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Hi. Regarding my 2020 190 Montauk
Having trouble with the fuel gauge not reading a drawdown of fuel in the tank. This model has a 60 gallon internal tank and the fuel gauge doesn't seem to move. Has anyone ele had this problem?
You need to do what I do with a newly purchased boat with an internal tank.
Boat fuel gauges are notoriously inaccurate, but are are extremely accurate on a repeatable basis. The situation you describe often happens at "full" and also at "empty".
Remember, the boat needs to be at rest for any repeatable accurate reading once you do the following.
To determine what EXACTLY the gauge is telling you, first run the boat tank as dry as you can, or if you can carry 5 gallons of spare fuel, until you actually run out on the main tank.
Then go to a marina and fill the boat up fully with the boat in the water, since that is where you need to know what the gauge is telling you. It's costly, but you will only have to do this once, and the information will serve you for the life of the boat.
With a nearly empty tank, and gauge reading "E", start filling until the gauge hits 1/8. then stop fiilling and record the gallons taken. Then fill to 1/4, and record total gallons taken. Do this for each 1/8 graduation, until it hits "F". Then keep filling until actually full, record total gallons taken. In your case, if you can't get the 60 gallons in it, that means you had some left in the tank initially, and add that amount to each reading. Now you will know exactly what the gauge is telling you. It is unlikely that the 1/2 reading will actually mean you have 30 gallons left.
Then you can make a permanent chart of how much gas is remaining in the tank at each gradation, So you will always know how much has been used, and how much you have left.
This ACCURATE information will serve you well when out on the water.
In my Whalers I get all kinds of crazy results. In one boat, the gauge does not leave "F" until 30 gallons have been used out of a 140 gallon tank. AT the 1/2 reading, I only have 50 gallons, instead of 70 gallons. But when it hits "E", I am out of fuel. (learned that the hard way when the boat was new, before I did this calibration). On another one, when the gauge hits "E". I still have 15 gallons left out of 62. Go figure, which is why you have to do this calibration to know what the gauge is telling you.
I just purchased a 1986 18' Outrage which had a full tank of fuel or so the gauge read. I had it out several times since July and I am still above 1/2 tank. I know the F115 is pretty stingy on fuel but as Finnegan just mentioned, I might start carrying that 5gal jug with me just in case.
