Fuel Gauge

[whitlock87]

Yes I average just under 5 gallons an hour. (It has always been this way)


If you put the filter before the fuel pump, it will not affect the quantity of fuel going to the engine.
The fuel pump has a built in return system in it, a large percentage of the fuel is circulated between the inlet and return. Just make sure the change you filter every time you change the water separator.
Also if you do not have a prefilter before the transducer, you take a risk of having it go bad.
(Small pieces of junk can plug or break the paddle wheel in the transducer)

David

[Tip]

There is a factory fuel filter in the line before my transducer so hopefully that should keep my transducer from getting clogged.

If the Marine Power engine produces more power (340 vs 315) on less fuel (5GPH vs 7GPH) it's a no brainer, I'm going with the Marine Power engine next time. 2GPH does not sound like a lot but that's a 20% difference in fuel economy.

[whitlock87]

If you got a factor filter before, then I would not do anything!
On the marine power system, the factory filter is part of the fuel pump assembly. so you can put the traducer after the filter.

As far as the engine goes, I would like to take the credit but cannot.
I got my boat from Tige Water sports, and this is the engine that they order for their boats (unless otherwise requested)

Now my boat is 20’ and yours is 22’ so not sure how much that will play in the GPH

I found a site called BOATTEST.COM
it looks like you will lose 1 gph for the extra 2 feet.

They show the 20 as 4.6 and 22ve as just under 6 ( at 21mph)

[Paublo]

whitlock- Your two posts seem to contridict each other. The Marine Power engine does have the fuel filter as part of the fuel pump assembly. But you can't install the flow meter after the factory filter because there is fuel being recirculated to the pump. On the Marine Power engines you should install the meter before the factory filter and pump and add a filter before the meter- as you pointed out in your first post.

[whitlock87]

Paublo
You misunderstand my post.
On Tip’s engine he has his transducer after the filter. (This does not require an extra filter)
On my engine (Marine Power) the factory filter is after the pump, so as you stated you can not install the traducer after this point, it needs to be installed before the fuel pump (due to the return line).
The transducer most have a filter before it!

Also there is a type-o on my second report. (The word can should be cannot)
David

[Paublo]

We do agree and are saying the same thing (after the type-o corrections). And our experience with the fuel meter is similar. I feel that it has been the most useful addition to my boat. Very easy to install and not too expensive. Mounting the gage has been the biggest challenge. Originally I made a small bracket out of a piece of sheet metal, painted it grey, and mounted it to the bottom of the dash. It is ok and out of the way, but I'm not really happy with the look. I have no room on the dash. I've ordered a polished bezel to mount the gage in to try to dress it up a little. When that project is done I'll post some pictures. Does anyone have any other ideas?

[Original Wing Nut]

flow scan

I have the PCM motor in my 24v 05. It has a return fuel line, the navman will not work with this motor. I have the FlowScan Meter a little more cash, but the certainty of knowing how much fuel is well worth it.

[gman]

I had two sea rays before and never had a problem with the fuel gauges. They worked very well. My latest model was 20 years old, and never a problem. Worked very well. Maybe TIGE should look at using the model that they have/had. I noticed that mine stays on full most of the time also. Its terrible not to know how much fuel you really have. Its really nonsense. I did notice that if you stop the gauge level drops and it better tells you what you have. Still have not figured out how good it is. So you may want to check the levels when the boat is still to give you a better idea.

[CP3]

gman
I have tried stopping and doing everything possible. Ihave a 22V and The fuel tank is 38 gallons. I spent all day on the water last weekend with about 17 gallons of gas and it didnt move off of full.

[gman]

CP3, Sorry to hear about yours and others frustration with something that should provide you a proper reading. I'm not happy about it either. Like I said earlier, I did not have this problem with my Sea Ray.
Reading the compliants on this issue, it appears that the gauge is a design problem and its not a recent one. I think its up to TIGE to come up with a fix so that instrumentation in their boats works properly and then have a recall to get the issue fixed. Why should all of us try to fix this problem??? Don't we expect gauges to work?? If its your new car what would you do???
In the mean time you may want to consider carrying a can of gas with you. Just be careful!

[gman]

Tip and Whitlock87
If you take a look at the boattest website and look up ski boats and then TIGE 22v or 24v you will see that they consume more than 5 gallons of fuel per hour. Getting 5 gallons per hour is pretty difficult. I have a 24v with a 5.7L, 340hp, and from what I can tell its about 6.5 to 7 gph. Now the exact conditions were not specified under which the models were tested. They only give some info like temp and wind and amount of fuel. One should also ask .... Does the boat have a tower, does it have a bimini, is it up, what position the taps is in, into the wind or with the wind, swim step or not, etc etc. I tell you, people today just don't care what info they provide as long as it sounds and looks good. All they want to do is give you a number. But how they get it and under what conditions they do not tell you. Maybe folks at TIGE can share some light????

[Tip]

I've looked at the boattest.com and that is why I never thought it was unusual that my 22v was burning 7 gph at wakeboard speeds. I think Whitlock has a switchv, which is a lighter boat and may explain the better burn rate.

As far as Tige fixing the fuel meter I agree. But I'm not going to let a poorly designed fuel gauge ruin my day on the lake, especially if I can install a Navman for under $150 and know exactly how much fuel I have at anytime. Before I got my Navman I just used the Tige fuel gauge as a low fuel warning indicator, as soon as it dropped from full I started looking for gas.

[ghollow]

Beware guys and gals. I have had to tow in two boats with fuel flow meters. In both instances, the meters said that there should still be over five gallons in the tank and both of these boats were bone dry.
As far as fuel guages go, boats have always had fuel guages that were not very accurate. It is do to the fact that thew tanks are usually long and flat. There is not enough height in the tank to give you avery accurate reading. If the boat is leaning slightly, it can make a big difference in the guage reading.
A simple way to solve this problem is to figure out how much fuel your boat burns per hour and then pay attention to how much time you spend under power. Be conservative with your estimates and you should not have any problems. Do not try to run it down to the point where you only have a gallon or less left in the tank at the end of the day. It is not good for the tank to sit empty for long peroids of time anyway.

[gman]

ghollow,
I had two sea rays and never had a problem. they worked very well. This is design problem and should be corrected by TIGE!

[gman]

Tip,
Send the bill to TIGE for the $150. You paid for something that should work and they gave you a design that doesn't work and you had to fix it!

ghallow had to tow his boat. This should not be acceptable.
Gauges are there to work and tell you what you have.