HisDoghouse
10-15-2007, 09:33 AM
A little history about my fuel gauge problems. I bought my boat new (I’m the first owner of a prior model year boat 2004 bought in 2006) from a local Luhrs dealer.
I identified the fuel gauge problem to my dealer during my first year of ownership of the boat. The symptom was that the gauge would indicate fuel from full to about ¾ of a tank, and then would drop off to where it was showing empty. My dealer obtained and installed a new sender in the tank, which worked for a while, and then the gauge went into the mode where it was showing full all the time. My dealer then obtained and gave to me another sender which I installed in the tank myself.
This new sender is showing (what I believe to be) an accurate indication of the tank’s fuel level. Right now, the gauge is reading just under half a tank. My problem is that throughout my offshore trip this past Saturday, as the fuel burned down, there would be periods of time where the gauge would show a reading (not necessarily correct due to bow-up attitude), and would then fluctuate and drop to empty. After a while (sometimes only a few minutes, other times much longer), the gauge would come back to life and indicate a level again.
These problems appear to only show up when the tank is less than ¾ full, and are not consistent. What I mean is that there is nothing that would indicate why it would start to drop off. Prior to the gauge falling to empty, the needle begins to fluctuate, and then it drops to nothing. Any idea what could be causing this problem? Any tips where I can look first?
I have not notified my dealer about this latest issue as it was observed just this past weekend, and I don’t know if it is something that would be covered under warranty. It is (in my opinion) a continuation of a problem that has existed since I bought the boat. I’d like the opinion of Luhrs management on whether this should (or would) be a covered warranty item.
BTW, the boat ran great out and back. No tuna, mahi, or wahoo, but we did get meat in the box deep dropping for black sea bass and blueline tilefish in 50 fathoms. Can’t wait for the water to cool off a bit more up north to drive the tuna our way.
Joe
I identified the fuel gauge problem to my dealer during my first year of ownership of the boat. The symptom was that the gauge would indicate fuel from full to about ¾ of a tank, and then would drop off to where it was showing empty. My dealer obtained and installed a new sender in the tank, which worked for a while, and then the gauge went into the mode where it was showing full all the time. My dealer then obtained and gave to me another sender which I installed in the tank myself.
This new sender is showing (what I believe to be) an accurate indication of the tank’s fuel level. Right now, the gauge is reading just under half a tank. My problem is that throughout my offshore trip this past Saturday, as the fuel burned down, there would be periods of time where the gauge would show a reading (not necessarily correct due to bow-up attitude), and would then fluctuate and drop to empty. After a while (sometimes only a few minutes, other times much longer), the gauge would come back to life and indicate a level again.
These problems appear to only show up when the tank is less than ¾ full, and are not consistent. What I mean is that there is nothing that would indicate why it would start to drop off. Prior to the gauge falling to empty, the needle begins to fluctuate, and then it drops to nothing. Any idea what could be causing this problem? Any tips where I can look first?
I have not notified my dealer about this latest issue as it was observed just this past weekend, and I don’t know if it is something that would be covered under warranty. It is (in my opinion) a continuation of a problem that has existed since I bought the boat. I’d like the opinion of Luhrs management on whether this should (or would) be a covered warranty item.
BTW, the boat ran great out and back. No tuna, mahi, or wahoo, but we did get meat in the box deep dropping for black sea bass and blueline tilefish in 50 fathoms. Can’t wait for the water to cool off a bit more up north to drive the tuna our way.
Joe