Inaccurate fuel gauge?

I've had my boat a whole 4 days now and I've noticed my fuel gauge is off. First day I started with 3/4 full tank ran it down to about 1/4 tank. Filled up from 1/4 tank and took 24.xx gallons. Today I took the boat out for several hours just cruising, not pulling yet, and was cruising at 30mph when I noticed I was just below 1/4. Found a cove to chill for a bit and when idling in the fuel gauge is basically on "E" (3 of us in the boat, no ballast filled). Went to the gas station to fill up and only took 25.xx gallons to fill up. This doesn't make sense. To be on "E" and to full it only took 25.xx gallons in a 40 gallon tank. That's basically a 15 gallon error. I would assume you should trust your fuel gauge with the boat still or idling w/no wake.

It does make sense when you read the other posts on the subject. You learn not to trust your gas gauge but learn from what you have been doing and interpret inaccurate data to know how much gas is remaining. When in doubt, fill the tank with the amount of gas you expect to burn and I base mine on 5 gallons per hour and a good afternoon I will burn around 10 gallons. Reading inaccurate gas guages isn't rocket science but interpreting an inaccurate guage is.

My 06 LSV fuel gauge is not accurate but it is repeatable. I've learned how to read/judge it.

When mine gets down to 1/4 of tank on the gauge I still have nearly a 1/2 tank left.

Its that way through out the entire scale. Mine never drops to E and back to what ever...........Its pretty consistent.

$40k+ boats and they can't get a gauge to work properly?

well, i have seen other much more expensive boats with equally inaccurate gauges.

i go by the hour meter, usually 5gph

I believe They put the float slightly higher so nobody gets stranded.:confused:

https://forum.moomba.com/showthread....=gauge+reading

I like the 5GPH rule

The reason for the fuel gauge being off is because fuel moves around a lot in a boat tank. It is not like a car where you hit a few bumps now and again. I have noticed that when i get to E i have about 10 gal in the tank. I try to never hit E so i know for a face i have enough Gas to get back to the dock. Like everyone else the 5GPH is good to go off unless you are pulling tubes. With tubes it is a 10 GPH. Ok not that bad but close.

Just floated my new Outback 2010. Great weekend, but the fuel gauge read empty when the 28 gallon tank still had 10 gallons in it. I am not yet sure why it does this. My Glastron I just sold had a reliable fuel gauge for a 24 gallon tank. I cannot imagine that Moomba designed them this way to prevent us from running out of fuel. (Can you imagine your car reading this inaccurately?) I also do not believe this is by design because of sloshing around in the tank; my old boat was accurate, and my Outback reads empty (with 10gallons in tank) even when sitting at the dock. This must be a flaw of some sort. Those of you with a 2010 Outback, what has your experience been: accurate or inaccurate fuel gauges? If yours is inaccurate, have you made any progress with the diagnosis?

I hate it too. My XLV holds 40gal and the gauge will say 1/4 but when I fill up it only takes 20-22gal so that means my tank was only 1/2. Hell, my gas golf cart fuel gauge is more accurate.

it'd be nice of somebody from SC chimed in on this issue! Anybody?

FWIW this is a common topic on the Malibu forums and they have a DIY FAQ on how to replace the sensor with a much more accurate one.

I have the luxury of nearly always using about 1/2 a tank and there's no fuel station on our normal lake, so I just fill up after every day, because I wouldn't dare start a day on half a tank. *shrug*

Forget it, there isn't a boat fuel gauge in existence for tournement boats thats accurate. I know many people with different brands and they are all alike. Just learn your gauge is all. I know that when mine hits 1/4 tank on an average day i have about 15 gallons.

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Originally Posted by Razzman

Forget it, there isn't a boat fuel gauge in existence for tournement boats thats accurate. I know many people with different brands and they are all alike. Just learn your gauge is all. I know that when mine hits 1/4 tank on an average day i have about 15 gallons.

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+1 Razzman

I am with you. Mine is either full or empty, according to the guage, never bother looking at it and have been been with fools who I have given gas money to and then run out of gas on the river left to the mercy of the current. Will never put my boat in the water without filling the tank.

when its FULL only reads to 1/2 tank. doesnt even move until tanks gets less than 1/2. any ideas on this?

You could have an issue with the floater in the gas tank is stuck and will not float past the 1/2 tank mark. This is just a guess.