No Fuel Guage

[Clay Stalker]

I have my first of many dilemmas with my recently purchased boat and will again begin appealing to the expertise of this board. I don't have a fuel guage. It appears to be the original fiberglas tank....I tried the flashlight thing, also the sounding thing....the tank seems to be pretty thick, so nothing worked. Does anyone have any tricks to determine how much fuel is in the tank? I don't really want to take the fittings off and would rather not fill until fuel runs out the vent....thanks.

[Stan W.]

Hi Clay.

Nonsly came with a Tempo mechanical gauge attached to the top of the tank. If you would be able to see a tank-mounted gauge from the fuel fill, Tempo still sells these in various sizes depending on tank depth. The tank has to have a flat bottom though. Otherwise, you will need an electrical guage. Tempo sells these too. Tempo has an on-line catalogue. Figure out what you need and then special order it from Defender.

[Wayne Grenier]

I just use a graduated stick for my cd 28 that has no fuel gauges-all you need is to determine the diameter of the tank and you have a fool proof system-just don't let them get below half full-Remember Lynnerd Skynerd? (sorry about the spelling) their plane crashed because they ran out fuel-due to a faulty gauge-the pilot was supposed to check the fuel level with a stick as a "back up" but they were in a hurry-just my opinion of course-I fill up my tanks at the end of the season and don't burn much fuel for the entire season so maybe your situation is different-

[Duncan Maio]

Clay:

I assume you are looking for a temporary solution - Stan's got the goods on a guage solution.

Two thoughts. Instead of just a flashlight, try a million-candlepower searchlight if you have one (if not, I have one I can drop into your boat if you want).

If you can be persuaded to take off one fitting, you can make a sight glass with a length of clear tubing - sort of like a water level.

[Clay Stalker]

Thanks all for the suggestions, I appreciate it. The solution I have come up with for now is to call the previous owner, who told me how much fuel was in the tank when the boat was picked up....also, he kept good records, so it matches. From here on, I will track the engine hours (on the meter) and fill accordingly. The longer term solution is to replace the old fiberglas tank with a new one with a guage....thanks again.

[Russell]

The fuel gauge on my boat was not working when I bought it, and even if working I wouldnt trust it, these things have a huge tendancy to stop working or be inaccurate. Personally I keep a fuel log and feel its the most best way to know what you have.