Considering you report it running well, I’d suspect that the electric sender is probably not reading/reporting correctly. I’d “T” in a old school manual direct reading gage temporarily secured in such a way that you or a helper can observe it during a run up check and compare the readings.
VDO senders come in 2 versions : single wire and double wire. The single wire depends on grounding through the outside of the case. If the case is not fully grounded you will get an incorrect reading.