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| The fuel level transducer on a bus is located on the top of the bus fuel tank. As you may already know the bus fuel tank is buried between the engine and the metal wall located behind the back bench seat. A very snug spot for it in the event of an accident but not good for newbie mechanics. To get a better picture of the situation you can look at the fuel tank on a late model bug which is in the "trunk" or go to your nearby VW junkyard. If you have one close that is. The fuel level transducer looks kind of like a filler cap but it has wires attached to it. These wires arent there to keep you from losing it. They have 12 VDC on them (at least one of them, the other is ground). CAUTION! BEFORE MUCKING ABOUT WITH THIS YOU HAVE TO DISCONNECT THE BATTERY! |
First you have to get at the transducer. If you are like most of us and dont want to drop the engine and gas tank to do this then there is another way. Go to a boat supply place. Buy a 4" bulkhead style hatch. They are round and the middle part unscrews from the bulkhead style frame like taken the lid off of a camping water cooler (igloo). The hatch part should have a O ring to give it a good seal when it is screwed closed. With this assembly there should be a paper template so that you can transfer the hole size and the screw pattern to the spot where you are going to install it. If not, make one. Center the template so that the middle of the hole will be at the halfway point on the back deck as measured from the side(s). Get as close to the edge of the back deck as you can while still seating the outer flang solidly on the deck surface. The edge being defined as where the back of the back bench seat is, or towards the front of the bus. The top of the gas tank is only about 3 inches from the deck so insure that you have stops on your drill bit and your sabre saw blade is a shorty with fine teeth. The deck steel is fairly soft. I used a small radial cutter blade and a dremmel tool. I had no sparking problem while cutting. Once the installation hole is cut and your fastner holes are drilled you will find that the deck being corrugated presents a bit of a problem. I sealed this interface with a putty like calking that comes in a roll like tape. Very sticky and molds well. I suppose you could use a RTV to seal this interface though. Once this "porthole" is installed you can unscrew the center and access the fuel sender easily and the access doesnt look junky. |
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