Hi All,
on my 67 buggy, I do not have a fuel gauge and I am looking to fit one.

I have a single electrical wire coming off the tank, so I am assuming this is the sender wire (its yellow, but this does not mean anything on my buggy).
I am expecting this to give me a Ohms reading, but it does not.

firstly to check Ohms, I have set my meter to 0-20 Ohms and connect red arm to the yellow wire and the black arm to a suitable ground or chassis. I get nothing. Am I correct with my connections.

Moving on, I have purchased a VDO fuel gauge and a "Universal" sender (0-180 Ohms) - there are no instructions with the sender, does anybody have a set or know how it should be set up.

Unfortunately, I have to cut a hole in my bonnet to get to the sender (if you look at the pics I posted on members bugs, you will see my bonnet and wings are filled and painted to be one unit - not my doing) and replace it.

So my questions:
Am I testing my sender wire correctly...??
Any easier ways to get to my sender, than cutting the bonnet open, (like a can of baked beans) and rebuilding the damage post sender fitment...

I eagerly await your thoughts on this one.

make sure there is a good earth on the tank before any readings are attempted as tanks should be earthed

Ah, thats interesting.
On the basis of what I have found over the years of working on this baby, I expect the tank is deffo NOT earthed.

If I earth it, do I still test the cable the same way for the old Ohms reading..?
Red on cable and black to earth (of some description)..?

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The usual vw sender and gauges work at (something like) 5ohms to 75ohms from full to empty (I may have it vice versa). If you aren't using a VW gauge you can buy a little electronic wizard to convert the resistance as it were. I have fitted one in mine (as I use an Acewell gauge) But there is a fine art to tuning it in to the correct settings (Im still doing mine! 

Hi Andy,
Yes I have seen that on Ebay, but need to see if the sender I have is actually working first. I do doubt it.
I have in stock my preferred VDO gauge (white faced with Royale lettering), but before I cut a whole in the bonnet to fit the new sender, I want to be sure I have a duff sender in there in the first place....

Love the pics of your Sidewinder.

new pattern senders are crap 1 lasted 6 months the other still works but only when over 1/2 full so both buggies now rely on the trip meter and mileage for refill time.

thanks Snoopy, so not going so well, if old sender is duff (high possibility) and new ones are suspect, I will have to continue to carry my trusty fuel can  !!!!



IF I replace the sender, I do not want to keep re cutting the hole to keep replacing crap new after market senders. 

Re-think coming up.

Cant beat the open cap use a stick method 

I am thinking a DND method of using the VW sender mtg plate to fit the tank then mounting a hopefully decent sender onto that to suit the gauge.

Snoopy, can you explain more on this, I am not quite with you.

I think Snoopy is referring to this

http://www.beachbuggy.info/index.php/topic,20.msg19502.html#msg19502

Thanks Snoopy and Dave.

My first problem was actually making sure I was testing my original sender correctly to see if it was working or not.

Having bought a VDO fuel gauge in the same style as my speedo and tacho, I think I am stuck with the VDO sender, if I have to replace the one I have.

Lastly and most painful bit, I have to cut my bonnet to get to the blooming thing.... !!

testing your sender needs the float arm moving the full stroke whilst having an ohm meter connected to the feed contact and the mtg plate.
moving the float slowly through full travel should give you a steadily increasing or decreasing ohms resistance reading. hard when they are already fitted unless you have a centre fill access. it is possible using a bent bit of stiff wire through most filler tubes but you cannot see the full travel or indeed do it steadily.

AAH, you make an interesting point.
Positive meter arm on the cable and the negative on the mounting plate. In this case I should get some form of reading.
I am guessing that if the tank has a good earth connection, then I would not need to put the negative on the mtg plate, to get a reading, as the whole tank would be a series connection, not just the mtg plate.

Hopefully you get my point.

I cannot get to the mounting plate unless I cut the bonnet and only want to do that, if I really have to (as you might imagine).

You have given me something else to experiment with, many thanks all.