VDO produces a wide variety of aftermarket automotive components, ranging from gauges and sensors to HVAC blowers and fan control systems. Most consumers will be more familiar with VDO's user-serviceable parts, such as its gauges, senders and sensors. If you've installed user-serviceable VDO components in your automobile, then you're more than qualified to troubleshoot any malfunctions or bugs in your VDO systems.
Test your VDO gauge by turning your car on and checking for accurate readings. The pressure sensor should be at zero, and the fuel hand should be representative of the amount of fuel in your tank.
Disconnect the VDO sender's wire from the gauge. All gauges should move to their maximum positions. Turn off the car and replace the wire between the gauge and sender. If you experience any other results, your gauge will likely need to be replaced.
Recalibrate your VDO speedometer if the gauge is off. Press the speedometer's front button until the device displays "AutoCL." Then drive up to a mile marker. Press the front button again. "Start" should appear on the display. Drive to the next mile marker. Press the speedometer's button to end calibration.
Test the VDO's sender for fault. Unplug the wires from the senders. Touch each sender's pair of negative and positive leads with the positive and negative leads of a multimeter. Switch the multimeter to ohms. If the ohm output of a sender is off, then the sender will need to be replaced.
Monitor the fuel gauge. If the fuel gauge reports your automobile's fuel level in reverse, then you'll need to reorient the fuel sender in the fuel tank. Rotate the fuel sender 180 degrees, so that the device's fuel arm faces the opposite direction and reports the correct fuel level.
