Fuel Tank Issues

[boater4life]

I’ve had a suspicion from day 1 of owning my boat that something was wrong with the fuel system. Our Moomba’s these days use 39 gallon tanks but I’ve never put in anywhere near that even though my fuel gauge has been on empty. The other day I ran out of gas and upon filling up, the tank would only accept 22 gallons. Somehow there is a 17 gallon difference which is almost half a tank of gas! My guess is that my fuel pickup hose must not be located at the bottom of the tank. Has anyone else had a problem like this?

[Beejwest]

Can you pull your floor panels and look at the fuel level? Or open it up and stick the tank to check level? If it's on your '14 Mondo take that crap back to the dealer!

[brownski]

When my outback was new I had a similar issue and the fuel pick-up was too tall. Tank is a complete whore to get to on my model so taking it to the dealer was good solution. I ran out of gas and it still had 10 gallons in it. if under warranty I'd take it in.

[boater4life]

Luckily the tank is extremely easy to get to with the floor being hinged right above it. I can't see the fuel level through the plastic but I'll have to pull the fuel pump this weekend and stick something down in there to measure how much is left. Bringing it to the dealer is probably the best option, just wish they weren't so far away (about 4 hours driving time to drop it off and then pick it back up). I'm guessing the fuel pick-up line extends right off the bottom of the pump correct?

[jstenger]

Just a heads up if you already didn't know, but it has been said before on here that sometimes the tanks are hard to get completely full. The vent is very slow, and the back pressure will cause the gas to come back up the fill tube and shut the pump off. I always get a few gallons more in the tank, after the pump shuts off.

[mmandley]

I don't have any such luck on topping off, all it does is spill on mine.

I also have the same issue filling the boat as the vent doesn't work well and will shut off the pump early if I use any setting other then less then slow on the first click.

I have always just gotten in the habit of filling every time we head out, over time I have learned what to expect when filling so I know when its full or not.

My fuel gauge is pretty decent though as when its on empty when sitting idle and the boat is pretty level the lowest it said was straight on the E and it took 46 gallons to fill. Granted my tank is slightly different but I can see the side of my tank through my V drive access, so I can sneek a peek there when I am really wondering how much is in it.

[gregski]

When I fill up, I run full speed for most of what I know the tank will take and then fill the last few gallons on a slower setting. I put my ear right next to the filler (and try not to huff too much). The sound change is very obvious and easily tells me when to shut the pump off. My dad was with me one time and laughed, he said it was a flash back for him as that's how station attendants used to pump gas before automatic shut-offs were used and it was one skill/task the attendants offered.

[boater4life]

Thanks guys. I'm going to look into the "filling completely full" issue next time I fill up as well. I fill up every time I use the boat so that I won't have to worry about running out of gas. Earlier this week I tried to put the gas in slow at the end but was only able to fit another 1/2 gallon in and the pump clicked off 3 times while doing so. I got sick of trying to fill it slowly. I'll fill it "full" tomorrow and then check the tank to see if it's actually full.

I just find it weird that I'm having either of these problems considering it's 17 gallons of gas that are missing (either not filling full by 17 gallons or the fuel pick-up is above the remaining 17 gallons). If it was 5 gallons I could maybe understand but 17?

[deerfield]

...I run full speed for most of what I know the tank will take and then fill the last few gallons on a slower setting. I put my ear right next to the filler.....

Use this technique with my '07 Outback.

[sandm]

you got the optional 21gallon gastank due to that bigass motor