The fuel gauge on our boat reads 3/4 when it is full (I almost found out the hard way 
). Is the problem with the sensor or the gauge? Google mirror came up with a link to Rochester Gauges. Is that a good replacement if needed?
Ed
My understanding is that the gauge measures resistance, so if it is somewhat working but reading low the first thing I would try is to remove and throughly clean the wire end contacts at the gauge. I use Emory cloth but thatās old school - there may be something better.
Jon
I have never had a lot of faith in fuel gauges. I like to be able to physically check by sight glass, dip, or similar āanalogā method. To that end I substituted a tee for the elbow on my vent fitting and marked my tank side in 20 litre intervals. (As I fuel with Jerry cans,20 litres works.) Now I can dip the tank and positively know how many cans I can safely add.
Your sail number is close to mine so your fuel tank setup is likely similar to mine. Itās an easy add on that will ease your anxiety level.
I like both of those suggestions. Cleaning up the connections is certainly easy enough to do and the dip stick is a great way to confirm the fuel level if in doubt.
Thanks for the suggestions.
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I found if I just pump fuel like at the gas station it will burp up and make a mess at 3/4 of tank as you described. Now I just slowly nurse it near 3/4 until it is halfway to full. Iām guessing its some sort of limitation with the tank vent. Anyway, I can get so much distance with 3/4+ of a tank that it is no inconvenience.
George Berntsen
Wave Dancer NS30U #283
Black Rock harbor, CT
I replaced both my fuel gauge and the tank sender unit last year. I found that if I tapped the old gauge it would jump up by about 1/8-1/4 tank. I also understand that most fuel tanks have baffles in them, so when you first add fuel it may not be distributed evenly in the tank and may give inaccurate readings, at least until the boat has some motion.
I replaced the gauge and sender when my tank was fairly low, about 30 litres. I sucked out all of the fuel into 2 jerry cans. I had previously installed fitting for dipstick similar to the one in PaulMās post/photo. After installing new gauge, I added fuel 5 litres at a time, and made notes of the readings on both the dip stick and the gauge. I continued this process until tank was completely full. My boat has a newer (2020) fuel tank that is a bit smaller than the old one, I figure it holds 110 litres. When I really want it topped up full, I fill it to 100 litres.
Cheers,
Don
ā87 NS30U #369 - Breezinā
Vancouver, BC
Check your vent for spiders, mason bees, etc. That shouldnāt happen.