fuel tank guage removal

[spincycle]

i want to remove the fuel tank guages from my aft and forward fuel tanks. I'm not sure if these are original guages, they have two wires coming from the plastic dial that unscrews from the top portion of the metal mount covering the hole in the tank. There is an "R" inscribed into the black plastic portion that holds the red needle in this clear plastic viewer. when i removed the plastic portion with the red needle, it only comes out with the two wires. the rest of the "guage" portion is still mounted in the tank, looks like a 1-3/4 inch socket will remove it from the tank. do I just remove that portion of the guage and see why it is not sending a signal to the bridge. there is a unit there on the bridge to read the fuel in all four tanks plus my fresh water. all my readings are not correct in the bridge guages as well as the readings on each guage mounted on the tank.

Spincycle
1990 Hatt.

[Genesis]

Those are PROBABLY magnetic pickups over the original OEM mechanical gauges.

The problem is in the pickup if the mechanical part reads correctly. If it doesn't, a BFW (big f*ing wrench) will get the mechanical part out. The mechanical part rarely goes bad.

Use PB Blaster liberally on the threads if it doesn't want to turn and PATIENCE. For obvious reasons I do not recommend heat.

[Pascal]

first time around i used a pipe wrench on mines, they're really big, at least 2" or so. the mechanical portion is pretty accurate athough i like to use a dipstick to really know what i have... i dont' have any senders on mine, just the mechanical.

[philmeup]

first time around i used a pipe wrench on mines, they're really big, at least 2" or so. the mechanical portion is pretty accurate athough i like to use a dipstick to really know what i have... i dont' have any senders on mine, just the mechanical.

Pascal,
How did you figured out the fuel guage via a dipstick,I would prefer to do it that way myself,Phil
53 MY JACE

[philmeup]

Hello Pascal
How did you figure out the level in the tanks via a dipstick,as I would prefer that option a lot better. Thanks,Phil
53MY JACE

[Pascal]

i have marks on the dipstick, which i marked when adding fuel. I've marked the lowest 100 gallons or so which is what matters! but you need to take the tank shape into consideration as on the 53 the tank bottom is Vee shaped so the last few inches dont amount to a lot of fuel.

but the mechanical gauges are very precise... pretty impressive... the problem is that, like any gauge, you never know when they're going to fail or stick.

a dip stick doesn't lie!

[REBrueckner]

As Pascal notes, to accurately determine fuel contents you need to mark a dipstick while filling a virtually empty tank with fuel, say at 25 or 50 gal increments, and at the same time record the readings from any mechanical or electrical gauges.

On my 48ft YF, my two aft 250 gallon tanks appear rectangular, except perhaps for the bottom when they may be sloped to the hull bottom shape, but using the above method I determined that lower than half full readings from the mechanical gauges in the top of the tanks are off considerably....I don't remember the exact figures, but for illustration, when my fuel level drops on the mechanical gauges from say 1/2 to 1/4 I actually have used LESS fuel than indicated....In other words, when I refill, instead of it taking 1/4 of 250 or about 62.5 gallons, about 50 gallons fills that particular increment on the gauge.....that's not so big a deal when tallying up fuel usage on an entire tank of fuel, but in that more limited range it can really throw off any fuel use estimates ...it's off,for some reason, by over 20%....

[ritchievail]

The mechanical gauges on my 53' seem to be stuck. One at FULL the other at EMPTY. Has anyone ever taken them out to clean them?

Rich

[Genesis]

Yes.

The "empty" one probably has a distintegrated float.

[spincycle]

even if my guages are magnetic pick ups, they will still have a float on them, correct?

Spincycle