Date:         Thu, 4 Jan 1996 14:40:13 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         plima@indirect.com (Peter J. Lima)
Subject:      Re: flaky fuel gauge

>My '75 Westy has a sick fuel gauge - it never registers more than 1/2 a tank
>and I can bottom out on "reserve"and still have half a tank left... obviously
>this makes for high tension on any lengthy road trips!  Also, I can watch the
>needle fluctuate from 1/2 to 1/4 to "R" and back - it doesn't matter whether
>I'm on level ground, uphill, downhill, accelerating or decelerating - that
>needle jumps all over da place!  Now I suppose that it's the float thingy
>inside the gas tank which is to blame, but I'm posting this in the hope that
>there's a way to determine what the problem is *without* dropping the engine
>to remove the tank for inspection/cleaning/whatever... 
>Any ideas out there?  Or must I remain  "Have gas can, Will travel"?
>Ruthie B.     '75 Westy, The Great Pumpkin

My '79 may have a similar problem if not as bad -- I fill it up to
overflowing and it only registers about 3/4 full.  It also seems to get down
to "R" too fast -- maybe it's a false reading.  My mech suggested that
instead of taking out the whole engine to replace the sensor (if you decide
to do that), you can cut a hole thru the metal directly above where the
sensor is located (going from a guidebook I guess?), making a little metal
flap that you can lift and shut again.  When you cover it with a mat you
won't notice the flap at all.  If you've recently bought the bus, check back
there and see -- maybe the p.o. already did this (as on mine.)

pjl