prairie chicken

Hello -

I have a new to me 04 Baja Outlaw 20. Love the boat but the fuel gauge is always pegged on "full".

went thru the standard checks - cleaned connections, wires look good, grounded the sending unit (stays on full), disconnect the sending wire (goes to empty), ran ground straight to battery (still on full). With the sending unit out of the tank and wired up - I move the arm and the gauge reads correctly. Put back in the tank and it pegs on Full again. Tank currently has about 5/8 of fuel.

I thought that unit was independent of anything else on the tank - not sure what could be causing that. Has anyone heard of something like this?

mike tkach

iTrader: (3)

i don,t have the answer but welcome aboard.lots of smart guys on here so someone will have helpful information.

prairie chicken

thanks Mike - i'm a first time boat owner and have had a great summer so far. I'm no stranger to working on things but this one has me stumped.

SB

iTrader: (1)

If you are convinced it’s not tge sending unit nor ground, did you see if the float ir arm is getting stuck against anything like the wall if the tank ?

F-2 Speedy

iTrader: (6)

i think the sending unit is grounding out causing the gauge to peg, is there a gasket installed

SB

iTrader: (1)

How come the OP is the only one lucky enough to always have a full tank without refueling ?

prairie chicken

lol SB... until it stops running. I did turn it around about 30 degrees each way and didn't feel any obstruction. the unit is at the rear of the tank with the arm pointing forward.

I agree Speedy - just no clue what it could be... it has a gasket and is in decent shape. A previous owner seemed to have cross threaded one of the mounting bolts and broke it off. Currently it is sitting just high enough to poke thru the mounting hole on the sender. Not sure if that would do anything but I left it as is. I've got it in the driveway this week will take a closer look at that over lunch.

F-2 Speedy

iTrader: (6)

Id figure you from KS with a handle like that, lol... haven't been chicken hunting is years.....welcome to the board

prairie chicken

lol yep - not many people in IL can relate.... Many years ago I stomped all over the plains playing baseball - went to school in Kearney, NE.

prairie chicken

Update -

I broke down and got a sender, it was cheap. I hate throwing parts at things but figured I'd give it a try. I also was able to get that broken fastener out.

Tested new sender and it did work out of the tank. put the arm in the tank enough that i could move it and it did move with the readings - IMO it read a little high on the gauge but I went ahead and installed (used the new screws with the sender that were shorter - somehow I was able to get the 5th one started and tight).

Progress - it is reading 7/8. The gas level is above 6" out of 10" depth at the sender opening. he boat is sitting with a little slope forward in the driveway so with more gas towards the front of the tank it should read a little high with the arm swinging forward.

Fixed? time till tell. I know i have more than 30 gal of fuel in there so am going to run it a while and monitor.

thanks...