1976 208 Reinell PLZ help

[porkjuice]

Hello every1 I am a iboat greenhorn, just registered today but have been milking info for about a week.I just bought a 1976 208 reinell cuddy that has 32 hrs on rebuilt 140 omc sterndrive , boat has been sitting under trees and in weather for 2.5 years in washington state. motor runs great started right up after sitting that long but the fuel gauge reads 1/2 empty and temp gauge dont work at all , when I turn on any accessory the fuel gauge moves down a little and moves back to half when acc turned off , by the way the fuel tank is actually near empty. havent even started troubleshooting thought I would post this thread on it first, I figured some1 here could point me in right direction.Any info would be greatly appreciated thnx.
P.S I did check fuses and all look good and oh yeah tac dont work, all worked well when parked 2.5 years ago

 

[wilsontowing]

Re: 1976 208 Reinell PLZ help

I have had the same problem with my Reinell, the fuel read just below half even when full and the Rpms stay about 1100 even when no batt. in boat, i have tried new gauges and no luck. good luck

 

[bigredinohio]

Re: 1976 208 Reinell PLZ help

The float might be stuck in your fuel tank, sender unit on the gas tank could be failing or a bad wire causing a short or something leading from the sender to the gauge...assuming the gauge works correctly.

Just some thoughts.

 

[porkjuice]

Re: 1976 208 Reinell PLZ help

Thnx for the tips, my brother suggested the float could be stuck aswell,I am going to check it out in the morning and will post results

 

[porkjuice]

Re: 1976 208 Reinell PLZ help

Well I shorted the sender and the gauge pegged out , so the gauge and wiring are good , so I then pulled the float out and sure enpugh it was stuck(rusty and nasty).I then cleaned it up as best I could and sprayed wd40 on it and got it to where it moves nicely.then I put it back in and.......it registers full now??????but the gauge moves a little when the boat rocks (on the trailer)can u calibrate these?Oh yeah I also tested the temp sender and by shorting across the sender it pegged the gauge aswell , and just before I pulled it I called a local shop to make sure I could get another 1 and talked to there mech.....He told me I most likely wont see a reading on gauge while running on a hose and need to take it out on water to get motor temp high enough to even register on temp gauge . so apparently I was chasing my tail lol