Are my lights truly this bad, or am I being stupid?

[TobyGilden]

Ok I shall give that a go, if that does work, how do you recommend permanently connecting an earth to that circuit?

[CovKid]

The connector and PCB tend to break over time. Quite a few (including myself) have hardwired the dash, But you could perhaps solder a link to a small ring connector under one of the dash pod mounting screws? That would sort it.

[ghost123uk]

Hi Toby, I have been following this but not chipped in because the others, as usual, are helping you along just fine. I have popped in now though just to make a respectful suggestion. When posting, it might be a good idea to use the terms that are commonly used for the different lights. You mention "Main Beams" then in the next bit you mention "Full Beams". It should be noted the main beams and full beams are the same thing.

The norm is to call the little dim bulbs "Sidelights", then the beam that shines down onto the road for a few yards is the "Dipped Beam" and the beam that lights up the road for a good distance in front of you is usually referred to as the "Main Beam". It just saves any confusion

Sounds like you are well on the way to getting it sorted anyway

[MidLifeCrisis]

The norm is to call the little dim bulbs "Sidelights", then the beam that shines down onto the road for a few yards is the "Dipped Beam" and the beam that lights up the road for a good distance in front of you is usually referred to as the "Main Beam". It just saves any confusion

Yeah - that was my fault (see my earlier post!!)
Just to add more confusion - the T25 instruction manual calls them 'Sidelights', 'Headlight Low' and 'Headlight High' (then tells you how to 'dip' the lights)

[TobyGilden]

I added a new earth from the centre bulb for the dash to the earth crown - I now have all of my lights working in the correct order, and my dash lights up with the lights on.

Now the only thing not working on the dash is my petrol gauge, the temp gauge is definitely working, I earthed it earlier and it went all the way to the top. I have tried earthing the lilac and black wire for the fuel gauge to do the same thing (as recommended on one of the other pages) but this did nothing. Does that mean that the actual fuel gauge itself isn't working - does anyone know of another way of proving that the fuel gauge isn't working, or that the sender is working?

Because if the sender is working, I am considering fitting an independent fuel gauge on the dash using the standard wiring - has anyone tried this?

[marlinowner]

If you can get a meter onto the two connections to the fuel gauge, there should be about 10v on one, which is the supply from the voltage regulator mounted on the back of the clock (if you have one). If that is OK ground the other connection, that should put the gauge to max. If that is all working then there is a bad connection between the sender and the gauge. If the gauge has 10v to it but doesnt move when the other connector is grounded, then the gauge is faulty. If there is no 10v then that is the problem. If the gauge itself is faulty, it is probably easier to replace the gauge with another t25 one than try to fit a different one.

[garyd]

When testing the fuel gauge, be aware that the needle is very well damped and can takes tens of seconds to visibly respond. Too easy to think it is not working when just making a 'flash' connection.

[TobyGilden]

I checked the voltage over the back of the fuel gauge, I have got around 10v. I then made a new earth connection at the crown and ran it back to the gauge, and left it there for a long time - no movement what so ever, with the new earth I then connected it to the lilac and black wire, still nothing.

Is this a faulty fuel gauge? I'm really keen to get this sorted as I had an embarrassing moment yesterday, where the van ran out of fuel whilst going up a hill. It was my fault really, I wasn't paying attention to my consumption.


If it's as easy as running the lilac and black wire and a new earth, I'm seriously considering an independent fuel gauge on the dash - is this a good idea?

[kevtherev]

To me it seems a bit of a waste of time and effort when you can get another gauge to fit where VW intended easily.

Then again you might like the idea of an aircraft cockpit style full of gauges
I have three extra gauges, oil pressure, amps, volts.
The fuel sender that is fitted by the factory isn't accurate anyway, it's only really for guidance purposes.

[TobyGilden]

The thing is I can get some quite cool looking gauges for around £10 (after market), but vw replacemts are around £50, I've been looking for some secnd hand ones, but can't find them one anywhere