Fuel TAnk Gauge Inaccurate

donaldm241

[size=3]Just bought a new Sundeck 217 in May and have found the panel installed fuel gauge is very inaccurate. It reads 3/4 full floating in the water at no speed and the same at full speed in calm water, but the tank is down at least 20gal of gas. Yesterday it read 3/4 full and took 41 gal to top the tank (full tank = 51gal). After fill up the fuel gauge indicated "full". I have taken it to the local dealer and he pulled the tank sender and found it operating OK. Dealer says that inaccurate fuel gauge is the nature of all boats. I refuse to believe that Hurricane design is so faulty that a fuel tank gauge is useless[/size]
[size=3]Anyone have some ideas? As of now I depend on run hours to determine when gas is needed (e.g. 3 gal per hr is my average for my 150 Yamaha outboard)[/size]

 

nquirk

Dealer says that inaccurate fuel gauge is the nature of all boats.

This statement is more accurate than your fuel gauge and unfortunately is very true.  With my new Hurricane, I didn't even have it hooked up.  I purchased an electronic control for my engine (mercury) and it has been calibrated to my tank to know how much is in it.  Then it can fairly accurately tell me remaining distance estimation based on how much fuel has been consumed (newer engines do this and track it, the controls just read it from the onboard electronics) and warns me when I'm getting close to low fuel (of course it tells me I've consumed 35 of my 45 gallons as well)


If your Yammie does that, go that route.  Not cheap, but very accurate.

j-aman@hotmail.com

 I have a similiar problem and the dealer took the sender unit out twice and then replaced it, still the same wrote me off said my warranty expired. I called Terry Gipson and explained to no avail. Maybe we need to get some kind of petition going for a RECALL.

j-aman@hotmail.com

  Terry Gipson told me there was no body else having trouble with this fuel sender unit,she is lieing. This is a serious problem going out and getting stranded

j-aman@hotmail.com

 I have same problem we need to get a recall activiated, this is total disregard for our safety.

j-aman@hotmail.com

 There needs to be a recall on the fuel sender units are not working properly

j-aman@hotmail.com

 Need to have recall on fuel sender units on Hurricane boats

Ernest_T

Fuel gauge inaccuracies are not uncommon on boats due to the shape of the tanks required to fit in hull. For an explanation about what may be happening look at the 4th post in this thread: [link]http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=576521[/link] Replacing the sender will not fix the problem because there is no problems with the sending unit. The problem is with the shape of the tank and how most senders measure the fuel level. The solution is a fuel flow meter. If you have a Yamaha outboard you can get one of their Command Link Gauges that use fuel flow data that is stored in the ECU of the engine. A cheaper route may be an aftermarket fuel flow meter, but reviews of these systems has been varied.