Fuel Gaggue Pinned at 7/8, Help!

[ShellBack101]

Hi all,

i have a 1996 25 ft Crest pontoon with a 20 gallon onboard poly fuel tank, My question is that since I have owned the boat (2nd owner) the fuel gage does not wirk it is pinned at 7/8 of a tank. I am taking the boat out this weekend for cleaning other minor fixes, and want to attack the fuel gage. Where should I start ? And does anyone have any idea of what type of sending unit is in that particular boat / tank?

 

[ShellBack101]

Re: Fuel Gaggue Pinned at 7/8, Help!

Thank you SilverTip, that was exactly what I was looking for

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Fuel Gaggue Pinned at 7/8, Help!

The simple checks include the back of the gauge. There are four terminals. Light, sender, ground, and +12V. Fuel gauges tend to float (stop anywhere on the dial) when the key is turned off. Start by making sure 12V is present in the key-ON position. If not, fix it. Make sure the ground is good and the sensor wire is tight. If this doesn't fix it, remove the sender wire and measure the resistance between it and the ground terminal on the gauge. It should read somewhere between 30 and 240 ohms depending on how much fuel is in the tank. If you get no reading, either the sender wire is bad, the connection to the sender is bad, the sender is not grounded, or the sender itself is bad. To check the sender, remove it. Move the float arm through its range while measuring the resistance. It should read 30 - 240 ohms. If not, its toast.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Fuel Gaggue Pinned at 7/8, Help!

Shellback, It is posible for the sender float to stick due to rust of debris. This of course would give you the readings you have.

 

[swist]

Re: Fuel Gaggue Pinned at 7/8, Help!

Fuel tank senders are notoriously unreliable at best, too much bouncing around, they get hung up easily, and beat up easily.