Fuel Gauge

[ezrider]

Hello all.

My 252S fuel gauge seems to fluctuate quite a bit. One minute it is showing 55% and the next 29%, for example. Yes, it certainly depends on the angle of the boat. I assume the most accurate reading would be when the boat is not moving and is level? When I fill it all the way it does stay on 100% for a while before it starts to decrease from there.

I read in another thread to use the fuel burn meter. This is typically what I monitor. How accurate is this for others? It seems to be fairly accurate from what I can see.

Thank you for your input.

 

[Stan M]

Hello all.

My 252S fuel gauge seems to fluctuate quite a bit. One minute it is showing 55% and the next 29%, for example. Yes, it certainly depends on the angle of the boat. I assume the most accurate reading would be when the boat is not moving and is level? When I fill it all the way it does stay on 100% for a while before it starts to decrease from there.

I read in another thread to use the fuel burn meter. This is typically what I monitor. How accurate is this for others? It seems to be fairly accurate from what I can see.

Thank you for your input.

I have found that my more accurate reading is when on plane, not at no wake speed. The Guage reads higher when on plane. I have seen the same discrepancies as you.

 

[tkeru408]

My 252SE does the same fluctuation and I have also found the more accurate reading is when on plane. An example: prior to my last fill-up I was reading at ~18% not moving but ~39% while on plane. It took ~45 gallons to fill it up; 45/75=0.6, so I had ~40% tank left.

I've just now started keeping track of the fuel burn meter so I can't comment yet on its accuracy, but I'll know more the next time I fill up and I can compare what the fuel burn meter reads to how much it actually takes to fill up.

 

[Skyhawk223]

Use the fuel burn meter instead. The % reading is not accurate when not on plane and is only sort of accurate when on plane. Just remember to reset the meter when you refuel.

 

[Shack]

Great info! I’m as green as they come (4 times out now) and we took the boat out on the way home from picking it up and noticed how much the fuel gauge varied. It was around 30% so was a bit nervous about being out for very long. Would have sucked to run out of gas on maiden voyage!

 

[212s]

Funny how the 25' models are more accurate on plane, while the 21' models are more accurate at rest/no wake. Must have something to do with location of the fuel sensor in the tank. Mine doesn't bounce around much, except when floating or no wake and a large roller comes by from a big cruiser. With small wake waves, it doesn't usually move unless it's at the crux of a % marking.

Over the course of a couple of weekends, I kept an eye on mine to monitor it and it reads 5% higher when on plane cruising (about 3% high when WOT and a bit more level). So when it reads 80% on plane I figure it's actually about 75%, and if I stop, sure enough it drops to 75%. I also monitored fuel refills at various percentages and find the gauge is fairly accurate. If it's reads 50% at the ramp, then when I fill it up it takes about 25 gallons give or take a gallon or so. When it's at 20%, it takes about 40 give or take. That's close enough for casual use. But I also reset the trip info each time we go out for the day to monitor how much I've used, and it's very accurate - if it says I used 22 gallons, I can only put back in 22 gallons to fill it.

 

[UnfixedPyle]

I came across this thread because I was about to ask the same question. My experience has been on my 21' is that it is more accurate on plane and lower number floating, at least above 50%. I.E. completely full and floating right off the trailer it will read 88%. Up on plane will read 98%. I'm not sure I have ever seen 100%. I did my first multi-day trip this weekend with the boat wet slipped and got a little freaked out when I ran it much lower than I ever have on a day trip. I'm still not sure exactly what happened but I was showing 17% floating and 23% at plane as we were headed for the ramp. It normally takes 2-4% to travel back to the boat ramp, but as I was idling around waiting for a spot at the dock to open up the fuel dropped to 1% with the low fuel alarm going off. It settled out to 3% before I got it on the trailer. It took 43 gallons, so I still had 14%. From now on I'll remember to reset the trip meter and watch that reading for the "truth."

This does lead me a bit to another question.... Does anyone know if there is unusable fuel in the tank? If so, how much roughly? I would hate to think "I have 5 gallons left" and try to get back to the trailer only to find out that based on angle in the water and where the fuel pump is it can't actually suck up the last 3 gallons.