TOPIC: Dogone launch ramp was closed!

Went to fill my inboard gas tank today, go for a little cruise, dogone ramp was closed! Go figure

63 Sabre,

Well, that's a H of a note.

yours, satx

It's a sick feeling when you get all gassed up,drive 25-30 miles only to find ramps closed. Been there.

Thank goodness I only had to go about two miles. I was wondering if the snow and 3' of ice would be a factor. Actually I just needed to get the boat out of the garage to do some house cleaning and floor sweeping. I did drive to a local gas station that has "no ethanol" premium gas $4.09 p/gal and put 12 gals in the 18 gal tank. I de-rusted the inside of the tank last fall and it's been sitting a few months with just a qt of 2 cycle oil and 2 oz of sta-bil. I also need to see if the fuel gauge works....it doesn't! Should read 3/4 and won't move off the peg. Wondering if the motor has to be running for the gauge to work. Or I'll have to retrace all my wires. Anyone know an easy way to test the circuit?

Well, if you do get that fuel gauge working, it won't read right anyway

63 Sabre wrote:

....Anyone know an easy way to test the circuit?

Marine sending units have to have a ground wire (often to one of the flange mount screws) to work properly Cal, is yours set up that way? If so, a jumper wire between the ground and the sending unit connection on the sender should send the needle to FULL on the gauge. The key has to be on (power to the gauge), but the engine should NOT have to be running if it's wired correctly. HTH

Thanks Mark. I'll put my meter on all the wires, just might have a bad connections somewhere.

If the fuel gauge won't work correctly I just hope it reads low when I have 1/2 tank left

Mark, got the gauge working! Thanks for the tip. I had the gauge grounded through the tank sending unit instead of a direct wire to my grounding strip. Switched it over and bingo... says 1/2 tank which is ok since there is 12 gals in the 18 gal tank. I probably didn't bend the new sender rod enough when I installed it. That means I'll have fuel to get home on when it reads empty

Cal

Glad to help sir, no problem!

Way to guys, that's why I love this site so much!

Bob

precisely, worth the price of admission.