Even the warning light was on.
It's not much fun driving around constantly expecting to grind to a halt.
It seemed likely that the VDO sender was at fault so I set about stripping it.
The end is secured by a small nut (5.5mm) and lock washer.
This was blackened and covered in muck before disassembly.
Pull open the tube to reveal the rather delicate mechanism within.
I discovered the float was doing nothing of the sort.
It was jammed solid at the base and I mean really stuck.
Everything seemed pretty clean except the bottom inch and I guess that's a legacy of nearly 20 years laid up with hardly any petrol in the tank.
The float was seized on the central shaft and took some shifiting.
Everything was gummed up like toffee (more like super glue actually).
I used penetrating oil and brute force and got the float moving.
The disc below the float needed cleaning because that's what touches when the level drops to empty.
This is the base of the unit and you can see the contacts the disc can drop down to and make the connection to activate the warning light.
You can see in this shot the very fine wires (about the thickness of a human hair). I had to clear the central shaft with abrasive paper and take care not to damage the wires.
End result... ....perfect, working gauge. Now reads true with a steady needle.
Total financial outlay = zero.
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