I believe my fuel sending unit might be bad. My gas gauge doesn't work. Its not reading my fuel level. I talked to a mechanic and he said that it would cost about $350 to get it replaced not including price of parts. I'm just wondering if its possible that there might be something simple that's causing the problems. Also, about how long it would take to replace it, I've used this mechanic many times before when I first bought the car and I'm pretty sure he bsed me throughout most of the time he worked on it, so I guess what I'm saying is he's not the most trusting person I've come around but he does great work. So if you can help me out with some info LMK. Thanks

 

He's full of ****. It takes 20 minutes to do the job, and 99% of the time you just have to do a minor repair on your sender and it's good to go. Search "fuel sending unit" and you'll find a ton of info on what to do.

 

Thanks, I figured he was. He has conned me out of money like this since I bought the car. Thank god fro the audi forums...

 

its a shitty brass wire that breaks in half. have some solder a new one in place or solder it yourself.

 

While it's out, clean the resistive element with electrical contact cleaner - it's the surface the wiper sweeps across. Crap and corrosion on there, along with that wire breaking, account for almost every problem with the sender.

As for the forums, you better believe it. Anytime you have an issue, search the forums and post up - these cars are complex but there really isn't too much that can't be handled at home with the proper tools and mechanical aptitude. We can probably help you save a lot of money going forward.

 

Well right now I'm still waiting to run out of gas, I've been watching my mileage counter and I'm pretty sure i can get about 350 miles on a full tank of gas so When i get to about 320 or so that's when I'm gonna try it. *so freaked out that I'm gonna break something* but i will post up on here after I'm done and whether or not it was simple as it looks. BTW DIY for an 18 yr old <---(me) on an audi is quite impressive if I might say so myself xD

 

half tank or less is fine i did mine right under half tank 350 sounds about right for a full tank.

 

Hey guys, I've been thinking about it hard the past few hours and I've hit a stand still on something. See, I've been reading the posts that people have made about their fuel sending units saying stuff like it's fluctuating, or reading low sometimes. Well, I forget to mention this but mine has been reading EMPTY since i bought it. It doesn't nor hasn't moved at all. Is it still safe to say its a broken wire or corroded?? Thanks for all the help on this matter I just don't wanna do something I might regret later.

 

Yes it's still worth following the info above - once you get the problems with corrosion and the wire, anything can happen.

 

Thanks! I plan on doing it in a few days when I get low on gas. Ill post back with info if it worked or not! I appreciate everyones input!