fuel gauge stopped working

[dinghy berry]

Hi guy's i have a ?. I have an 02 bayliner bowrider with the 4cyl mercruiser.The other day before i went to use the boat i went to the gas station to fill it up. (makes u cry) anyway i filled it filled it because i had a little gas come out the vent on the back of the boat. So i get to the lake and naturally it's on full,i start cruising and all of a sudden the gauge go's past the full mark and stays there and thats where it stayed all day and is still there. Now my wife say when i turn the key off all the gauges go to the left side and when u start they come back up to there proper reading's so my problem is do you think it's the float that got stuck or the gauge itself seeing it should go to E when the boat is shut off. My buddy said to go and throw like 5 gallon's in it and see if that does anything...any other suggestions would be appriciated.
Thanks Rich

 

[gcboat]

Re: fuel gauge stopped working

Well if it worked before and now it's stuck after you filled it the common scenario would be a stuck float. However bouncing around all day you'd think it would get "unstuck". Anyhow, on your deck there should be a round inspection plate. Remove it and you will have access to your fuel sending unit and the float. First off look for a loose grounding wire. Think there's gonna' be four of five bolts to remove the float itself. Be careful not to damage the gasket. After all is done just pull the float mechanism out and see if it is indeed stuck. Probably take 30 minutes at most. I'm not too sure if turning the key on and moving the float by hand will show anything, besides with it not being grounded - well, a chance I wouldn't take.
Hopefully someone with a little more experience on this will chime in.

 

[dinghy berry]

Re: fuel gauge stopped working

Thanks i will give that a try

 

[dinghy berry]

Re: fuel gauge stopped working

Well the float is not stuck and the wire's coming off the plate are all connected. I just went and got gas and it took 8 gal so now it's full full again i guess it's either the sending unit or the gauge itself..it's still under the 60 day warranty but the marina can't look at it for 2 weeks. So i guess i will just fill it everytime i take it out till i can get it fixed. Thank's for your help anyway
Rich:

 

[dinghy berry]

Re: fuel gauge stopped working

Well finally it's fixed...The marina fixed it free of charge..it was the gauge itself. nice to know how much fuel i have again
Rich