fuel gauge not working

[dai506]

hi wifes just got a 03 1.9 tdi ibiza and the fuel gauge only seems to work when the car is static and cold ,soon as you drive off it drops to o and thats it, so not sure if its the sender unit or a faulty guage, any one came across this prob before, as moneys a bit tight at the mo so would like to sort it out myself if poss cheers dai

[towcestervag]

you can get the dash pod checked with vag com to see if dash or sender

[Edward9th]

If it's the same as the later (and petrol) models, you can check the sender by pulling off the connector, under the back seat. The connector is locked on by a 'pip', which you can push in through a hole in the connector body.
If the middle two (of four) pins measure, say 250 ohms, depending on tank level, the sender is OK. You can confirm this by plugging in a 'pot' (variable resistor) of 500 ohms to these pins, and turning it, when the gauge should follow. If not, it's the gauge or the wiring to it.