[T3] fuel gauge and gauge light fluctuating

Keith Park topnotch at nycap.rr.com
Sun Sep 21 07:28:21 PDT 2014


Did the 68's have seperate grounds for the gauges?
it sounds like that kind of issue, if there is no seperate 
ground for the gauge install one, thats one of the very few little
mod's I did to the crate during restoration,

KEith


Topnotch Restorations
topnotch at nycap.rr.om
http://www.a383ina68.addr.com/radiorest/main.htm
71 Squareback  "Hothe"
65 Squareback  "Eggcrate"
65 Notchback  "El Baja Rojo"
93 RX7  "Redstur"
87 Golf  "Winterat"


-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org [mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org]
On Behalf Of David Yaghoubian
Sent: Sunday, September 21, 2014 5:36 AM
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: [T3] fuel gauge and gauge light fluctuating

Driving home tonight in my 68 square I noticed the fuel gauge was
fluctuating quite a bit (it is usually steady) and the light to that gauge
was dim. None of the other gauges or gauge lights were acting up, so I
thought maybe the harness at the back was loose somehow, and/or bad ground
somewhere. A slap on the dash above the fuel gauge seemed to confirm this.
The light brightness of that gauge fluctuated, as did the fuel gauge
reading, now sometimes tapping out at full, or reading near empty. 

 

When I got home I unhooked the battery and reached up to check the harness,
which actually did seem a bit loose, but as far as I could tell had been
seated . I couldn't detect any loose wires, and there is no corrosion on or
damage to the harness. I even pulled the gauge to inspect the back and get a
good look at the harness, and everything looked fine. 

 

So I hooked back up the battery and the condition was the same: depending on
force/position of dash slap, the fuel gauge maxed out, read nothing, or
fluctuated in between, while gauge lights dimmed, went bright, or out.
Running a separate ground wire to the gauge housing seemed to affect the
brightness, but not the gauge. Now, here is the weird part (at least I
think) when I removed the gauge and turned the lights on to look at the
bulb-side/face of the harness, the two gauge lights were still fluctuating
(dim, bright, or off) seemingly as I moved the harness around a bit, but
sometimes on their own. Again, I am thinking bad ground, but aren't these
lights grounded themselves (meaning, not via the gauge/dash contact?)

 

I was thinking that perhaps the three round connectors on the back of the
harness need to be crimped in slightly to make a better contact with the
posts (since the harness did seem loose at first) but before messing with
something that isn't broken (as far as I can tell) and that hasn't been
messed with I wanted to see if anyone had any silver bullets/knowledge/ideas
handy. 

 

Thanks!

 

Dave

68 Sqbk

 

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