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Gas Gauge Accuracy

K

knotter

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Hudson River and Lake County Fl
New owner of a 2011 22SLi, Yamaha F90.
Very familiar with the "one-third out, one third back, and one third in reserve rule.
That said, I'm curious about the accuracy of the fuek gauge.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
 
The gas gauge on the regular setup is a float gauge, I have found mine to be fairly accurate but not 100% reliable. Fortunately on my setup I can open the privy door and see the amount of gas in the gas tank
 
One way to find out would be to carry extra gas and run her until she stops. My experience has been that the fuel gauge has been pretty accurate, but I really try not to test it if at all possible. Welcome to the club and post some pictures!
 
My tank is hidden behind a metal plate, but I can just see the edge enough to get an idea of amount in it. It's pretty accurate vs. gauge. Once gauge hits a quarter, I start watching the tank itself. Of course, mine doesn't suck gas like all of you others ...... :D
 
I think the manual says only trust it to 1/4 quarter accuracy. That being said I’ve found mine to be very accurate.
 
Once mine goes below half I start to watch it closely. The gas gauge needle fluctuates depending on if we are sitting or moving. Once while we were teaching a family member to ski and constantly putting the throttle down the gauge kept moving between a 1/3 and 1/4 tank and sometimes below. Okay let's fill up. It took 37 gallons. Which meant it still had 15 gallons in the tank. Here we are thinking that it was almost empty and we still had plenty of fuel left......
 
In my first post on this site I said I was looking to learn about the difference between my other boats and my new pontoon. And boy have I learned.
Filled up the 22 SLi at the local marine gas station. The gauge showed between 1/3 and close to half.
The fueling process was a little unorganized, and I thought the boat took a loooong time to fill.
I didn't get a look at the receipt until yesterday.
Various sources show the 22 SLi with a 24 gallon tank.
Which I will confirm soon.
The receipt shows 22.971 gallons.
Either my tank is bigger than I think it is,
Or I got lucky
I might have had 1.029 gallons of fuel left.
With the next door neighbors on board.
For our first trip on our new boat.
Learning.
 
Ours is not very accurate - though it is consistent. Doesn't move forever and then drops quickly. Once it gets to about 1/2 it is time to think about filling up.
 
Mine is relatively accurate although it moves slow till I get to 1/2 tank, then it seems to pick up a little speed!!
 
When mine gets to around 1/4 tank, I don't try to take it any further. If I know I'm close to half, and fixing to go out, then I run it by the gas station and top it off. I went into heavy stress mode with my first boat. We went up the river with about 3/4 tank, and by the time we got about 10 miles from the fuel station, my gauge said I was sucking fumes. I was in a heavy sweat until we reached the dock. Never again.
 
Another comfort factor is to look at the performance bulletins for your motor. I know mine burns about 4 gal per hour at 3000 rpm, and that is really accurate. On longer trips I’m always comparing expected use vs actual for piece of mind and know where my refueling options are.
 
I am new here and to Pontoons but I topped mine off the first weekend I took it out and when I was done the gauge said about 3/4 but the digital said 90%. The next time I took it out I topped off again and it took 10 gallons. it is a 60 gallon take.
 
Filled up our new-to-us 2007 2575 I/O at the end of last weekend for the first time. Tank says it holds 61 gallons (I think , but tag is hard to read).
We had run the boat for 4 hours on Saturday and 2 on Sunday, starting out a little over half full. On Sunday, we were out in heavy winds (20 mph) and in heavy chop (1-3 feet). The needle started hitting the 1/4 mark, bouncing back up to 1/3. The way it hit the 1/4 mark each time made it look like that was the bottom - which really concerned me. I opened the engine compartment where I can see the aft-end of the translucent gas tank. It looked like a 1/4 tank, but I was concerned that maybe the tank was tilted aft and I really only had a few gallons.

Headed for the dock and put her back on the trailer. Filled up at a land-based station near Lake Livingston (TX). It took 47 gallons ($3.09/gallon for ethanol-free), so I'm guessing the 1/4 tank indicator was right, and the 61 gallon tag is also.

That said... don't think I'll ever let it get below 1/4 tank! The thought of running out of gas in that heavy weather (with nobody else on the lake!) was pretty spooky.

Didn't tell the Chief Mate about that one until we were back on the trailer!!!
 
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