Date:         Thu, 13 Jul 1995 15:13:17 +0000
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Tom_Quan@smtp.svl.trw.com (Tom Quan)
Subject:      Re: 79 Bus Fuel Gage Problems

In article <3u0p9g$ac6@lll-winken.llnl.gov>, John Taylor
<taylor12@llnl.gov> wrote:

> My '79 bus has had a fuel gage problem ever since I bought it and it's 
> now time to fix it. It reads full right after a fill up but drops 
> completely off the scale at about 6 to 7 gallons used. Can someone tell 
> me what the resistance range of the the sender should be? (I read 6 ohms 
> [Rest of message deleted]

I had the exact same problem on my '78 camper.   I believe you have a fuel
sender that opened in the middle.   A new sender's resistance at full
scale is much lower than 240K ohms, mine was in the neighborhood of 80 to
100 ohms, I believe.   Before I fixed the problem by replacing the sender,
I fooled around with the voltage stabilizer adjustment, to no effect.

If you have the "toilet bowl float" type fuel sender, like I got, you CAN
take out the old and put in the new without yanking your engine or undoing
the fuel tank straps or chopping holes in your bus.   If you unbolt the
crossmember supporting the motor mounts and lower the engine about an inch
or 2, you should have enough room to remove the sheet metal cover for the
fuel tank.   Clean the area above the fuel tank with a wet rag.   Take an
old screwdriver and bend the blade into a mini "backhoe" and use this to
turn the twist-lock cap for the fuel sender.   I managed to to get the
sender out by shoving it through the gap on the right (the passenger
side), though at times, I didn't think it was possible.   

Good luck.   Even though I don't remember doing it myself, you should
disconnect the battery and have a fire extinguisher handy.    BTW, I would
not have known about this technique had not another netter, Monique Deveux
(spelling?) wrote a reply to my posting earlier this year; thanks Monique!

-- 
Tom Quan

Tom_Quan@smtp.svl.trw.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tobin T. Copley                  Currently              =============  
(604) 689-2660                    Occupationally       /_| |__||__| :| putta
tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca      Challenged!        O|             | putta
                                                       '-()-------()-' 
Circum-continental USA, Mexico, Canada 15,000 miles... '76 VW Camper! (Mango)