Fogged up gauge

Before you begin , make sure the tank is not too full so that when you remove the float assembly you don't have a flood of gas. The standard VW tank depth for float is about 8-1/4" from the underside of the float ring to the where the float rest at the tank bottom . You can carefully bend the float arm and or float stop tabs so that when the top of the plastic float is even with the bottom of the float mounting plate.  Cover the tank opening to isolate fumes then turn the key on and conform the gauge reads full again, when the top of the plastic float is even with the bottom of the float mounting plate.  Then lower it to it's lowest position to confirm the gauge op .     The moisture issue I have not seen,.

My Chinese Repop gauges used to fog up under certain atmospheric conditions. I haven't noticed my new gauges doing this, yet.

If your gauge lights are incandescent, then having them on might offer enough heat to burn off the fog???

As far as your gas gauge, accurate isn't one of the words I'd use to describe it. Some bending of the wire that holds the float, one way or the other, until it matches the gauge needle position is how to tune it, it'll never be perfect.

If you have a Speedster, the sending unit is in the center OG position, so it'll be more accurate, than say a Spyder tank where the sending unit is placed to one side.

I installed Speedhut gauges in my Spyder which allows the gauge to be calibrated to the sender's range. It's still not optimal because of the position of the sender, but it's better than with the Chinese gauges. I just use mileage.

Mine (the old Brazilian repops) fog. It’s irritating, but the nature of the beast.

@Alan Merklin posted:

Before you begin , make sure the tank is not too full so that when you remove the float assembly you don't have a flood of gas. The standard VW tank depth for float is about 8-1/4" from the underside of the float ring to the where the float rest at the tank bottom . You can carefully bend the float arm and or float stop tabs so that when the top of the plastic float is even with the bottom of the float mounting plate.  Cover the tank opening to isolate fumes then turn the key on and conform the gauge reads full again, when the top of the plastic float is even with the bottom of the float mounting plate.  Then lower it to it's lowest position to confirm the gauge op .     The moisture issue I have not seen,.

@Alan Merklin I think you posted this in the wrong thread.

The original poster was concerned about his gas gauge not reading the proper level in the tank, in addition to his gauge fogging up.

Alan posted a solution to that.

@dlearl476 posted:

@Alan Merklin I think you posted this in the wrong thread.

Also the gas gauge only registers 1/2 full on the gauge when I know it is filled up.

It's a response to his gauge not reading accurately.

I have a set of Brazilian 356 reproduction gauges from the 1990's and one of them seems to fog up if I go for a ride in the evening when it's muggy out.  Been doing that since, like, forever.  I just put up with it because the alternative (getting it fixed at a repair place) isn't worth it and the chrome bezel, which has to be removed to get inside the can, often cracks or gets destroyed while trying to remove it.

I've wondered if I could find a way to run a low pressure stream of air through the gauge can to dry it out, but I have no idea if that would do anything or not.

So, I just live with it.

@Alan Merklin posted:

Before you begin , make sure the tank is not too full so that when you remove the float assembly you don't have a flood of gas. The standard VW tank depth for float is about 8-1/4" from the underside of the float ring to the where the float rest at the tank bottom . You can carefully bend the float arm and or float stop tabs so that when the top of the plastic float is even with the bottom of the float mounting plate.  Cover the tank opening to isolate fumes then turn the key on and conform the gauge reads full again, when the top of the plastic float is even with the bottom of the float mounting plate.  Then lower it to it's lowest position to confirm the gauge op .     The moisture issue I have not seen,.

Thanks Alan, I should have mentioned I have a 12 gal tank with the sending in the upper drivers side. I will wait to hear from Greg about both the gas gauge and the fogging on the inside of the gauge. It was 56 outside temp, and foggy on my drive. I had my headlight on the whole time which could have caused the gauge to fog inside. However the other gauges were fine and stayed clear. I will play with the stop and do a little bending to see if i can get a more accurate reading. Appreciate the advice

Thanks guys for your input. I'm not sure what gauges Greg used on my car. I thought they were Speedhut, but I can't say for sure. I will talk to him hopefully next week and get some answers. Till then I'm using my trip mileage on the speedo and I know when it show close to empty I still have 4 gals.

@dlearl476 posted:

@Alan Merklin I think you posted this in the wrong thread.

My fault, I may have posted it in the Spyder page, should have been the Speedster page. But thanks for the notice and thanks Alan for the response

Like everyone else I had to tinker with the float wire and finally got it adjusted to where mine read empty and there would be 2 gallons left. i treated it like a reserve tank reading. When it read empty I figured I had 50 miles to go. I also reset my trip odometer at every fill up and with a 10 gallon tank I would start looking for a filling station at about 165-175 miles or so.

@Robert M posted:

Like everyone else I had to tinker with the float wire and finally got it adjusted to where mine read empty and there would be 2 gallons left. i treated it like a reserve tank reading. When it read empty I figured I had 50 miles to go. I also reset my trip odometer at every fill up and with a 10 gallon tank I would start looking for a filling station at about 165-175 miles or so.

Good advice Robert. As of now I'm using my trip odometer to monitor gas usage. Just part of the deal I guess. Seems like everyone has to deal with this issue at some point. May go to the old basic gas stick in the tank routine.

Went for a ride last evening here in soggy, rain-soaked New England and guess what...

My multi-gauge is STILL fogging up after 15 minutes on the road.  Been like this for close to 20 years, now.  And it fogs the bottom half more than the top.

My fuel gauge is ultra pessimistic but once I learned it's behavior, that I am able to be less worried.

I think I have the exact gauge as Dave and it fogs every single drive (our cars were built nearly side by side), outside humidity seemingly unrelated.  Granted I live near the ocean but still..

After some amount of drive time it seems to clear; I suspect that since I always drive with lights on it eventually warms up in there.

It's annoying but the bigger concern is if this moisture is going to impact the life of the device.

Julie - See my post above.  Mine’s been like that since I installed it in 1999.   I once hoped that the humidity/moisture would make my gas gauge settle down, but nothing’s changed (yet).  I’m still waiting for divine intervention.

Like yours, mine clears up if I drive for a while in bright Sunlight.  I didn’t think to turn the lights on to see what happens (my bulbs are incandescent, not LED) but I’ll try that out if it stops raining long enough for a nice drive.   🙁

My combi gauge used to fog up in my old Spyder. I had the Brazilian repro gauges. I got over it. It would always dry out.

They do that.

My converted 914 gauges do it too, as do the various brands of gauges in the MG. I never considered it a biggie, and I always have the headlights on when driving so they clear up after a few miles. 

My '82 911 VDO gauges fogged up, too. Keeping the parking /headlights on always cleared them up. My 914 VDO gauges on the speedster never fog up, but we live on the dry side of the volcano. Seems like it's kind of par for the course.

My 914 VDO gauges on the speedster never fog up, but we live on the dry side of the volcano.

Curious, Is this the dry side?

@WOLFGANG posted:

My 914 VDO gauges on the speedster never fog up, but we live on the dry side of the volcano.

Curious, Is this the dry side?

Hey, I'm not complaining, my gauges don't fog up.

@Butcher Boy posted:

Has anyone else had a problem with their fuel, temp combo gauge from Vintage Motorcars fogging up?

Yes, my VMC Speedster combination gauge fogs up, too.

Jason