Fuel gauge issue

[Desert Oasis]

Ok, my Starboard side fuel gauge both on the dash and on my smart craft sometimes works and other times it registers no fuel although I know I have plenty. It does trigger an alarm on my smartcraft screen. When I first put gas in it seems to register just fine, but drops to empty for no apparent reason as I am cruising . I coved out and the next day turned on the engine and it registered just fine. Off and on..

2003 Sundancer 340

thanks in advance..

 

[Desert Oasis]

Anyone???

 

[Sous]

Sounds weird, but not unheard of. Have you checked the senders for proper resistance readings? These are know for going bad. My strb side tank has issues as well... I just haven't gotten to replacing it yet.

 

[BryanOnTheBay]

Ok, my Starboard side fuel gauge both on the dash and on my smart craft sometimes works and other times it registers no fuel although I know I have plenty. It does trigger an alarm on my smartcraft screen. When I first put gas in it seems to register just fine, but drops to empty for no apparent reason as I am cruising . I coved out and the next day turned on the engine and it registered just fine. Off and on..

2003 Sundancer 340

thanks in advance..

Have you checked that you have a good ground? Is the connection r connector loose? We have had a rash of gauges not reading right on the board lately, and it seems to be the grounds that have been the issue.

Bryan

 

[Sous]

Have you checked that you have a good ground? Is the connection r connector loose? We have had a rash of gauges not reading right on the board lately, and it seems to be the grounds that have been the issue.

Bryan

Good point... ground is always the first place to go when there are wonky electrical/electronic issues.

 

[Desert Oasis]

OK, please educate me a little more, which ground wire are you referring too... Sorry a little new to all this

Thanks

 

[BryanOnTheBay]

There is a ground on the sending unit. If you have a metal tank it will be bonded as well. Make sure that the connection is clean AND that the connector is solidly on the wire.

Bryan

 

[M99]

I had the same problem when I bought my 300DA. Port fuel gauge would read erratically, and sometimes not at all. I went through all the basic tests, tried cross wiring to the gauge to make sure the problem followed the sender, etc. Replaced the sender, checked the grounds, used a Resistor bridge to check the gauge readings at specific resistances. I tested the ground from the fuel tank to the engine and to the Bonding system, and it did seem to be bonded and grounded correctly. I finally ran a second Bonding wire from the fuel tank to the Bonding system, and the problem went away. Apparently the original Bonding wire looked good and tested OK, but did not provide a reliable 0 resistance Bond. I couldn't even find anything wrong with it, but adding a second heavy green Bonding wire solved the problems. Those fuel gauges operate on a 34 to 270 ohm resistance, so a slightly bad bond is enough to throw them all over the place.