2G Fuel gauge not working

[Dakota Biddinger]

Gas gauge doesn't work in my 95 talon tsi. It stays on empty and the needle doesn't move. I'm not very good with wiring so I'm not sure if it's the sending unit or wiring or float or yeah. Main things I should check first? Also where the things I should check are located

 

[shinzon]

Gas gauge doesn't work in my 95 talon tsi. It stays on empty and the needle doesn't move. I'm not very good with wiring so I'm not sure if it's the sending unit or wiring or float or yeah. Main things I should check first? Also where the things I should check are located

Since the AWD gas tank has a hump to clear the rear sub-frame, your car actually has two fuel level senders: a sub unit on one side of the car, and a main level gauge on the other. The fuel gauge units are potentiometers, which means they vary resistance according to the position of the float. It's a very simple circuit. The fuel gauge in the cluster passes power to the fuel gauge units, and measures voltage on that circuit to determine fuel level. The low fuel light on the dash is on its own circuit.

What this all means is that you should just be able to test for voltage on the fuel gauge wire at the sender, and check the ground. If both are good, then your fuel gauge units are bad, or the fuel gauge itself is bad. To narrow between the two, you could backprobe the gauge wire, add fuel, and if you get a change in voltage, you know it's the gauge. If there is no change, you know it's the sender.