Gas Gauge Rises Slowly

[Captain LIS]

Would anyone be kind enough to tell me what to look at first concerning a gas gauge that rises slowly during boat operation. 21' cc hydrasport Something needs to be replaced. Is it at the top of tank where the float is or is it the gauge on the dash? Thanks

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: Gas Gauge Rises Slowly

Does it rise slowly until it gets to the tank level, or does it go all the way to full everytime? Dash gauges are usually pretty bullet proof though anything can fail. Your float could be stuck up. Some gauges are designed to move slowly to help with all the sloshing gas does in a boat.

 

[Captain LIS]

Re: Gas Gauge Rises Slowly

It goes up until it shows actual amount in tank. But not until the RPMs are up and I'm well underway for a few minutes at least.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Gas Gauge Rises Slowly

OK -- so the gas gauge is a little slow in responding. Have you paid similar attention to the "voltmeter". If the system voltage is low, the gauge may not read correctly until the the engine has run awhile and the system voltage rises to normal levels. Engine off/key on the voltmeter should read 12.6 volts. Engine running at 1500 - 2000 rpm the voltage should rise to 13.5 - 14.5 give or take a tad. You may have a battery going bad.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Gas Gauge Rises Slowly

My gas gauge does the opposite . . . it starts out high and then slowly (or sometimes quickly) goes down as I operate the boat.

In your situation, I would suspect that the gauge is becoming faulty and the needle is seizing up. Therefore it takes a while to reach its steady state. Keep in mind that the gauge will show higher as you start out, and the bow rises, etc., forcing the fuel to the rear of the tank.

If you think is is a serious problem, maybe time to get a new gauge.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Gas Gauge Rises Slowly

Fuel gauges only show pass-through voltage from a circuit that includes the gas sender in the tank.

Silvertips's suggestion is therefore a good answer- not just just speculation or "try this, try that."

It *could* be the gauge (needing replacing) but fuel gauge readout is modulated so the needle doesn't rise and fall with every wave the moves the boat and sloshes fuel in the tank. I don't really see a problem with a slowly rising needle, however, if it takes a literal minute or two to rise fully. Although I would l think that a gauge would heat up after powering up more quickly than that...

If there is a problem that is not related to low boat voltage it is likely not the float in the tank as that sender just provides a path to ground- the gauge is what modulates the sloshing so we see a nice average fuel level and not a wildly bouncing needle.