Fuel guage

[smendez]

8 pages long and guess what - People are still running out of gas on the water.

My buddy just bought a 2005 22v and guess what happened to him on his third trip out?

I was told by Mark - the traveling rep from Tige that this issue has been fixed on all 2006 boats.

So - all of you 2006 boat owners out there. Care to give any feedback? How well does your gas gauge work?

[David Baker]

I've reverted to a low tech approach for my 2004. I marked a wooden dowel (full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4) to use as a fuel tank dip stick. I check it periodically when I know I'm lower than the gauge is telling me. I've also had 1/4 tank (12 gallons) when the gauge said I was empty, adding time on the water versus leaving based on the gauge.

[kskjbuzz]

This is not the longest thread..................that would be the one on have you seen the new boat. It babels on about oh...........14 PAGES!!! And there are no pictures to look at.

[Tequilasun]

Hey, My fuel gauge just started working this weekend!! I have not done a thing to it, but it was dead on accurate all weekend. I guess cursing at it might have helped. Not that I'm gonna trust it ever, just thought it was weird that it would suddenly be so accurate....

[dogbert]

The guys at the Ski Dock told me that whenever they replace a sender, you have to run at least 4 tanks of gas through the boat before it will begin to register accurately. Your experience definitely indicates that whatever sender mechanism they are using, while more accurate than what I have, definitely has problems getting "stuck".

[rushin]

David Baker-Do you have a 22v? Does the dowel go into the filler through the hose?

[David Baker]

22i, filler neck is a straight pipe to tank

[rushin]

I have a 22i, how long is the dowel and where are the increments?

[David Baker]

The dowel is 4 feet long. My 2004 22ir tank is 9 inches deep (excluding filler pipe) so 2.25 inches per quarter tank.

[rushin]

I tried this with the dowel this weekend, I knew that fuel level indication was messed up and after trying this I know it is really messed up. The gauge was reading about an 1/8 of a tank and the dowel indicated about a 1/3. After riding a while and seeing the gauge sit on empty the dowel indicated a 1/4 tank.

[chpthril]

06 fuel gauge

I have a 2006 22ve just of the showroom floor. on my 2nd trip out, the gauge read full intil it drop to 1/2. within about 1 hour or so, it dropped to 1/4. At this point, it was time to return to the ramp. 15 minutes down river, i slowed to go under a bridge and the needle was below 'E'. My gut said I had fuel left, but at 6:30 PM, sun setting, and no marinas open, i could not push on and chance running out before i got to my ramp. we tied up at a resturant nearby. My son walked a 1/4 mile to a gas station and bought a gas can and 4 gals. gas. we put in the 4 gals. and the needle returned to 1/2 tank (go figure). this is my third boat, so i understand that the fuel level changes from idle to on-plane.

I am going out tomarrow night, i plan to fill up to see how much fuel was left in the tank and how much was used on the 2 short trips out.

I hope Tige can come up with a 'real fix'. I will be taking the boat in next week for service and will report back the progress.

other than this minor issue, we love the boat and would tall anyone in the hunt for a new one to buy a Tige!!!!!!!!!!!

[dogbert]

Congrats on the new boat. There are a number of threads on this topic here and on other sites. The only way you'll ever get car-like accuracy is with a fuel flow meter. I think add this to most newer boats. I'd ask about that.

[ghollow]

Boat tank guages are just not that accurate due to the way they are built. The best way to get a reading is to have the boat at idle and level in the water. The guage operates on a float and if the boat is leaning one way or the other you do not get an accurate reading. The fuel flow meters are definitely more accurate. ( I do not have one) They can give you problems also. I had to tow a guy in last summer who was out of gas and his flow meter said he still had 5 gallons in the tank. You have to make sure they are calibrated properly.
I think the best way to judge your fuel is to get to know your boat and figure out how much fuel you are burning per hour.

[Ruune]

Originally posted by ghollow
Boat tank guages are just not that accurate due to the way they are built.

I beg to differ. Mastercraft uses a technique similar to the way a car's fuel level indicator works- it takes a running average.

[gman]

smendez, if the issue was fixed on the 2006 tige boats is tige planning to do a recall and at least fix the boats that are still under warranty?