I doubt they can get bent...The floats are very light and would not have enough momentum to bend the arm. What typically happens is the contacts on the reostat get gummed up or corroded especially when the fuel level is low. This isn't a Z sender, but is similar to what is used in most cars these days. As the arm, moves up it causes the contact wiper to make contact with the various pc board contacts. Further up (more fuel), more LEDs lit on the gauge. Techron is proven to clean these contacts. I've had plenty of Audi buddys who have brought their senders back from the dead with a few applications..Techron even covers this on their website..
http://www.chevron.com/products/ourf...tives/tcp.aspx
