302 cruiser fuel level sending unit

[norusa 0]

Hello everyone,

Had a great day on the water yesterday but.......

My fuel gauge was reading about 1/4 tank and suddenly went to "E" , went to the marina and put about 40 gl. , no change on the gauge until we hit a few waves and it suddenly came up to 3/4, stopped reading again after awhile, etc.

I assuming that the sending unite is on it's way out but where and how do I get to it ???

Any help with this would be great!

 

Thanks

 

[Artemus 0]

The problem could indeed be the sending unit, however it could also be just a loose connection at the gauge or on the top of the tank.

 

Assuming you have a just single tank, there should be an access cover for the tank in the engine compartment, or just forward of there. The tank should be in the center of the boat. [Port to starboard] Check the connections on top of the tank, and on the back gauge itself first. If you find no issues there, then there is another test you can do to confirm it is the sending unit. There are two wires on top of the tank. One is a ground, and the other is from the sending unit. Discconnect the sending unit wire and ground it out. Your gauge should then read full.

[norusa 0]

Thanks Artemus, i will give it a try next week and let you know how it went

[norusa 0]

Hello again,

It has been a long time but tried the above suggestion and the gauge works fine so now I am trying to locate and get to the actual sending unit. I though it was located on top of the tank in the engine room but no.... Even had to cut out some of the original plywood to get to where I thought it was but all that was there was the grounding wire :-( ...so where is the actual sending unit and how do I get it out to replace it?? As alway, thanks for all the help :-)

[Artemus 0]

There should be an access cover somewhere for you to get at the top of the tank, where the sending unit wire connects. The sending unit itself, should be directly below that inside the tank. Remove the screws holding the sending unit in place on top of the tank, and pull it out. CAUTION!! As everyone knows, gasoline is highly explosive! DO NOT use anything but a hand held screwdriver to remove it! If you are at all unsure about what you are doing, hire a professional!