How difficult is it to swap the fuel gauge sensor? I am wondering how many people have done this. I have found the part for under 200, and would rather install it myself. It doesn't look to tough but I want to make sure that I know what I'm getting myself into before I do it.

 

There are three sending units total, so if you are having a problem with the gas gauge you will need to replace all 3 for it to work correctly. The dealer sells them as a pack.
Why do you want to change it anyways? There is a test you can do to the cluster with the vag com to make sure its not the cluster causing the problem.

 

I will research the test for the cluster and test it out to see what I come up with. I just hope whatever the problem is, is a quick cheap fix..

 

Well....are you gonna tell us what the complaint is or are you just gonna do this on your own?

 

well i have the same need in mind. my sensor needs to be replaced or so theyve told me. ....
heres the problem everytime i fill up gas my meter doesnt move and still says im on empty.... always....it always says im on empty what could be the problem.... wherer do i buy the part and if i have my mechanic do it how much should he be cahring me....he said around 500

 

Well he needs to do a gauge sweep on the cluster and make sure the needle on the gauge isn't sticking first. Once its verified that it works by doing an output test, you can replace all three fuel senders in the tank. About 2 hours of labor and the price of parts. Should be around $500 yes.

 

My problem is that my gas gauge is off by anywhere from 1/4 tank to 1/2 tank of gas. Last time it said that I had 40 miles to go on my tank of gas and when I filled it up it only took 10 gallons, and my gauge will go from 1/2 tank of gas down to 1/4 of gas in a matter of 10 miles, and sometimes it will go from 1/4 of a tank up to 3/4 of a tank out of no where. I was told to do a "vag com" test. I am not sure on how to do this yet so I need to do the research, unless someone reading this has done this and wouldn't mind telling me how this is done...

 

From the research that I have done, the vag com is a cable that plugs into your car and than into a pc. My next question is, I had an OBDII hand held product that pulls codes from the car. It uses a serial connection cable to hook into the hand held device. Can I use this cable and just plug it into my laptop and download the vag com software to my laptop and use it this way, or do I need the specific cord to do this?

 

A code reader isn't even in the sam league as the vag com. The vag com is a reversed engineered version of the VAS 5052 which is the dealer's scan tool which costs over $5,000. You can do anything with a vag com and read just about every control module in the car. A code reader only reads stored fault codes in the ECM which hardly ever helps.
You can download the software from www.ross-tech.com for free, you just need to buy the cable for around $250. You need the HEX+CAN download, most likely with a USB interface as most computers don't use serial ports anymore. This will pay for itself the first time you use it, trust me.
Back to the issue at hand, if you are experiencing a wide array of fuel level readings like that there is little doubt that you need to replace the fuel senders.

 

did you ever fix your gauge problem? I'm in haunt for the same issue