# Fuel gauge reading is faulty, sender unit replaced in tank and problem is worse now. 2011 CC VR6



## BarrettF77 (Jul 19, 2007)

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## gtaylor0 (Mar 2, 2011)

I have an '08 Passat and my gauge does what you describe in your first paragraph. To me, it was very slightly disconcerting but I've gotten used to it, and the fact that it winds up being accurate below 3/4 of a tank. I read somewhere that that's how Euro gauges are...but not like what yours turned into after the dealer got ahold of it.


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## BarrettF77 (Jul 19, 2007)

I've had three other VW cars. None have done this.


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## Getaway Car (Apr 18, 2007)

Same problem here though I don't think it's _quite_ as bad as yours, doesn't bother me as much though. In my experience fuel gauges on VW's are not the most accurate things and don't really serve much purpose until you get below half a tank anyway.


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## gtaylor0 (Mar 2, 2011)

I don't remember my other two VW's being quite as bad but none of them did what my Japanese cars did: stay on Full forever and then quickly drain to empty. So, pick your poisen.


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## Tsquared (Dec 9, 2011)

Mine does the same thing as your first description. My guess is, you should just learn to live with it. They did something bad with the new sending unit, and that needs fixing. 
Yes. It's very irritating.


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## BarrettF77 (Jul 19, 2007)

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## CC'ed (Dec 1, 2009)

I think the 4-motion has two senders, because there are two tanks (with a cross-over pipe). Maybe the dealership replaced the wrong sender.


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## BarrettF77 (Jul 19, 2007)

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## hidonest (Feb 19, 2012)

My issue was also with the fuel tank that hit about a year after using the car. The fuel guage would go to zero even when the tank was full. They replaced the entire unit (since it was under warranty). 6 months in and so far so issue. 

You should ask them to do the same as well.


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## BarrettF77 (Jul 19, 2007)

hidonest said:


> My issue was also with the fuel tank that hit about a year after using the car. The fuel guage would go to zero even when the tank was full. They replaced the entire unit (since it was under warranty). 6 months in and so far so issue.
> 
> You should ask them to do the same as well.


When you say entire unit, do you mean the sender unit with the level indicator? Or the whole fuel tank assembly.


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## Rheinland Technik (Apr 2, 2010)

Here is a suggestion for the next time that you fill up your tank. Before you pull out of the station, start your car up and run it for a minute or two to allow the pumps to circulate. Then, before you leave, attempt to top your tank off again just to see if it will take any more fuel. If it does, it is because the pumps are balancing you the tank and feeding fuel from one sump to the other will cause a gauge error. That is the only thing I can suggest to try to see if it fixes your issue, as the tank is very oddly shaped to fit with the 4Motion.


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## greek bandit (Sep 29, 2004)

Rheinland Technik said:


> Here is a suggestion for the next time that you fill up your tank. Before you pull out of the station, start your car up and run it for a minute or two to allow the pumps to circulate. Then, before you leave, attempt to top your tank off again just to see if it will take any more fuel. If it does, it is because the pumps are balancing you the tank and feeding fuel from one sump to the other will cause a gauge error. That is the only thing I can suggest to try to see if it fixes your issue, as the tank is very oddly shaped to fit with the 4Motion.


i was thinking the same thing....i am having the same issue ill fill it up and 5 miles later the gauge moves, im just assuming the fuel is leveling out in the tank from one end to the other


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## Rheinland Technik (Apr 2, 2010)

My CC does the same thing and I haven't attempted it to see if it resolves the issue. It isn't like my TDI where I can vent the tank and fill it to the top [17+ gallons in a 14.5 gallon tank].


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## zackiedawg (Jul 21, 2000)

I haven't yet tested this out on my '13 CC since I've only just had it a short while, however, the fuel gauges have always been very similar since my '03 W8, and the same in my '07 3.6 4mo...the fully round gauge tends to move much more rapidly through the far right and far left of their circle, and much more slowly through the middle top section. The effect is that right after fillup, it seems to very rapidly drop to 3/4 tank or so on the indicator in just a few dozen miles or so - then it moves very slowly through the middle range for several hundred miles...then finally as it nears the left side where it drops down, it increases again. Since the '13 CC has the same round gauge, I'm expecting very similar gauge performance. I've become very accustomed to it myself - I ignore the right side when it drops down fairly quickly after a fillup, and through the middle range it's accurate...then as I get down to the 1/4 mark, I know it's going to go much faster to empty, so that's sort of like an advanced low fuel warning for me - I start thinking about getting gas when I'm on 1/4, so that by the time the warning light pops on for more fuel, I'm rarely caught far from a station and have either already filled or planning on it that day.

I've never suspected that this was any kind of fault with the tank, sending unit, or gauge...just an eccentricity of the round gauge design that fills 2/3 of a circle, rather than the smaller and simpler 1/2 arc gauges on most cars.


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## IRON GRAY CC (Feb 16, 2010)

you might also want to see if the dealer can adapt the fuel guage with the scan tool, I have seen this work on other model VW's


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## BarrettF77 (Jul 19, 2007)

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## zackiedawg (Jul 21, 2000)

Yeah -yours definitely doesn't sound right. That, mine doesn't do. When I fill up, it pegs all the way past the full mark. It just moves from full to 3/4 rather quickly before slowing down for the middle 1/2. I've never in 3 consecutive Passats had it do anything like yours, where it won't even read full when it is.


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## BarrettF77 (Jul 19, 2007)

After escalating my issue to VW's corp office, they waited 6 days to call me back and parrot back the dealer's oigional response. We need to take your car out and drive it again for 40 miles. 

It's funny how car companies act. Needless to say I'm on my way out after these cars. I ironically had someone comment on my car today and how nice it was and that the guy was looking to buy a VR6 CC for his wife. In return I explained to him my issues past and present with the service, was thanked, and said he would look at another company and his wife would be relieved. Evidently they owned an Audi and he was trying to get her to a CC. My comments swayed him away in my brief few minutes of talking. Good customer service and the randomness of who your customers run into can have a big impact on a companies sales. Needless to say the damage is done and despite my liking the older VW styling, dealer service seems to fall short and I'm always happy to educate others. Good or bad. :facepalm:


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## BarrettF77 (Jul 19, 2007)

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## CC'ed (Dec 1, 2009)

If the fuel level sensors and the wiring was OK, the problem is in the Fuel Pump Control Module. or the Instrument Cluster. It is amazing that VW can't diagnose and repair their own products!!!


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## BarrettF77 (Jul 19, 2007)

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## pkeelan (Jan 17, 2011)

same car/year as you, similar problem but not as extreme, full tank to 3/4 tank after 10 miles kind of crazy but like others have gotten used to it.


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## gtaylor0 (Mar 2, 2011)

Aside form the lesson that VW may not know how to fix some of their own issues, another lesson is you really need to pick your battles with these things -- that is, choose what should be repaired carefully.


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## BarrettF77 (Jul 19, 2007)

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## Tsquared (Dec 9, 2011)

Apparently, I'm just a slacker. When the gas gauge gets toward empty. I fill it up again. What happens in between is not all that interesting to me.


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## baddceo (May 1, 2012)

My gauge is a little finicky as well however no matter what the gauge does i always get about 340 miles on the trip before the fuel light comes on. It seems to catch up to itself right past the half way mark where it jumps a little bit and stays there for about 75 miles. My guess is the saddle bag tank which is under pressure is pulling gas over to the side where it's drawn from at about that point. That's my best guess and I have gotten used to it since it seems to be consistent. I filled up this evening with 17.3 gallons and I my gauge was reading empty and I was being told to "please refuel"


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## gtaylor0 (Mar 2, 2011)

BarrettF77 said:


> There are two types of people in the world. Those who do nothing when something goes wrong and those who act. Which are you?


Sticking just to the gas gauge issue and not your other complaints about the car, as I previously stated mine acts very much like yours did (before the repairs), which I can totally live with. 

However, if the reverse were true -- if it was uber accurate from full to 3/4 full and then grossly inaccurate the rest of the way down -- I would most definately have it looked at. 

Your definition of "going wrong" is a close interpretation, IMO. Your perogative, to be sure. But, for me, the law of unintended consequences kicks in way too often to allow what I consider a minor quirk to compell me to attempt a repair that could lead to further issues, which in turn could lead to ultimately lemmoning the car. I mean, from my perspective, that's a real shame.


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## BarrettF77 (Jul 19, 2007)

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