Fuel Gauge Problem

[elad9000]

Recently my 28 TE fuel gauge is pegged at full even though I know I only have about half a tank full. Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot this problem? Where is the fuel level sender located?

[Russell]

You can see the wires going to the sender unit on top of the fuel tank. On my engine box model they can be seen just by lifting the box up. I am not sure if an open circuit reads full or empty but if a wire came off it would be an easy fix. If not you can remove and inspect the sender. Maybe someone with more knowledge of the sending units can post what to look for with a VOM.

[Mariner]

It aint cheap, but it's the most accurate fuel gauge out there:

http://www.thetanktender.com/

[RobS]

elad,

What year is your boat? Do you know if you have 3 wires going to the sender? The sender should be located under the deck panel in front of the transom, about mid-beam:





The sender by Centroid is a 3 wire electronic sender, not a standard float type sender. I’ll assume this is what you have. This sender is simply a probe consisting of a small aluminum tube inside a larger aluminum tube and small insulators separate the two tubes. There are no moving parts. The capacitance changes as the fuel level rises and this reading is converted to a signal readable by the fuel gauge. When I bought TOY_RIFIC last year the gauge was not accurate enough for my liking. I had topped off the tank and it read just better than ¾ so over the winter I replaced the sender. I could have re-calibrated it but since it was 7 years old and I had the deck off I chose to replace it and calibrate it myself. It’s now amazingly accurate.

The 3 wires to the sender are POS, NEG & SEND which are self-explanatory.

If the fuel gauge is pegged full when powered up it could be:
1. Water in the fuel tank
2. Send wire is touching NEG terminal or wiring
3. Center tube in sender is touching outside tube

Hope this helps.