Hi

The needle has actually fallen off my fuel gauge. ATM I am running on caution (only had to push her once, and I ran out around the corner from servo). i owed hubby big time..

I have a '70 Beetle and the fuel gauge is set into the speedo. Is this correct or should it have been seperate, to the left of the speedo?
a) how do I open speedo to put needle back on if possible, or
b) would it be a better idea to install seperate fuel gauge, as current one did seem to swing when I went around tight bends too fast (which is how it fell off).

Any ideas?

Cheers

just get another speedo with the fuel gauge in as thats the correct item

i bought one off ebay for a spare and the nong still hasent sent it ,that was a month ago ,i could of given you one

I have seen one on ebay lately. Cool to know the fuel gauge is supposed to be in speedo. My speedo has just clocked over not too long ago and she has only 2000 miles, BUGGER!

You don't need to replace the speedo, the fuel gauge attaches to the back of the speedo.

DONT go out and buy another one.... if the needle has fallen off then all you need to do is remove the speedo and disassemble it to get into the fuel gauge part and put the needle back on. once you pull the glass off the front then you have access into the fuel gauge. if you cant find the needle then there are a few screws on the back that release the speedo gauge from its housing so you can get to the back of the speedo dial and the rear of the fuel gauge, just take note of where the bits that you pull off go to make it easy to put back together.. locate the needle and put it back on... usually just a push on... BUT you have to know how much fuel is in the car when you put the needle back on. you can assume without power that it will be hard against the end stop.. but you would need to do a few test runs with filling it up and draining to find the correct position of it.. OR.. if you are technically minded and can get hold of a decade box you can calibrate the needle position without knowing how much fuel is in the tank..
but i think i have rambled on long enough... good luck.
btw... where you located?

Great to strike a font of knowledge- even better, i can keep my low mile speedo.
I have checked this out in my idiot book and have no idea on how to remove the glass- is it just prying off rim or is there a secret I need to know?


Oh yeh, a decade box ??

You just pry off the rim as gently as possible. Good luck.

lol... will start with the glass.... gently use a small blade screwdriver to raise the edge of the outer rim that looks like it is squished in to stop it falling off... once you slowly work all the way round the rim will pull off to the front of the gauge. just make sure you do it bit by bit as they can split - very thin. and then this has to be folded back over when you put it all back together again. the glass will come off and i think it has a sealing rubber ring under the glass too.
when the gauge is dismantled you can actually get into the odometer gears and if you know what you are doing with them you can reset your odometer if you wish... i did it with mine as i had a rebuilt motor put in and wanted to know the km's on the new motor.
a decade box is a set of resistor pots mounted in a box so that you can dial up any resistance from 1ohm to 1000's of ohms... your fuel sender unit works on resistance... so to check that the position of the needle is correct you can hook up the decade box and dial in the resistance to say 50% and then attach the needle to show 50% on the gauge. all you need to know is the resistance operating range of the fuel sender in your tank. easy enough to remove and test it if not sure...
hope this helps.

Bit nervous, but will give it a go.

I will just fill my tank to the hilt and go off that for my calibration, as the decade box is a bit too techno-logical for me.

Will let u know how i go- may print thread to take with me!

remove glass????!!!

i have a '71 so for the sake of argument ill assume u have the same speedo as i have in mine.

from BEHIND the speedo, remove the fuel sender regulator (squarish thing with a tab. should be held by 1 screw), then remove the 2 screws holding the fuel gauge in and out it comes.

u may possibly need to remove the whole speedo but thats as simple as remove 2 screws either side and disconnect all the wiring. just remember to label where the wiring goes first.