Had it replaced 18 months ago under warranty at dealer.
Now out of warranty (even service/repair/part), it seems to be bad again.

Its doing same thing as before. On fill up, needle only goes to 3/4
Then sticks on 1/2 long time then dives down aprubtly in a few miles.

I'm wondering if they didn't replace last time and just did a quick fix.

Anyone know of a FSU going bad that quickly?

 

^ cluster maybe?

 

i'd try a bottle of Techron first, possibility its just dirty.

and you COULD open up the tank and mechanically clean the contacts if you really wanted to get into it.

 

Just to clarify, are you saying this because you think a "new" FSU has gotten dirty in 1.5 years of use that it needs that already?

I'm wondering if the dealer , instead of doing the actual replace/repair, did some sort of short cut by cleaning and then charged AUDI for a replacement/part job. Not sure if dealers do that sort of thing or not, but after my last experience there with a bunch of double talk and dishonesty, I wouldn't put it past them.

 

So cluster started working again after last FSU repair?

I haven't heard any cases of the only thing going bad on a cluster was fuel gauge. 100% of the time it's been the FSU. Anything is possible but not probable.

 

Depending upon the brand of fuel you are using and the region you live, there is a problem with sulfur compounds building up on the sensor contacts and causing them to misread. This issue affects a lot of car brands, not just VW/Audi. A couple of tanks with a bottle of Techron in them is usually enough to clean it up. After that, dump in a bottle every few months to keep things cleaned up.

 

Guess I'll try it since the only other option is dealing with repair that is out of service warranty (12 mo)

 

Evidently you were right, according to dealer.

crazy thing is they wanted my extended warranty to cover it but since that would be a deductbile i mentioned the settlement on the cluster and the guy acted like he never heard of it. Said he "would have to check on that" !!

get this...

Then he said "it's no longer covered because it's only 6 years from in service date." And I informed him my inservice date is July 2003. Then he said, "oh I read it wrong it's the production date." .....and I said are you sure? because i have copy at home.
Later he calls me back and says he was mistaken....riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Now they say I have a gasket leak on valve covers. Not sure if I should believe this.

 

anybody want to take a guess at what they want to charge to replace gasket?

 

You could almost do that yourself in 2 hrs (for someone not generally mechanically inclined). No clue what the dealer would charge. Never used a shop.

$25-$35 for the gaskets, depending on whether you want the Audi one, or the just as good gasket that doesn't have the name attached, plus a couple bucks for a tube of red RTV silicone.