Gasoline gauge

[Whazzup]

2018 Fisherman 216. Then other day gas gauge pinned at full and I know I had about 40 gallons. Today registering a more reasonable 45 gallons. At first I thought It was just being up on plane but even after I parked it registered full. I opened the gas cap at some point thinking maybe pressure from heat. Again it’s better now. Do I have a problem? Thanks

 

[loubeer]

Probably a sticky float on he sending unit - hopefully frees up with use. Time will tell.....

 

[Whazzup]

Gotcha. Spoke to dealer he said same. Not to worry. He said best way to monitor fuel is fuel burn so reset after fill up.

 

[wspitler]

Most modern senders tend not to stick, but an open or shorted wire to the sender is more likely and can cause the gauge to peg either full or empty.

 

[seasick]

Most modern senders tend not to stick, but an open or shorted wire to the sender is more likely and can cause the gauge to peg either full or empty.

To test if this is the case, next time the gauge reads full and you think it shouldn't, pop the rear access cover where the tank sender is and disconnect the pink wire. Your gauge should then read zero (after a few seconds).

 

[SkunkBoat]

"parked" implies that you are on a trailer. The level of fuel will vary depending on how the boat is sitting.

 

[Whazzup]

"parked" implies that you are on a trailer. The level of fuel will vary depending on how the boat is sitting.

Parked meaning wet slipped. Sorry for confusion. I do see variation depending on angle of hull which I expect. I don’t go far so I no longer fill the tank and keep it around half capacity. I had just added 30’gallons to what I thought was 10 so I was clearly only half full

thanks for all the replies

 

[seasick]

Has this gauge always acted the same or is this something new. These gauges are notoriously inaccurate mostly due to the angle of the hull and the height of the sender off of the tank bottom. Depending on hull angle as when getting on plane to flat at sea, the number of bars displayed can differ by 3, sometimes 4 bars. So 2 bars at rest could read 5 or 6 bars getting on plane.
In addition, a one bar display has a different meaning that one flashing bar. I can't say what no bars mean since I have never seen that in 15 years. My tank is the same capacity as yours. My questions is " How did you determine that you had 40 gallons in the tank?

Note also that if you have extra passengers on deck and perhaps sitting aft, you will read a higher level that you really have. If you have passengers sitting forward, you will read less gas that you really have.