fuel sender unit

paddyirishman7

im new to this , im looking for a fuel sender unit for my 1999 vw polo.
the fuel gauge doesnt work it stays idle at about half way and its not a fuse so im told its the fuel sender unit.

does anyone know where i could get one cheap..?

should i buy new, 2nd hand or what?

cheers

patrick

johndaman66

It could be the case and I would more than likely guess it is the case that a wire or both wires are out of the fuel sender unit, particularly if it was the case that the fuel pump was changed some time back. Not too difficult a job to rectify. First its advised you de-pressurise the fuel system when working on it by removing the appropriate fuse but I never bothered with this and it never caused me any issues. You will need to lift the base of the rear seat behind drivers seat. Then you will see a round metal lid with three screws. Undo the three screws and remove this lid. Under this there is a plastic lid with two pipes entering it and these are held on with jubilee clips. Undo these with a spanner (either 6mm or 8mm as I recall) or screwdriver and remove the pipes (they may take a wee bit of persuasion). A drop of fuel will spill when you remove these but it shouldn't be a lot either. Then there is a large round cork type plastic which you will need to unscrew. This will definately take some persuasion and is probably the most difficult part of the job. I found carefully and slowly tapping it with a hammer and rough screwdriver done the trick. Remove this and carefully remove flat metal cover. You wont be able to remove this competely as wiring and fuel line are attached to it but enough to give you access. If you look beneath you will see fuel pump in centre and sender unit to the side. A pound to a penny a wire or both will be of the sender unit which you will probably see somewhere and reattach it (small fingers are an advantage for this stage). Then if you put everything back in reverse order you should see your fuel guage working again.

Be careful working on this as petrol fumes are bad for your health. Best to keep a door or 2 open and don't subject yourself to the fumes for too long at any one go. Also to answer your other question if you need a new fuel sender unit best to pick up one in a breakers yard I would think as would imagine there would be no shortage of that model Polo's being dismantled at any one time these days. Hope this helps.

paddyirishman7

cheers !! really appreciate the detailed instructions i shall give it a bash tomoro and let you know ok?

thanks again k

johndaman66

Hi PaddyIrishman7, Had you any joy sorting your fuel sender out?

paddyirishman7

im afraid not...i removed the three screws and took off the hatch cover...and then i proceeded to try and remove the pipes going down into the plastic lid..but they wouldnt budge and i was afraid to be too rough with them in case i damaged them...there didnt seem to e any jubilee clips?

jus two pipes going into the plastic and two pipes crossing over the top of them but not connected to it. there was also a block of wires which was just as stubborn to remove?

is there a trick to removing these pipes? or can the plastic id come off without removing them?

i was all hyped up about going to start the job and was devastated when the pipes wouldn't budge

johndaman66

Thinking back them fuel hoses did take a bit of persuasion but were not seriously difficult either. What I did was got my flat head screwdriver and pushed them back with it but be careful with the fingers. Possibly try turning them slightly from side to side with your fingers also just to get them moving. They should budge eventually. Doh, forgot about the electric connector:o. Kinda obvious but being a while since I fixed mine. The other hoses can be moved out of the way when doing the job, no need to undo that one or anything. I assume you did not get the plastic outer ring removed yet if you did not loosen hoses. Hate to tell you but this may prove a lot more difficult to remove than hoses. Did for me anyway. I'd be inclined to put a few jubilee clips on hoses when reattaching them.