Barryama1124

Hi all,

I have an issue with my fuel gages in that the left one shows only half full when full however it does begin to drop when the tank reaches half and the right gage stays on full until that tanks hits half.

I just want both gages to work properly. Is it costly to change the sensors and or time consuming?

Thanks a million

Barry

HyFive578

iTrader: (3)

The fuel gauges in the 38 never really read properly when the boat is in the water because the sensors are located very far back on the tank and when the boat is sitting in the water, the fuel is sitting back as well. I replaced both of my fuel senders with Livorsi autocalibrating senders and its a piece of cake but you need to know how deep your tanks are. Even with the new senders, the tanks read full until I'm down to half tanks and then they're off by a least a quarter to half a tank, ie: when my gauges starting readin 3/4, I know I'm somewhere around 1/2 full. To change them, you have to do the following:

The senders are located under the round hatches beneath the bench seat. WHen the tanks are no more than half full, you need to remove one of the senders so you can measure the tank depth. Then its just moving the wires to the new sender and screwing it back in. The 5 screws only line up one way.

A few things to keep in mind. Turn off your batteries before you attempt to remove the old sender. You do not want the possibility of generating a spark when you've got fuel vapors escaping from the open fuel tank. When you replace the sender, make sure the gasket lines up evenly and do not overtighten the screws. Tighten enough to make a tight seal on the gasket but no so tight that you crush it; that can cause fuel leaks.

Barryama1124

HiFive,

Thanks for the detailed response! Its hilarious that the gages can be so inaccurate on a machine like this lol. I had to laugh when reading your response but get it lol its a guessing game even with working gages! Maybe I'll use a dip stick lol.

Ok I'll take a look today under the bench because I don't recall seeing round hatches but then again I never really looked for them.

I'll keep you posted but do appreciate your detailed response and hope those hatches are there on my model. I doubt theres was a change to this from 04 to 05. Since my left tank reads full until half then starts to move, perhaps its not necessary to even change it because when it gets near empty, the light does come on. Not sure how much fuel is left when the light comes on but since it works and I went a ways to find fuel without running out, maybe best to just live with it!

What do you think? I'll have a look and maybe just play with the existing to see it it changes anything but it sounds like I might experience the same problem even if I replace them!

Have a super day!
Regards
Barry

HyFive578

iTrader: (3)

Its not just Fountains, fuel gauges in boats are notorious flaky and inaccurate because the boat is rarely level when it's in the water. With the new senders, my fuel gauges are actually accurate when the boat is out of the water and on the rack and I also get more accurate readings when the boat is on plane but when it's sitting at the dock, they almost always read full unless I'm really low. I can't tell you how to spend your money but it's about $150 for both senders and chances are on a 2004 Fountain, those senders are close to shot. With the new senders, it's not accurate, but they are consistently wrong...LOL

Personally, I've found the best way to really know how much fuel I have is to track my consumption after a few fillups and compare that to the number of hours I've logged on the hour meter.

Barryama1124

Not sure if your received my response from my iphone but I hve to say that I busted out laughing when I read your comment on new gages being consistnely wrong lol. That was good! I contemplating the use of a dipstick LOL

Thanks a again for you input, its much appreciated and oh yes....thanks for the laugh!

Have a super day!
Barry

HyFive578

iTrader: (3)

I know, I felt kinda funny saying it but its true. The gauges do not accurately reflect what's in the tanks but they are consistently off by the same amount so in a way, they are working. I know that when I see 3/4 full, I'm somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 full. 1/2 on the gauge means get to the gas dock.. My gauges currently read 1/2 full right now and the boat is on the rack. Based on my hours since my last fill up, that's about right.