Mechanical fuel gague not working

[al0311]

Hi guys I have a 22 foot 1973 mako. I had to replace the old mechanical fuel gague I did that but the new one isn’t reading. The new gague I got didn’t fit excatley so I had to bend the float rod a little to make it fit down the tube to the gas tank. With that in mind I was able to get the gague to sit properly. But it’s still not reading anything. I pulled up the float and it is soaked in gas so I know it’s sitting in gas.
I guess my questions are does the float sit in the gas or on top ? If so I guess I’ll hace to adjust the rod a little so it sit right now the gas.
Also, The tank is 70 gallons It had 22 gallons in it and I ran it for about 20-30 minutes the other day. So I assuming maybe there not enough gas in the tank to read on the gague?

these gague are expensive so I’m trying to fix this with the one I have. Thanks

 

[Scott Danforth]

by mechanical, I assume a direct reading float?

if so, you cant bend the rod

 

[ahicks]

I'm not sure why you couldn't bend the rod on a mechanical gauge to customize it a little if required?

Many gauge will read empty when the tank gets down to 1/4 full. Even the auto makers are guilty of that.

The float should "float" on the surface of the gas. If it doesn't there's no way the gauge can work.

 

[Sea Rider]

Does the old and new fuel gauge has the same rod lenght from clock to float ? If way shorter that could be the issue, sits too high as to read with 22 gallons tank leftovers.

Happy Boating

 

[Scott Danforth]

I'm not sure why you couldn't bend the rod on a mechanical gauge to customize it a little if required?

Many gauge will read empty when the tank gets down to 1/4 full. Even the auto makers are guilty of that.

The float should "float" on the surface of the gas. If it doesn't there's no way the gauge can work.

most of the direct acting units (gauge on float) are way too delicate and tend to not work if you bend them without a jig to hold the gauge movement. normally you buy them custom made to the exact specs needed.

http://www.rochestergauges.com/pages/gauges.html

http://moellermarine.com/product-tag/direct-site-gauge/

 

[al0311]

Yeah that’s where I bought it from Rochester they Said it was comaptible. Obviously not cause it didn’t fit in the fuel tank to start with. I mesureded the length of the previous fuel gague and it was 15 inches and so is the new one . I’m gonna fill it up with gas this weekend and mess with it a little more and see if I can get it to work if not I guess I’ll be using a measuring stick and checking the gas level every so often on the water. I tired a electric one before but it didn’t fit at all and I broke it bending it.

 

[al0311]

The other problem was the shaft length on the this is about 3 inches if that the old one was a lot longer closer to 7 inches. I would to find an original replacement.

 

[QBhoy]

Easy to tell. Needs two people to test and set up. One guy at the helm watching the gauge. The other with the sender in hand and move the float up and down whilst connected obviously.