fuel sender help

hi there. need a bit of help

is it common for the fuel gauge in older cars to go up and down as they please? i assume they are net extremely accuarate but my is just rediculous.

i took out the back seat to have a look at the fuel sender (is thats what its called?) opened the panel but im not sure how to take out part underneath. im guessing that this is the sender unit as it has the wire that conects it to the fuel gauge.

once i have it out how do it tell if it is faulty or not?

ive done a search on this on here and google but couldnt find anything.

hope someone can help before this afternoon as im going to try to get hold of a new one today if needs be.

oh and its a 82 Cariolet.

cheers

D

Ive always found the gauge quite steady once its given a few minutes to get to level. So may be a wiring problem or the gauge itself rather than the sender.

Dont attempt to remove in a confined space and be very careful.

When you remove the back seat base you should see a black plate, which is probably the panel, when you remove that (3 screws) should see something similar to the pic below. I found a socket extention bar a great fit to the slots and it simply twists off. You can then clean contacts if you wish and just check it all looks good, if the pickup has a filter/gauze then id clean that while your at it. Becareful putting back you dont want to twsit that runnber gasket, so may want to lubricate a little, or even get a new one from VW for a couple of quid. Once its in place check for any signs of vapour around the edge, if you have then best to sort it out.

Myn below had two issues, slight fuel leak from the fuel feed connections and a vapour leak which was fixed by a new seal and using proper clips rather than cable ties. so yours shouldnt look exactly like this.