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Tue Oct 17, 2017 6:43 am

Hey all,

I don't have a stock fuel gauge, I have a 'VDO 301 220 002 60/90-0.5 ohm 12v.' I am looking for the proper sender. The JBugs guy was going to try and call VDO and see which sender I would need, and which would fit my tank. VDO answered my tech email but sent me a load of senders that would work, but I am not sure as to which would fit (if any). I just want to know if I need to purchase a new gauge with a new sender, they have the sender and gauge on jbugs that would work, or if one of the tube senders that VDO said would work with the gauge would actually work on my stock '71 super tank.

Tue Oct 17, 2017 7:01 am

For what it's worth:

I have a long long thread in the 67-older forum about my history with fuel gauges over the years. Including a time in which I experimented with that 301-020 fuel gauge.

It's supposed to work with the stock VW electric fuel sending unit. And it does. But the damn faceplate, the markings are not in the right place! This is the replacement of the historical VDO 3020 gauge, both gauges have the same response to the stock sending unit, but the faceplate is entirely different between them.

It's from this thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...p;start=20

But I'll quote the two main entries from it that regard my experience and experimentation with the VDO 301-020 and VDO 3020, I was using a stock 1968 dash gauge for comparison.

Now, as mentioned, this was from 2011, so maybe VDO has changed that gauge, after the following I abandoned any further experimentation myself.

glutamodo wrote: Time for a little update. Tying into what Bill said on page 1:

bill may wrote: this is why i use a 68 and newer electric gauge and sender from a beetle.got tired of bad mechanical gauges a long time ago.
Well, Part of my previous experiments was to use a Ghia style electric gauge and put the guts of a type 3/Ghia gauge into the housing and faceplate of my VDO accessory gauge. I wasn't that thrilled with the results.

Well for a couple of years I thought I might try that again, but instead of the "big tube" Ghia type of gauge and sending unit, I'd try it with the VDO 301-020 accessory gauge. That's the one that's supposed to work with the 68/later Bug tank unit.

Well I finally went and ordered a 301-020. My Baja has a 68/later speedometer and gauge and tank unit, and it works fine. And speaking of which, the tank unit is a German VDO unit I bought new a few years ago.

I also have a VDO oil temp gauge under my dash, so I just removed that and put the fuel gauge in there instead, and unplugged and extended the wire from the speedo head over to the gauge. Turned the key on - the tank was full and the gauge went to full, so far so good.

So I go for a drive - the needle hardly drops after 50 miles. And I'm driving with my foot on the floor, trying to burn some fuel off and see the gauge register it. It only goes down slowly. After 200 miles my tank should have been getting close to empty, but by then the gauge had only gone down to half. I dug into the trunk and hooked the wire back up to the stock gauge, it read at the top of reserve. I put gas in it and it was about 9 gallons.

Later on I looked a bit closer at the gauge I got. The sticker on the box says 301-020 FUEL GAUGE VW BEETLE CP. But that sticker also says V301220002D. The gauge itself also says 301 220 002 60/90 - 0.5 OHM 12V. Not the 73-10 ohm range of the stock sending unit. Somehow I think VDO has gotten something wrong here. One website says the 301-020 should be 10-65 ohms.

Is this correct? I sent an email to where I bought it from.

Doing some research online, I find a mention of 301-220 being a GM gauge. Also find that 301- 030

301 020 - for Beetle O.E. sender or VDO 221 012, 73 -10 Ohms,
301 030 - for GM sender (from 1965) 0 - 90 Ohms, "Fuel"

And I hooked it up again with where my tank is currently at - just under half. Here's how my two gauges compared:

So I have no idea what's going on. Is this the right gauge, or is there one that actually says 73-10 Ohms on it?

-Andy

glutamodo wrote: Time for an update regarding the currently available VDO 301-020 gauge that clearly wasn't set up to match the stock tank unit.

What I did was look into the Classifieds and to my surprise someone had an NOS 12V version of that gauge from the early 70s, back when it was part number VDO 3020. And he had it priced reasonably, so I bought it.

Yesterday I drove my Baja enough to get the tank down under half, and after I got home I went and hooked up all three gauges to compare.

I suspect this current VDO gauge is actually OK, but the problem is that they are not using a correct faceplate to match the needle movement. The faceplate on the NOS 3020 gauge is considerably different! However I found that actual angle of the needle on both of them was pretty close, so I think the "movement" inside there is working similarly.

That's too bad for me though, since I had had hoped to "gut" the gauge and insert it into the housing of my beat up old early circa-61 accessory gauge - the faceplate on that square one won't even be close. So instead I'll probably try to find a faceplate with a round hole and use it as-is. Sometime in the future.

I also bought a new VDO 68-77 Bug sending unit, mostly just to have in my parts box for now. I notice the stampings on it are different than the last one I got a few years ago. I just checked the resistance, it was about 78 ohms at the bottom, and about 8 ohms at the top. However the top is higher than the gauge can ever reach installed, it rises above the plain of the mounting flange. When it's about even with the mounting flange it was around 20 ohms.

FYI, here's a comparison photo between these two VDO tank units, the one I got several years ago for my Baja on the left, the new one on the right.
[img]

-Andy

Tue Oct 17, 2017 10:01 am

my first car did not have a gas gage (61 Bug) I have since never relied on gas gages, on any car I own.I have the habit of noting odometer reading at fill up time, always fill to top and I go by the miles to determine how much range I have left, old habits die hard with a vengence.

Fri Oct 20, 2017 12:37 pm

glutamodo wrote: For what it's worth:

I have a long long thread in the 67-older forum about my history with fuel gauges over the years. Including a time in which I experimented with that 301-020 fuel gauge.

It's supposed to work with the stock VW electric fuel sending unit. And it does. But the damn faceplate, the markings are not in the right place! This is the replacement of the historical VDO 3020 gauge, both gauges have the same response to the stock sending unit, but the faceplate is entirely different between them.

Wow you have done a lot of testing with these haha. Well maybe the tube sender would be more successful, but I am not sure which one I need to buy, or if any of them would actually work in that tank.

bluebus86 wrote: my first car did not have a gas gage (61 Bug) I have since never relied on gas gages, on any car I own.I have the habit of noting odometer reading at fill up time, always fill to top and I go by the miles to determine how much range I have left, old habits die hard with a vengence.

I would do that, but I also don't have a working speedometer/odometer. That is another thing on the list to work on. The speedo was also converted to a vdo gauge. It has the correct parts, I think I just need to wire it up properly.

Sat Oct 21, 2017 10:57 am

I like the idea of a reserve. After you change your sending unit carry a gas can with gas in it for a bit just in case you run out of gas.

Sat Oct 21, 2017 12:49 pm

kawfee wrote: I like the idea of a reserve. After you change your sending unit carry a gas can with gas in it for a bit just in case you run out of gas.

With that much uncertainty... I'd carry spare fuel with you and intentionally run out. Then you'll know your needle reading. I've done this with every used VW I've ever purchased and driven.

Sat Oct 21, 2017 1:23 pm

That works too. I found out by not carrying a jug of gas. Now I do but only in that car.