Gasoline issue or something else?

[Christian]

I bought a Sundancer 34-2006 two weeks ago, and something happened to me and I wanted to know if anyone has any idea about that. Each of tanks had 1/4 of gasoline, the boat turned ON perfect, but then after 10 minutes navigating both engines were turned off. I had to return on a tow to the house. The interesting thing is that they did not want to tunr ON but after putting the full tanks of gasoline the two turned on perfectly. Anyone ever happened something similar?

 

[Michael Mirra]

I bought a Sundancer 34-2006 two weeks ago, and something happened to me and I wanted to know if anyone has any idea about that. Each of tanks had 1/4 of gasoline, the boat turned ON perfect, but then after 10 minutes navigating both engines were turned off. I had to return on a tow to the house. The interesting thing is that they did not want to tunr ON but after putting the full tanks of gasoline the two turned on perfectly. Anyone ever happened something similar?

You probably ran out of gas. The gas gauges are at times, very inaccurate. This happened to me twice when I first bought my boat. I added fuel flow sensors and ignore the fuel gauges. It seems the gauges get less accurate every year since I got the boat. The fuel flow sensors are always spot on

 

[Steve S]

How much fuel did you put in to get full tanks?

 

[Christian]

Hi, that’s the thing.. I have added 75 galons each tank until overflowed, it means thanks were actually having 1/4..

 

[Christian]

Each tank is about 110 gallons as per spects

 

[Steve S]

Also check what is “usable”... tanks may hold 110 but you cannot use 110.

 

[Christian]

Yes, you hit the point.. how much can we actually use from those 110 gallos?

 

[Christian]

I wanted to know if someone had had this type of failure when he had 1/4 of a tank in a 34-foot seaRay 2006 ... Could this be a tank design issue?

 

[Christian]

It is possible that this type of boat, stop taking gasoline from the tank when you have left 1/4? This is getting me crazy..

 

[yv1]

I have a 2004 340. Tanks have been lower than 1/4 several times with no problems. They've been so low to the point that the low fuel alarm on the smartcraft went off. My two gauges are very accurate. You have a problem for sure. That's not normal.

 

[scoflaw]

It is possible that this type of boat, stop taking gasoline from the tank when you have left 1/4? This is getting me crazy..

The smartcraft fuel gauge is programable.

 

[Christian]

I have a 2004 340. Tanks have been lower than 1/4 several times with no problems. They've been so low to the point that the low fuel alarm on the smartcraft went off. My two gauges are very accurate. You have a problem for sure. That's not normal.

I think so.. but both engines off at the same time ?? Thats wierd.

 

[Delta Ron]

Fuel flow gauges? I need to look into that. But first thought, would be "flow". Wouldn't those just show how much you are consuming, not the level in the tank(s)?

 

[yv1]

I think so.. but both engines off at the same time ?? Thats wierd.

If both engines shut off at the exact same time you have to look for something that's shared by both engines. The fuel system, electric system and DME are separate. Each engine has their own separate system. The chances of having the same fault at the same time on both engines is very low. The only system both engines share is the Smartcraft network. It is a CAN network like modern cars have. You should scan your engines and look for the same fault code on both engines.
The other system that might shut both engines is the fire suppressing system. You should look at that too.

 

[LG111]

Okay, back to basics here. 1/4 tank and out of gas. First there will always be about 10% capacity left in the tank and your out of gas. But more is in the tank and you run out of gas, then the tubes in the tank need to be inspected. In some cases they are not long enough to reach a 1/4" from the bottom. Or they have been bent some how now a few inches from the bottom or they are broken.

Good example of broken is a straw. Get a crack in the straw, all you get is air even though it's in the drink.

That's where I'd start.