Replacingthe fuel tank and sender - fuel guage still not working

[Steve S.]

After much deliberation, I decide to replacethe fuel tank.  One of thereasons was that the fuel gauge stopped working and I suspected the sender.   Got the job done yesterday. (not fun)  Filled the tank with about 9 gallons of fuel and turned the key, expecting the fuel gauge to pop up to about 3/8's.  No such luck.  The good news is that the gauge needle at least moved a hair, but that's it.  Now I'm down to to more options. Check the wiring to the gauge, or I have a malfunctioning gauge.  Any advice?

[Gary Ambrose]

Hi Steve,

We just completed a tank cleaning.  It is amazing how dirty it was and we had not a problem with the engine. 

I did notice when cleaning and replacing the sending unit that the float and assembly could get stuck on the tank bottom unless I angled the unit prior to screwing down.  Could it possible that the float is stuck on the bottom (the tank would think itself empty).  If so I think the first few waves encountered shoud free it or you could loosen the tank hold down screws and move the tank around to simulate boat movement.  I am sure you will get replies soon about electrical resistance and the required match to your fuel gauge as well.

[Craig Illman]

My boat's in charter and before I swapped the tank last fall, we went through a few iterations of first replacing the wire from the sender, then the gauge, and then the sender a couple different times after failing. What appeared to finally cure the problem was replacing the ground to the panel from the engine. It was theorized that the panel was finding ground through the sender and the over-current was burning it out.

just another possibility.........


Craig 

[Ron Hill]

Steve : I'm sure that you mounted it so the float has room to swing(facing aft).  You may need to get out your multimeter and check for voltage and continuity.  The ground us usually the problem with fuel senders.  Might be a bad fuel sender - as they're not hi tech items.