sometimes on empty..then its full..then its sooo full (or soo empty) lol that the needle is pointed straight down. I thought the float maybe stuck in the gas tank..but I think that cant be..cuase It wouldnt be jumping around so much. so I set her trip odometer for her and told her to fill up every 280 miles or so (shes not sure if the low fuel light works). So I was wonderin if you guys had any ideas, or anything I might want to check. I just dont want her to run out of gas somewhere. Thanks guys...anything will help.

AFD256 · August 30, 2007

My truck does it and I thought/think it is the float. When it's on empty all you have to do is shake the truck and it moves up and dowm. Could also be corrosion on the float arm/assembly

Silv.4X4 · August 30, 2007

My truck does it and I thought/think it is the float. When it's on empty all you have to do is shake the truck and it moves up and dowm. Could also be corrosion on the float arm/assembly

were you able to fix yours?? Or is there anything i can do to get it right again??

AFD256 · August 30, 2007

Replace the unit- but now I'm going by mileage too,

Silv.4X4 · August 30, 2007

Alrighty thanks.

C & A s Dad · August 30, 2007

I would offer one suggestion before you start replacing pieces. Some vehicles are very sensative to certain fuels and these fuels will affect your sensor.

Chevron's Techron will clean the sensor and possibly could correct your readings. It even shows this on the label. Be sure and buy pure Techron and not Chevron's fuel inj cleaner with Techron.

It certainly will not hurt anything and will cost you about $9.00.

Silv.4X4 · August 30, 2007

I would offer one suggestion before you start replacing pieces. Some vehicles are very sensative to certain fuels and these fuels will affect your sensor.

Chevron's Techron will clean the sensor and possibly could correct your readings. It even shows this on the label. Be sure and buy pure Techron and not Chevron's fuel inj cleaner with Techron.

It certainly will not hurt anything and will cost you about $9.00.

Thanks for the tip, But thats the funny thing, she only puts chevron in it ( I make fun of her for it) and she only gets premium too !?!?

Zembonez · August 30, 2007

Thanks guys...anything will help.

ACTUALLY... it sounds like a grounding issue to me. An intermittent (or corroded) ground could cause the symptoms you describe. Had a similar incident on my Chevy Blazer once...(not much like a VW I know) turns out the plug in the harness near the tank was corroded and not making good contact. I ran a new wire on that truck and fixed it but yours is new enough that it isn't like corroded but could be loose.

It's worth checking.

Silv.4X4 · August 30, 2007

Thanks jim ill give it a look..If i can get under those little cars lol.

Schmids5.3l · September 2, 2007

Some vehicles are very sensative to certain fuels

Your not kidding Trey, whenever I run Shell, I get the same check engine light. 446. I know it's shells fuel too, because I got Shell all the time when there was a shell station by my college. I had the 446 code all the time, on and off back then. Then over summer I never ran shell and the light went away and never returned. There's a Shell station by my job site and I filled up half a tank last week and BAM, the next day check engine light. I'll stick with the BP thats close by my house My assumption/guess is all the detergents Shell uses in their gas. Probably cleaning crap out and screwing with my evap. canister.

BigJayDogg3 · September 2, 2007

I know if I run mobil my MPG rises when compared to others.

Frank S · September 2, 2007

Thanks guys...anything will help.

ACTUALLY... it sounds like a grounding issue to me. An intermittent (or corroded) ground could cause the symptoms you describe. Had a similar incident on my Chevy Blazer once...(not much like a VW I know) turns out the plug in the harness near the tank was corroded and not making good contact. I ran a new wire on that truck and fixed it but yours is new enough that it isn't like corroded but could be loose.

It's worth checking.

Was thinking the exact same thing before I saw this post. I've removed and replaced more tanks than I care to think about and any kind of corrosion or bad contact with the ground will cause this type of behavior.

It's a helluva lot cheaper than a new sending unit/float/fuel pump so it's a good place to start.

AFD256 · September 3, 2007

I hope it is corrision, I've got an 01 with 125,000+ miles and my needle goes crazy. When you replace the wire- the whole thing or just the end of it? I was told that pumps are good for 100,000 then you are on borrowed time, is this true? I was think of replaceing it to be proactive and do it myself on my time rather than get it towed off the highway with a dead pump. What do you all think? I know when it dies you can hit the tank and it will magically work for a little longer. I'm just nervous we'll be far out there and have to pay someone else.