'97 GTI Fuel Gauge

[pit628]

Need advice for repairing the fuel gauge. I followed recommendations from the shop to replace the Fuel baffle and gauge. This worked for a weekend but then stopped working. Needless to say, this experience has been the final straw with the shop. They have ripped me off for the last time. I have received much better advice from this site. What do I look for next. Layman terms please.

[jandrew]

Re: '97 GTI Fuel Gauge

Those are really the only two components that could go bad. I'm not sure if the actual "float" is included with the baffle assembly, but mine did become saturated and didn't "float" on the surface of the gas anymore, which caused an empty reading all the time. I replaced the float (about $10) and it seems to be working fine.
Is yours reading empty or full?

[pit628]

Re: '97 GTI Fuel Gauge

It's reading empty so if the float isn't floating, that could very well be the problem. Thanks for the suggestion.

[frankey01]

Re: '97 GTI Fuel Gauge

When you replaced the baffle did you reuse your float? or did it come as an enitre unit baffle and float? if you reused your float yes buy a new float and it should fix it. no way a new baffle could go bad in a weekend. Probably only needed anew float to begin with.

[Bill O'Neal2]

Re: '97 GTI Fuel Gauge

Frankey, when you buy a new baffle it comes with the float in it.

Pit, occasionally, you get bad parts, even new. Especially electrical parts.

[frankey01]

Re: '97 GTI Fuel Gauge

Bill,

can you buy the float seperate then I am having the same problem always reading empty and was wondering if just the float would fix that rather than buy whole baffle.

[pit628]

Re: '97 GTI Fuel Gauge

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. I'm traveling for the next 2 weeks. I'll check the float when I get back to the lake and then post my results.

Pit

[Bill O'Neal2]

Re: '97 GTI Fuel Gauge

Sometimes just a float fixes the problem, sometimes the circuit board in the baffel is bad.

[jandrew]

Re: '97 GTI Fuel Gauge

You can check with an ohm meter. On the bench, check resistance between the two leads that come from the baffle assy. When the float is at the bottom (empty) it should read around 90ohms. When it's at the top (full), it should read zero or close to zero. You can tilt the baffle while taking these readings and see the resistance change. That'll tell you if the float is "floating" or not, and if the board itself is bad.