Audi 80 Faulty Fuel Gauge (UK)

Hi I have just bought an 1992 audi 80 2.0E with 135,000 on the clock.
The fuel guage seems to have a life of its own, usually indicating far
less than what is actually in the tank. Also the engine temp guage
does not work at all, I presume these problems are linked.

Due to my lack of mechanical knowledge I was hoping somone would be
able to advise roughly how much it would cost to fix if i took (eg
would it be ultra expensive)it to a garage and is it even worth
fixing? Also I am hoping that the extractor fan in the engine will
come on reguardless if temp gauge works or not when the engine gets
too hot.

Any advice would be really appriciated if i should bother sorting it
or just put up with it (car only cost £800 but is in great condition
and has just been MOT'd)

cheers.

JAMES502 wrote:
> Hi I have just bought an 1992 audi 80 2.0E with 135,000 on the clock.
> The fuel guage seems to have a life of its own, usually indicating far
> less than what is actually in the tank. Also the engine temp guage
> does not work at all, I presume these problems are linked.
>
> Due to my lack of mechanical knowledge I was hoping somone would be
> able to advise roughly how much it would cost to fix if i took (eg
> would it be ultra expensive)it to a garage and is it even worth
> fixing? Also I am hoping that the extractor fan in the engine will
> come on reguardless if temp gauge works or not when the engine gets
> too hot.
>
> Any advice would be really appriciated if i should bother sorting it
> or just put up with it (car only cost £800 but is in great condition
> and has just been MOT'd)
>
> cheers.
The fan will still work.

I'd look for a faulty voltage regulator in the instrument panel, or
faulty wiring/missing earths around the instrument panel. The regulator
feeds both guages.

I recently upgraded to an A4 from an 80 and was having similar problems with
the temp guage. It didn't work at all since I bought the car and foolishly I
didn't get it sorted out. The problem was that the sensor was not correctly
attached onto the actual engine. I think I had been quoted about £100 by a
gartage to fix it. As a result I overheated whilst stuck in traffic & the
garage reckoned to could have warped the cylinder head. Anyway, if you can
get it fixed then do so.

I also think that 80s have dodgy electrics in general.

nevertheless, I got 100,000 miles out of it in 3 years and it never actually
broke down.

On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 20:06:15 GMT, Chris Bartram
> wrote:

> JAMES502 wrote:
> > Hi I have just bought an 1992 audi 80 2.0E with 135,000 on the clock.
> > The fuel guage seems to have a life of its own, usually indicating far
> > less than what is actually in the tank. Also the engine temp guage
> > does not work at all, I presume these problems are linked.
> >
> > Due to my lack of mechanical knowledge I was hoping somone would be
> > able to advise roughly how much it would cost to fix if i took (eg
> > would it be ultra expensive)it to a garage and is it even worth
> > fixing? Also I am hoping that the extractor fan in the engine will
> > come on reguardless if temp gauge works or not when the engine gets
> > too hot.
> >
> > Any advice would be really appriciated if i should bother sorting it
> > or just put up with it (car only cost £800 but is in great condition
> > and has just been MOT'd)
> >
> > cheers.
> The fan will still work.
>
> I'd look for a faulty voltage regulator in the instrument panel, or
> faulty wiring/missing earths around the instrument panel. The regulator
> feeds both guages.

It might help to just take the instrument cluster out and spray
contact cleaner on all the multi-pin connectors,

Christoph

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On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 23:00:15 +0200, Christoph Bollig
> wrote:

> On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 20:06:15 GMT, Chris Bartram
> > wrote:
>
> > JAMES502 wrote:
> > > Hi I have just bought an 1992 audi 80 2.0E with 135,000 on the clock.
> > > The fuel guage seems to have a life of its own, usually indicating far
> > > less than what is actually in the tank. Also the engine temp guage
> > > does not work at all, I presume these problems are linked.
> > >
> > > Due to my lack of mechanical knowledge I was hoping somone would be
> > > able to advise roughly how much it would cost to fix if i took (eg
> > > would it be ultra expensive)it to a garage and is it even worth
> > > fixing? Also I am hoping that the extractor fan in the engine will
> > > come on reguardless if temp gauge works or not when the engine gets
> > > too hot.
> > >
> > > Any advice would be really appriciated if i should bother sorting it
> > > or just put up with it (car only cost £800 but is in great condition
> > > and has just been MOT'd)
> > >
> > > cheers.
> > The fan will still work.
> >
> > I'd look for a faulty voltage regulator in the instrument panel, or
> > faulty wiring/missing earths around the instrument panel. The regulator
> > feeds both guages.
>
> It might help to just take the instrument cluster out and spray
> contact cleaner on all the multi-pin connectors,
>
> Christoph

Hi again,

Just came across this:

http://www.robsaudiworld.com/fuelrepair.htm

Don't know whether it applies to your problem,

Christoph
--
Important: Emails sent to me which contain my full name
in the "to:" or "cc:" field will bypass my spam filter.
With most programs "Reply" should do the job.