Gas gauge stuck?

[Luc Lafreniere]

Hi again @Ron@Scarab , yeah, it's great when you're under warranty but since I was out, I wasn't going to replace the whole fuel pump if I could fix it with this bending trick. A different story if it's under warranty of course...

If the new pumps fix this issue, they must have done something different to the design. Having examined this quite a bit, a new, identical pump would not change anything. In my case, I tried rotating the pump all kinds of ways to see if it would not touch the tank rim, but it did no matter what angle (including the official angle with the arrow).

 

[doxdale]

Took out the fuel pump. Bugger of a job loosening the fuel pump retaining nut without the proper socket (Part number 460820). Used a leather belt, but still difficult. More so tightening it back up. Will have to order that socket if I do it again. The fibreglass edges are super sharp around the opening. Sure enough found the float stuck in the neck of the fuel tank opening. Bent the arm a little as per Luc and popped it back in. Fuel gauge works fine now. Will update if I get it back in the water this year. Thanks Luc!

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Glad you managed it. It's a pain but it can be done without too much difficulty. Hopefully the amount of bending you did does the trick. Just remember that your gauge will now read a little fuller compared to before. Let's just say when I have one bar of fuel left, you are very close to empty. lol Don't ask me how I know...

 

[doxdale]

Copy that, LOL. Thanks again.

 

[doxdale]

Figuring this won't be the last time I have to fix this I enquired on the specific tool (p/n 460820) to remove the retaining nut with a Scarab dealer. $240 CAD!!! So did some research on universal parts. OEMTOOLS 25156 on Amazon, $40 delivered to my door. Should do the trick. Just love what the dealerships think they can charge!!??

 

[Ron@Scarab]

I think somebody misquoted you.

 

[Speedling]

I love that members find and solve issues like this!
Anyone take pictures of this whole setup and the "fix"?
I bet someone else may chime in with something else to help fix as well!

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Yeah, I feel like there needs to be a walkthrough video lol but I don't want to do that again for no reason.... assuming this problem doesn't happen again.

 

[doxdale]

I think somebody misquoted you.

Hi Ron,
Dealership out of Salmon Arm, BC, Canada provided the quote, $240 CAD funds. Curious as to what you would charge out of Florida? That OEM tool I mentioned works fine. I find the after purchase service on these boats is horrible up here in BC. The purchase dealership out of Calgary, "Renfrew Marine" won't even reply to my phone queries after I spoke with the service tech two weeks ago, the Kelowna dealer, "Atlantis Marine" doesn't have the tools to repair the Scarab line, yet they sell them? Sure glad I don't have a bigger problem than the fuel gauge.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Sorry to revive a relatively old thread, but I thought it was worth posting what I just did. So after bending the float rod downwards, it did work relatively well at avoiding getting stuck but was highly inaccurate. Further to that, I had one instance this past summer (2019) where it got stuck again even though I did nothing agressive. It happened in rough waters.

So.... I got bored and decided to tackle this problem with my original idea of some sort of stopper. Cheap to do unless you break the "sensor lever" (aka fuel float) like I did when I took the sender out of the tank. Apparently it's important to pivot the sender in such a way to not put pressure on the float. $130CAD mistake. Anyways, with that being said, I decided to make a video/photos of what I did in case it helps others. But I'm pretty certain this will work.

I do love my 165, but this problem is pretty annoying and odd. Here's the video.

 

[doxdale]

Sorry to revive a relatively old thread, but I thought it was worth posting what I just did. So after bending the float rod downwards, it did work relatively well at avoiding getting stuck but was highly inaccurate. Further to that, I had one instance this past summer (2019) where it got stuck again even though I did nothing agressive. It happened in rough waters.

So.... I got bored and decided to tackle this problem with my original idea of some sort of stopper. Cheap to do unless you break the "sensor lever" (aka fuel float) like I did when I took the sender out of the tank. Apparently it's important to pivot the sender in such a way to not put pressure on the float. $130CAD mistake. Anyways, with that being said, I decided to make a video/photos of what I did in case it helps others. But I'm pretty certain this will work.

I do love my 165, but this problem is pretty annoying and odd. Here's the video.

Great video Luc. Thanks for posting. Doxdale

 

[doxdale]

Great video Luc. Thanks for posting.

 

[bmonson28]

Sorry to revive a relatively old thread, but I thought it was worth posting what I just did. So after bending the float rod downwards, it did work relatively well at avoiding getting stuck but was highly inaccurate. Further to that, I had one instance this past summer (2019) where it got stuck again even though I did nothing agressive. It happened in rough waters.

So.... I got bored and decided to tackle this problem with my original idea of some sort of stopper. Cheap to do unless you break the "sensor lever" (aka fuel float) like I did when I took the sender out of the tank. Apparently it's important to pivot the sender in such a way to not put pressure on the float. $130CAD mistake. Anyways, with that being said, I decided to make a video/photos of what I did in case it helps others. But I'm pretty certain this will work.

I do love my 165, but this problem is pretty annoying and odd. Here's the video.

Hi Luc,
Is there any way you can repost the fuel pump video? I seem to get into it. Thanks.

 

[bmonson28]

Hi Luc,
Is there any way you can repost the fuel pump video? I seem to get into it. Thanks.

I can't seem to get into it.

 

[Dean P]

I can't seem to get into it.

Hi! The video has since been delete or removed by the poster.Sorry...

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

@bmonson28 Hi, yeah, sorry, I still have it but took it down. I was going to repost in the near future.. but since you've asked. I think I may have solved the actual problem. I've had MANY discussions with Scarab owners AND Scarab employees (that work in the actual plant). What became clear is Scarab really needs to clarify this because even the employees don't seem to know how to position the float.

I have since tested this pretty thoroughly and think I've solved it. The trick is to have the float positioned completely towards starboard/right, parallel to the length of the tank. So visually, the electrical connector on the pump MUST BE POINTED DIRECTLY TOWARDS THE STERN. See photo. I see this in capital letters because man it was hard to get this info. If the connector is positioned like in the photo, then the float ends up being perfectly towards starboard. Once this was done, I took a metal clothes hanger and shaped it into a hook. I grabbed the float rod and lifted it up/pushed it down and it never catches the lip of the tank. It appears clear. I see appears because I have yet to put my boat in the water up here in Canada (just about to).

You have to be careful though... positioning the electrical connector like this can be a problem if your float is currently on the port/left side of the boat. You'll need to either take out the fuel pump without breaking anything and then reinsert it in the way I described or you need to make a hook, pull the float in and then rotate the pump so the float clears the tank until it's starboard, then let it go.

If you still want to see the video, I can send you a personal link via private message. I don't want to make the video public since it looks like this is a much better solution. If only Scarab/dealers/etc. knew this and would tell us clearly. I can't believe they haven't clarified this. I've been told to buy a new pump, new float, to "index" it according to the arrow (there's an arrow on the top of the sender that means nothing as I learned from the Scarab employees, nobody knew where it should be pointed... apparently it needs to point at the battery) but the arrow... is it supposed to point forward because you go that way? Point at the stern? etc. nobody knew... lol

Send me a PM if you want it.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

And scratch that. It got stuck today.... no 180s... just a few harder turns. #(*$&@)$(*#$)(!*@#)!@*(!)@#(!@*&(#)! So frustrated. I think I may go back to my stopper McGyvered solution. I give up. If indexing the float in all these orientations doesn't work, replacing the float doesn't work... and talking to dealers and they tell you to replace the fuel sender and can't explain why the new fuel sender would fix this.... And Scarab has no clue why this keeps happening. Ugh.