- Oct 4, 2006
- 2,335
- Boat Info
- 2003 280DA and 1995 Sea Ray 175
- Engines
- Twin 4.3l and 3.0l, all w/ AlphaI GenII drives
I'm wondering what to do over the winter about my fuel guage being inaccurate. As far as I know, its the stock sending unit in the tank and gauge in the dash. I have a 20 gallon tank. Here is the situation that I have found out after having the boat out and refilling...
When the gauge reports 1/2 full, when I fill it up, I only need 4-5 gallons to top it up, maybe less. The gauge goes from full to 1/2 very quickly when running.
It stabilizes at 1/2 for quite a while compared to how long it took to get there from full. The last day we took it out for the year was the lowest I ever let the gauge go. It was reporting about 1/8 of a tank left. When I topped it up for the winter, I used about 12 gallons of fuel.
So,
gauge reads full: 20 gal. tank is full
gauge reads 1/2: needs 5 gal. to fill
gauge reads 1/8: needs 12 gal. to fill
What can I do to make it more accurate? How can I tell which part is the problem? Are there aftermarket sending units that are better than the OEM one?
The problem with this is it limits how far we can travel; I generally would like to stick to the rule of using 1/3 to go out, and a 1/3 to get back wiith some in reserve. But I end up playing a guessing game with how much I have left! And being out in the Chesapeake in my boat, well, I'd rather not do that.
Hope everyone is having an enjoyable winter...
Tom
When the gauge reports 1/2 full, when I fill it up, I only need 4-5 gallons to top it up, maybe less. The gauge goes from full to 1/2 very quickly when running.
It stabilizes at 1/2 for quite a while compared to how long it took to get there from full. The last day we took it out for the year was the lowest I ever let the gauge go. It was reporting about 1/8 of a tank left. When I topped it up for the winter, I used about 12 gallons of fuel.
So,
gauge reads full: 20 gal. tank is full
gauge reads 1/2: needs 5 gal. to fill
gauge reads 1/8: needs 12 gal. to fill
What can I do to make it more accurate? How can I tell which part is the problem? Are there aftermarket sending units that are better than the OEM one?
The problem with this is it limits how far we can travel; I generally would like to stick to the rule of using 1/3 to go out, and a 1/3 to get back wiith some in reserve. But I end up playing a guessing game with how much I have left! And being out in the Chesapeake in my boat, well, I'd rather not do that.
Hope everyone is having an enjoyable winter...
Tom