Bay Window Fuel Sender Access Hatch

[Oldman]

Courtesy of TTMK (Tommy) and Doc (Rob):
Pictures now for access panel at long last . 
I went to my local wreckers for mitsubishi and obtained from under the rear seat of any TE - TW magna a fuel sender unit panel as you can see from the photos it works a treat and does not look out of place it saves having to pull the engine out then the fuel tank to replace the sender unit 
This was previously posted a link to a guy whom i think went a little over the top but if you have time yep do it his way , but this takes all of 15 mins to change a tank unit * the bustop sells tank units * contact his reverence [roy] if you need one .
All you need is the dimensions for cutting count the ribs from my photos , i was standing at the rear of the kombi looking towards the front . 
A jig saw , cordless drill is handy  
A magna fuel sender cover all of $ 5.00 bucks if you get on well with your wrecker they will prob give you one 
A few screw drivers , and pk screws 
A compass to draw a circle , permant marking pen . 
I fitted foam under the magna panel to make is seal due to the floor ribs
drill 4 holes 1/8 inch drill bit 

To remove the sender once the hole is cut disconnect the two wires attached ,rotate the locking ring , remove the sender , replace it with the new one , replace the sender seal , you may need to vaseline the new sealing ring . refit the locking plate connect the wires 
fit the magna plate along with some foam . 
NO MORE RUNNING OUT OF FUEL ON DARK WINTER NIGHTS !! 

http://www.specialpatrolgroup.co.uk/spooky/access/access.html
Dimensions and the long way to do it 


The magna panel fitted looking from the back 



The magna panel looking from above from the rear rock and roll seat  
Dimensions 157 mm x 157 mm

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From Doc:

Hi guys
I changed the fuel sender in my daughters 1974 Kombi this afternoon and there were a few incidents

This is the diagram that Tom referenced earlier (linked)


For a 1974 bay my suggestion is that you make it 800 from the lip or better still as close to the rear seat as you can but you will need to leave enough room to seal it afterwards.

I could get at the sender unit but it was awkward.

Lessons Learn't
1) If using a jig saw make sure you use a fine tooth metal saw.
2) Make sure the depth of the saw is not too deep. I started out with a Ryobi unit which was inherited from my father in law ....... This worked fine until the blade clamp shattered ..... I then bought a Bosch and the blade will hit the fuel tank by about 1/4 of an inch.
3) Don't make the hole where the diagram says move it towards the front of the car.
4) Clean as much crud as you can after you have opened it up

 

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Doc (cont.)

Here is the new sender


Important Lesson

1.)Have the tank less than 1/2 full otherwise you will have to put the sender in 180 degrees the other way 
2.) Use Rubber Grease on your O ring
3.) Because of the new O ring the gauge was near impossible to turn So use a big screwdriver as a lever and the top of your hole as the fulcrum it will go in.
4.) If you do put it in 180 degrees in the wrong direction make sure you wires are the correct way round!

I made my cover our of some old Kombi corrugated 


I would normally silastic and seal it up but as I am completely anal about most things when I am out of fuel I will probably rotate the sender and the close it up with silastic as well as self tappers
 

[Oldman]

From felixqld66 :

Just though I would throw in another option for this great idea. Here are some pics of in the back of our lowlight panel van you can get the watertight hatches from boat chandlerys even BCF I think. 

Closed



Open



Very easy access via the screw top not that you need to get in there very often. 

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From Alpal (Alan):

Step 1: Mark the cut area. See the pic for dimensions. Note that the hole is not directly above the sender but it works well for sender removal.


Step 2: Drill a small hole and check the distance to the tank with a piece of wire. Check the clearance against the length of the blade. Mine was about 63 mm. All OK.

  

[Oldman]

From felixqld66 :

Just though I would throw in another option for this great idea. Here are some pics of in the back of our lowlight panel van you can get the watertight hatches from boat chandlerys even BCF I think. 

Closed



Open



Very easy access via the screw top not that you need to get in there very often. 

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I , (me !, Mark ), found this, the easiest way to loosen & re-tighten the sender unit. Use two hands 

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From Alpal (Alan):

Step 1: Mark the cut area. See the pic for dimensions. Note that the hole is not directly above the sender but it works well for sender removal.


Step 2: Drill a small hole and check the distance to the tank with a piece of wire. Check the clearance against the length of the blade. Mine was about 63 mm. All OK.

  

Step 3: Drill some more holes so that I can get the Jig Saw started. 
Cut the hole and vacuum up the metal swarf. (Not good in the fuel or the engine!)


 
 

[Oldman]

Step4: Remove the Sender. 
Take off the connections. Don’t lose them in the dark hole!
 With a drift rotate the sender ACW until it is free. 
Negotiate it out of the tank.
 

Step 5: Install a ‘new’ sender. NOTE. Take care not to bend the float arm or the ‘ears’ on the sender otherwise the tank readings will not be correct. 
Note 2. Make sure the seal is installed. 
With a drift rotate the sender ACW until it is secure. Re-attach wires. Earth to Earth and sender wire to the insulated terminal on the sender.
ALL GOOD? Test to see if it works. Switch on the ignition and the gauge should read the fuel level. OK?

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Step4: Remove the Sender. 
Take off the connections. Don’t lose them in the dark hole!
 With a drift rotate the sender ACW until it is free. 
Negotiate it out of the tank.
 

Step 5: Install a ‘new’ sender. NOTE. Take care not to bend the float arm or the ‘ears’ on the sender otherwise the tank readings will not be correct. 
Note 2. Make sure the seal is installed. 
With a drift rotate the sender ACW until it is secure. Re-attach wires. Earth to Earth and sender wire to the insulated terminal on the sender.
ALL GOOD? Test to see if it works. Switch on the ignition and the gauge should read the fuel level. OK?

Step 6: Patch the hole. I had the patch from my wrecker so it was easy but no drama. 
You will need a bit of metal bigger than the hole. An old scrap of VW floor would be good but no rocket science to find something that would do. 
Cut to size, seal and secure. I used some door seal around the edge and 2 bits of soft rubber to fill the floor grooves. 
Pop rivets were my choice but self-tappers would do. Pops are nice and flat and smooth.

 
Job done.

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For my job after I connected the sender the gauge still showed over full!
Bugger!!
Checked the old sender with a multi meter and it was pushing out 10 to 73 ohms as required so the sender was not the problem.

Pulled of the sender wire from the back of the sender.
Fiddly but do-able. Checked the resistance at the fuel gauge end of the sender wire with the multi meter and it was only 5 ohms. Too low!

Must be a problem with the wire run from the sender to the gauge.
The wire runs from the insulated connector on the sender thru the tank area floor on the driver side.
If you have a look underneath you will see it coming thru the floor and disappearing into the main wiring loom that runs to the front of the car.
I connected a wire from the sender to the gauge to see if it worked and all was good.
Cut the wire at the floor and ran a new wire from the sender connector thru the floor and connected it to the original wire.
(Another fiddly process but if you poke a wire thru the hole from underneath you can hook it with another wire from the tank sender cut-out.)
Checked and all good so the failure was in the run inside the fuel tank area.
Cleaned up the connections packed up.

Will monitor the fuel reading when I fill up to ensure it is reading accurately.
Job done!
Luckily I had a spare sender so did not purchase a new sender. ...and now I also have an access hole if the sender fails.
Kombi fun!
 

[Oldman]

Step4: Remove the Sender. 
Take off the connections. Don’t lose them in the dark hole!
 With a drift rotate the sender ACW until it is free. 
Negotiate it out of the tank.
 

Step 5: Install a ‘new’ sender. NOTE. Take care not to bend the float arm or the ‘ears’ on the sender otherwise the tank readings will not be correct. 
Note 2. Make sure the seal is installed. 
With a drift rotate the sender ACW until it is secure. Re-attach wires. Earth to Earth and sender wire to the insulated terminal on the sender.
ALL GOOD? Test to see if it works. Switch on the ignition and the gauge should read the fuel level. OK?

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Step 6: Patch the hole. I had the patch from my wrecker so it was easy but no drama. 
You will need a bit of metal bigger than the hole. An old scrap of VW floor would be good but no rocket science to find something that would do. 
Cut to size, seal and secure. I used some door seal around the edge and 2 bits of soft rubber to fill the floor grooves. 
Pop rivets were my choice but self-tappers would do. Pops are nice and flat and smooth.

 
Job done.

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Nicely documented Al ! 
I found that jigsaw blades made for cutting stainless steel are a lot shorter than the others & used them......easily cleared the fuel tank. 

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Nicely documented Al ! 
I found that jigsaw blades made for cutting stainless steel are a lot shorter than the others & used them......easily cleared the fuel tank. 

[Doob]

I have a 1971 Bay Kombi. I had the engine & fuel tank out a couple years ago. I took the opportunity to take some measurements of the fuel tank & fuel tank cavity - including the location of the fuel gauge sender unit. I know there is some variation in the fuel gauge sender unit and the fuel tank between different models of the Bay Kombi. I am not sure how much variation there is in the location of the sender unit in relation to the cargo bay floor plan?
Anyway - the 2 pdf attachments here give the approximate dimensions & layout for my 1971 Kombi.
Cheers
Grant