Fuel Gage
 

I found out this past weekend (fortnuately not the hard way) that my gas gage isn't working. I checked for a blown fuse and all seems fine. Other gages are working fine.

Any suggestions??

I even tried a few good whacks with my hand...

Now with you mention that you found out the hard way I am going to think that your gauge is registering that you have gas when she is dry as a bone.... which means that something has definitely gotten messed up....Did you fill the tank after the mis-hap? If so did the gauge register something new? Or did it stay back at the same old spot.....

My guess is something is wrong down at the sending unit... Do you know how to access it on your vessel?

Diagnostic Test
 

Hello Upnorth,

You didn't give the year and make of your boat. If you have a three wire tank sending unit, signal return, ground, and tank ground, remove the positive (signal return) feed wire and turn the ignition key to ON and note where the needle is. It should be pegged past empty or past full.

With the ignition key still ON, ground the signal return wire and look at the gauge. The needle should be pointing opposite of where it was when you had the wire simply removed but NOT grounded. If the gauge works like what's described in the test, that usually indicates that the wiring from the fuel tank sending unit up to the gauge and the gauge itself is okay. You then will be dealing with a faulty fuel tank sending unit.

If the boat is fuel injected and / or you see more than three wires on the fuel tank sending unit, consult a wiring diagram for your application BEFORE removing or grounding any wires. Essentially, you want to remove and then ground ONLY the wire that provides signal return to the gauge.

Thanks
 

Right -- adding fuel doesn't change the reading. My boat is a 2005 Four Winns Horizon 200. I'll check the wiring diagram and try to diagnose the problem.

Rather than replace your gauge or sender, take the opportunity to replace the gauge with a fuel flow meter that can be programmed with your fuel tank size. It'll be vastly more accurate and you'll have all kinds of other cool data at your finger tips.

I LOVE the Lowrance LMF200 I put in my boat three years ago. The gas gauge function has proven to be better than 99% accurate and now I know when I'm cruising with best effeciency too. Because it has an NMEA2000 bus, it was extremely easy to install. I paid around $200 for the gauge, fuel flow sensor and paddle wheel speed sensor.

Hummm interesting my uncle has the same boat and had the same problem... He of course just brought it back to the Marina last year and they fixed it... However I will see if he knows what they did....

As this seems to be perhaps a common occurance with this vintage of Four Winns I would suggest giving the Factory a call... Chance are if this has happened twice, its happened enough times for them to have a tech note out on it.....

Checked with my Uncle this weekend, he still hasn't had the issue fixed on his boat... doesn't feel like he uses it enough to worry I guess... he just keeps it full of fuel...

Never the less I would check with the Factory, I have talked to them about a few issues, and they are always very helpful....