VDO Fuel sender repair

[Matt No VAT]

Tonight I have got round to removing the VDO fuel sender from the tank so I can repair the broken wire within, now that I have the correct wire.

So I had been "replace the broken wire"....aaaaahh it all sounded so easy.:rolleyes:

I was rather hoping that albeit that the wire is very fine, I'd be able to see the obvious break and affect the suitable repair. Oh how I laughed when I dismantled the tube and I found the obvious cause of the problem, the fine wire had indeed broken and as a bonus had managed to knot itself into a neat little bundle at both the top and the bottom, thus making it impossible to reverse engineer its original path. :(

Anyone ever had to repair one of these from scratch? Is it supposed to be one continuous length of wire or two separate wires tied off at the bottom?

I understand the route the wire/s have to take through either side of the float section from the two soldered terminals at the top of the unit.

Just unsure if its two wires they are simply tied off at the bottom and there is a contact through the centre of the float.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not an auto electrician !:confused:

I just want the last of my gauges to work properly :)

Thanks in advance

[Sptwoman]

Matt, I've never seen the real thing but Gerry said to solder one end of the wire at the top, run it down one side to the bottom then back up to the top on the other side in a continuous length, then solder with the wire suitable tensioned....make sense?

[chris.richard]

Matt, it's one continuous piece. Once it gets buggered, the only option is to replace with new. I've posted somewhere here how to do it.

[Swamprat33]

I see that Europa spares sell new VDO fuel tank senders for the grand sum of £39 + vat.

Seems a lot easier to get a new one - Life is too short :rolleyes:

Cheers
Tim

[AndyH]

Hi Matt,

I rewired my sender night before last to work with a veglia gauge.

Fiddly, but OK.

At the top there is a fixed solder connection and a sprung solder connection.

I soldered to the fixed, run the wire through one side of the float (inside the plastic guide and between the two metal contacts.

It's a simple loop (through the "U") on the plastic runner at the base... One side of this has a plastic lip to ensure the wire is held away from the metal central rod. Make sure the wire is under the lip.

Back through float and up to the sprung contact.... This was the fiddly bit and you'll be amazed how much the wire appears to stretch.

I levered a fine screwdriver under the sprung contact to lift it well up.

Loop wire around, pull tight, solder and release. Took me a couple of goes, but got there OK.

You'll need 3 pairs of hands and the eyes of a 6 year old to see what you're doing !

I have a couple of photos, but the wire is so fine, it doesn't come out that well.

If you need the photos let me know.

Andrew

[Matt No VAT]

Gents,

The info was perfect - took me 20 minutes to assemble the tools and get the job done.

Just a refit tonight.

Thanks a million :D

[Matt No VAT]

Couldn't wait for tonight - so used my lunch break to refit everything.

Connected up, turned the key and :D :D :D :D :D :D

Thanks again everyone.

[Chris J]

I see that Europa spares sell new VDO fuel tank senders for the grand sum of £39 + vat.

Seems a lot easier to get a new one - Life is too short :rolleyes:

Cheers
Tim

Tim
Even if the sender is new, it still needs to be wired to match the Veglia guage.

Matt
I'm glad you sorted it. Allen said that there would only be enough wire for one from what he sent me. 'Forgot to tell you, sorry, and I still have'nt checked to see for sure.

[Matt No VAT]

Chris, no worries - I was exploring more than one avenue at a time, so all worked out well. Thx anyway.