Got a 2019 R23 with the Raptor 400 motor. I have been keeping track of the last couple of fuel fill-ups. And my fuel gauge does not appear to be very accurate. Gauge was fluctuating from 0 to 3, after 4.7 hrs of surfing. Used 30.8 gallons of fuel. Tank is 48 gallons, so I still had about 17 gallons of fuel left. So that’s a bit annoying. If gauge was more accurate I would have kept surfing a couple of hours longer, instead I got off the lake in fear of running out of fuel. Getting between 5.5 and 6.5 gallons/hr of fuel consumption when all I’m doing is surfing. Anyone else seeing this? Is there an issue with the gauge? Or is this what I can expect? Anyone else keeping track of hours instead of relying on the fuel gauge?
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Hopefully Koolaid chimes in, but thats become basically an industry standard. Mastercraft will read 0 with 10-15 gallons left as well. Its better than people running out and being dead on the water is the thought....I guess. Have a customer with an R21 with the exact same beef as you. They make some universal senders that you trim to length so that they travel all the way to the bottom of the tank. Ive never tried one to see if the resistance values will cause the screen to read out of whack or not.
The universal float is made by Sea Choice. Will see if I can get a PN later. -
I have the same issue with the z3 and my old 22ve was similar. we can run for hours and gauge never moves then at the end of the day it'll all of a sudden read 1/4 full. go to fill it up and I can only squeeze 25 gallons in it.
just assumed it's the way the boats are and lived with it.2012 22ve.. RIP 4/17
2014 Z3.. Surf awayComment
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1 - Most of the time fuel pump are cooled with fuel, you need fuel to keep them running cool.
2 - With trying to make the gauge read accurate under EVERY possible circumstance, good luck.
Ballast, obviously, will make the level not uniform and the boat will not float at true level.
The sending unit is made to read fuel under a static / leveled condition, alter the static condition and it will no longer read in which it was designed.
Just my thinking here.Comment
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We see the same thing, too. My assumption was pretty well what Freeheel4life said. Better to have people heading back a little early, than running out in a bad situation.
Problem for me is, I’ll ride for a few hours on zero, because I know that, where if I knew it was accurate, I would head back at the right time. I usually bring 10-20 gallons in race cans, for that reason, too. I definitely hate pulling off the water because of fuel.
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All great points. The main thing that Ive seen when digging into it during customer complaints is that the sender doesnt extend to the very bottom of the tank. Empty or 0% is and inch or two off the bottom of the tank. 2" of fuel in a long belly tank is a lot of fuel.Originally posted by 14burrito View PostComment
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Thanks for the input. All good points. That’s pretty much what I figured. My old 2006 Tige 22Ve with an analog gauge was way more accurate. It’s annoying, would prefer a more accurate gauge that doesn’t read empty at 1/3 tank. I can make my own judgement as to when to get off the lake if I had an accurate read. Guess I’ll just have to keep track of engine hours and fuel consumption to estimate fuel level and perhaps invest in a fuel caddy.Comment
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Here is an interesting question. is it just float portion bottoming out even though there is still an inch or two if sure, or is the pickup also not reaching the bottom of the tank also? In this case 0 means 0 as no more fuel gets picked up.Originally posted by freeheel4life View PostMikes Liquid Audio: Knowledge Experience Customer Service you can trust-KICKER WetSounds ACME props FlyHigh Custom Ballast Clarion LiquidLumens LEDs Roswell Wave Deflector And MoreComment
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^^^You’re certainly going to get some slosh problems at that point. Is there a sump in the new tanks tanks? I’d love to see a technical drawing of it. My old one had one tiny little sump. It wasn’t hard to run it dry at 1/4 tank while listed for surfing.You'll get your chance, smart guy.Comment
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Are you looking while the boat is just floating around or underway on plane? My previous boat was more accurate while on plane, but I haven’t been much below 50% fuel yet on my R23. I’m assuming if you are reading 3 while floating that you would reading something higher while on plane as the bow is pitched up and fuel will travel downhill to back of tank.Originally posted by Jabberwocky View Post
Freewheel4life, is the sender at same location as the fuel pump?
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I will try and snap some pics tomorrow. Have an 18 Z3 in my bay that I'm wrapping up tomorrow morning so can use it as a 19 R23 still has the same tank. The fuel pumps have two springs that push the pickups to the bottom of the tanks. Theres some molded plastic bits that keep the (pre) filters from getting pushed tight to the bottom of the tank. Only know this because I've seen them break an had the pickups get pressed tight to the bottom of the tank and FP fuse would blow(assuming as the vacuum got higher and higher the amp draw went up, would be a better question for IDboating probably)
The pumps are located to the rear of the tank. So bow high will put the pickup in the most fuel.
The sender is forward of the pump(s). The sender isnt a float on a pendulum like older boats. It's a long tube that goes horizontal and the float "bobs" up and down on the tube causing resistance changes. From what I've noticed the bottom of the sender doesnt sit flush to the bottom of the tank so when it bottoms out in its travel theres still fuel in the tank.
Pictures will make my late night jibberish seem a lot more coherent.Last edited by freeheel4life; 06-25-2019, 06:33 AM.Comment
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I’m reading the fuel level while stationary without ballast tanks filled. Granted I have 500 lbs of lead in the back but that only drops the boat slightly. I had the same issue without the lead bags.Comment
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Forgot to take a pic of the tank. But heres a pump. As you can see there's actually 2 inside of the pump. Pickup if forced onto bottom of the tank.
I forgot to snag a pic of the tank but on R series it's super easy to just lift the floor. You will see pump at the back of the tank and sender uphill. 2 wires, pink and black.
Some super quick rough measurements on this boat told me the float travel is 145mm and distance to the bottom of the tank is 170mm so that leaves a 25mm gap of fuel(a hair short of an inch.
Dont know why it's like that, but as stated earlier, other brands are the exact same story. Maybe it's an ABYC/NMMA/USCG standard....Comment
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My fuel gauges on my 2006 Malibu, 2015 Nautique, 2016 Nautique and 2019 Malibu have all been very accurate, assuming 10% is left in the tank when the tank gets to 0%. I don't remember on my 2006 MC, but I remember it with Malibu because I was so happy to finally have a boat with an accurate fuel gauge when I got the 2006 Malibu.
With all of the above boats, I could predict within 10% how much gas I needed to fill it full. I have been lucky enough to never run any of those boats out of fuel, and think that there is 10% left just based on the fact that the tank was supposed to be X gallons, and when I got to 0%, I put in .9X gas. My calculations assume that when Nautique says the G23 tank is 65 gallons, it really is 65 gallons, which I can't guarantee since I never ran it completely dry. Either way, planning on 59 gallons to reach empty worked for me every time, and about 30 gallons always got me from 50% to full, etc.
Accuracy to this level has existed at least since 2006, if Tige's gauges are still that bad, they need to upgrade them.Be excellent to one another.Comment
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I bet the gauge and sender work great together. Like Paden said, the sender doesn’t match the tank. I have the same thing on my rzx.Comment
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