Gas gauge tank float problem

buy german parts....??

All the parts I have researched, don’t say where they are made.

And mine says 45/10 which I assume is the ohm range. All the new ones are 73/10. Does that matter?

@Cole Thompson-  my vs has the attached VDO float, Part number stamped as pictured. ( installed by VS).

https://www.vdo-gauges.com/sen...beetle-10-65ohm.html

if you have something different, you could look it up the specs on the VDO catalog... page 81-~90   https://www.vdo.co.uk/media/74...ogue_2019_lowres.pdf

...most sold at Cip1, summit racing and many other online shops, including Amazon.

Bugcity.com has German fuel senders, clearly noted, along with others from Mexico, Brazil and India.   Beware, the German ones are $250 bucks.   It sounds, though, that you just need a new gasket kit with the nylon washers.   Bugcity has those, too

!$250!

What nylon washers are you referring to Gordon?

On mine there is a rubber gasket under the fuel sender, and each of the five screws going through the sender Plate and into the tank has a nylon washer under the screw head to seal the screw against the metal flange of the sender.  

Understood!  

My leak comes from the deteriorated plastic part that insulated the contact from the metal float plate. Once missing, the gas pours out through that 1/4” hole into the boot. 

OK, Got'cha.  

I personally have never heard of that plastic piece deteriorating enough to leak before.  Doesn't mean it doesn't, just nobody reported that condition before now on here and I'm afraid that the only remedy is a new sending unit - Epoxies and J-B Weld might get eaten up by the gasoline over time and you would be right back where you started.  

To the point of buying one, once you get the existing one out of the tank you can put an ohmmeter on it and swing it stop-to-stop to see that the resistance is at empty and full to really know what it is, then go to the VDO site to look it up and get the VDO part number.  I saw that JEGS is listed as a dealer on the VDO site that Luis provided up above, so that might be a good place to start, along with other dealer sites from the VDO website to get a sender with the right resistance range for your gauge head and that fits a 1970-ish VW gas tank.

Or you could call Greg Leach at VS for his input and maybe get a sender from him.

Sorry, That's all I've got....   

@Cole Thompson- posted:

Understood!  

My leak comes from the deteriorated plastic part that insulated the contact from the metal float plate. Once missing, the gas pours out through that 1/4” hole into the boot. 

Is the red circled part the plastic part that disintegrates:

Robert, that is the part that is disintegrating. However mine was not large like that, it was a small round piece that just fit into the hole and insulated the connector.

Gordon: I’m purchasing a new one from Cary Hines since I’m using his gauges and I know that it will be the right part!

Excellanté!!!

This is the third sender unit I’ve had that happen to. This last time I just epoxyed it and it held for awhile, but then the gas attacked the epoxy, softened it and it started leaking again.

I was surprised at that. I thought the epoxy would resist the gasoline. Is there an epoxy that will stand up to gas?

I also wonder what is in my gas that attacks these plastic parts? In the old days (1960’s) I never had a sender fail like this.

Cole, the part you're getting from Carey will fix the problem.

My 2013 VS came with the VDO sender Luis mentioned, and it's been trouble free.

When you do get the new sender, it'll be easier to install with a half tank of gas or less. When the tank is topped up, the fuel level is above the sender mounting hole.

Over the years, VS used various sources for many of its parts (some better, some worse), depending on what was available at the time of each build. Most of the later builds I've seen use the VDO-branded sender, and like Gordon, I haven't heard of any problems.

I'd be willing to bet, though, that VS never installed the $250 version of the sender.

@Cole Thompson- posted:

Is there an epoxy that will stand up to gas?

JB Weld makes a fuel tank repair epoxy that's impervious to gasoline: https://www.jbweld.com/product/j-b-weld-tankweld

Just FYI, I've had the aforementioned VDO 73-10 ohm stock VW replacement sender in my tank since 2018 when I changed out my gauges and had absolutely no leakage issues. I coated both sides of the rubber gasket with Aviation Permatex. O-rings aren't required with the VDO sender. 

A word of advice: wear a grounding wrist strap of the type used for electronics, and maintain a common ground to the tank and wrist strap when changing the sender. You wouldn't want a static discharge to ruin your day. 

Eric

Grounding, good idea Eric. Can't hurt!

thanks for the tip on the JB Weld.

@Cole Thompson- posted:

Understood!  

My leak comes from the deteriorated plastic part that insulated the contact from the metal float plate. Once missing, the gas pours out through that 1/4” hole into the boot. 

Use ethonal-free gas and the plastic won't disintegrate. 

I would love to get ethanol free gas! I’ve never seen it here where I live, in Fort Collins Colorado. But recently I went on a road trip to Utah and side at many gas stations. 

@Cole Thompson- Try this site out. 

https://www.pure-gas.org/exten...aps.jsp?statecode=CO

In my old car, the VDO sender had the large plastic piece. My new one has the smaller plastic piece that is round where the terminal comes through. Both have rubber gaskets around the plastic. Both are intact still. One was from 2002, and the other 2016. Neither leak, and I run 93 octane 10% ethanol.

It's weird that yours failed Cole.

if i remember the grounding wire has a copper washer on it, needs to be grounded and not mucked up with JB and the like,,these are the sending unit wires to tank...

The ground wire goes to one of the screws. The resistance connection is made through the sender base to the wound wire resistor. The wiper connects to the insulated spade connection.

@Carlos G posted:

@Cole Thompson- Try this site out. 

https://www.pure-gas.org/exten...aps.jsp?statecode=CO

Two in town, one is for business accounts only, but the other, I know them!

Thanks Carlos.

I have gone through 3 since the car was built in 2009. In truth, the first one was mechanical damage and the other two were the deteriorating plastic part.

Regarding the mechanical damage, I have not put a metal plate over the sender and it's held in place with Velcro. This has eliminated the mechanical damage.

@Carlos G posted:

@Cole Thompson- Try this site out. 

https://www.pure-gas.org/exten...aps.jsp?statecode=CO

I have the app. Helps on trips. The app also has a mileage tracker I use. Which is his I found out all my other cars get 2+ mpg using ethonal free.