How to fix a marine fuel level sensor
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- Опубліковано 27 лип 2024
- This video shows how to diagnose and repair a failing marine fuel level sensor. A failing level sensor can be a problem in the gauge, the wiring, or the sending unit. Detail of the circuit diagram for a conventional fuel level sensor are explored, and various electronic diagnostic techniques are explained.
This is an amateur presentation, offered for free and in good faith. However no guarantee as to the accuracy or safety of information provided is made. Mechanical troubleshooting and repair is not without risk. Any misadventure you encounter if you decide to accept the risk of DIY repair is your responsibility.
Short clip of music at the end is “I’m happy for this guitar”, by Freedom Trail Studios, obtained through the UA-cam royalty free music library.
Definitely convenient to have a fuel gauge working properly on a boat. Nice diagnostics!
Yeah, I hate that panic of having to bleed air from the fuel lines while drifting in tidal current with no power. Fortunately with a sailboat there is a backup plan if the wind cooperates. Thanks for stopping by!
You got that right,mine just went out😂
Your really good at this. Both in the technical side and making a comprehensive video. Very detailed and easy to follow along, thanks.
That's a fine compliment, thank you Wyatt.
Thank you for the education on the fuel system, especially the fuel gauge. I did not know it had two coils thank you kindly for the lesson and walk through
God bless you sir, I enjoy all your videos
You consistently stand out as one of the finest technical instructors on UA-cam. Furthermore you are also an excellent communicator! Thank you for your contribution to our collective education. May I respectfully suggest; that if you ask a question of your viewers that you then also explain the "correct" answer to those of us who "may" have answered incorrectly-not that I would answer incorrectly........... Ok, ok I'm guilty, I answered incorrectly. Things that are obvious to you may not be obvious to people like me.
What a kind remark. Yes, I'll bear that in mind the next time I put together a video. I like that Socratic method when on the receiving end. Sometimes I'll pause a video I'm watching and think a problem through, with greater reward at the end.
@@spelunkerd The Socratic method is wonderful, you possess a vast multi-disciplined reservoir of technical and mechanical theory as well as practical experience. I am just so far behind you that what is obvious to you has yet to be "discovered" by my simple mind.
-Respectfully
Outstanding explanation on circuit design and repair! Summer is here, have fun with the boat!
Take care,
Bill
Thanks, Bill!
Dave
Great job Dave with the diagnostics and repair! 😀👍
Thanks, Terry.
Well explained. Thanks for sharing! 👍
Excellent video!
Thanks so much and keep up the great work!
Great video
Thank you.
Excellent video
great video. very clear.thanks, matt
Hi Dave, great video as always. Clear and simple.
I’d like to add a second gauge to a fuel take sender. Is that possible without changing out the first gauge? I have a multi tank gauge at my chart table below deck and it would be nice to connect that to the sender to check all my fluid levels from below decks and without having to start the engine before setting off. A sort of pre-sail checklist.
I would not place a second gauge of this style into the mix, because of the added circuit complexity and increased possibility of unreliable readings. Each analog gauge requires its own power source, so slight differences in impedence between the coils of the two gauges could produce damaging current between the two on the signal wire, and spurious readings. On the other hand, if the second gauge was a simple high impedence voltmeter, then you could have a second meter that simply reads the voltage drop at the signal wire, which you could calibrate to tank reserve. The ignition key would need to be on, though engine doesn't have to be running. At 2:06 I show a sender (like mine) with a built in gauge, so that system has a useful mechanical backup which helped to draw my attention to the problem. However to swap to that you would have to remove the sender and add it on, hoping holes line up and it adapts correctly to your sender. New systems might allow multiple gauges more easily by tapping into the NMEA2000 communication tree. Thanks for watching!
thank you for your excellent presentation including the electronic theory.
i found your channel actually looking for diagnosis and repair of my yamaha fuel mpg sensor in the back of boat by fuel filter.
mine just stopped indicating mpg, am wondering if you have a video on this or perhaps a idea where i can find info on diagnosis and repair .it has 3 wires coming out of it, and then wires up to the round yamaha gauge on dash.
asol just having trouble opening up the black connectors there a a lever or special way?
sorry for long winded question, have subscribed and will follow.
thanks
john
I have no experience with your issue, so all I can offer is general advice. Yup, plastic, brittle connectors are the game we play, often breaking them before realizing how they come apart. In a boat, water intrusion and corrosion would be the most common cause of electronic failure, often with the hallmark of the 'green crusties' when water meets copper. Something complex enough to calculate fuel consumption likely has a printed circuit board involved, somewhere. I would be searching for your dealers repair manual for as much detail as you can find. Yanmar offer those for free, Kawasaki sell inexpensive copies on their website, and some european manufacturers strangely covet their repair manuals. Good luck!
Well done :-D
Old car fuel guages are not linear devices, so i guess that the tank sender is the same.
That red wire looked pink, maybe my display is mad :-D
Yeah, that's a thoughtful observation! As you say, even with a purely mechanical gauge the result is not linear, since the volume is related to the sine of the angle, only linear to angle when the angle is small. From our old calculus days they said x/sin(x) is approximately 1 only when x is small, ha ha! Practically that explains why in many tanks, the gauge doesn't change much at first, then when close to empty it seems to fall quickly as the angle changes more rapidly. In the end it is not so bad, since a driver gains familiarity with his gauge and tank. On a diesel boat it can be a minor crisis to run out of fuel on the water, since with no fuel pump you need to bleed the whole fuel line before it will start again....
I'm sure you are correct with the mathmatics, but you are talking to someone that could not remember the times tables at school lol.
They didn't cator for odd people like me, that is very true for that era of schools.
I learnt by visual means and taking things apart, some numbers sank in to my thick brain as i had to remember pins on dip i.c's, still took 20 plus years lol.
Any how, a frend of mine has a morris minor 1000 chug a bug, the tank gauge was never very accurate and he wanted me to make a led bargraph gauge..
I found a very handy bargraph circuit that used discrete parts, lots of comparitor op amps and a PRESET FOR EVERY LED voltage threshold.
Non linearitys in the tank sender could be trimmed out.
Simple but nice idea, not my own of cause :-D
It may interest you. Bottom of page.
www.mez.co.uk/ms13-new.html
@@zx8401ztv Cool idea, especially with an odd shaped tank like that one! Most of us just shrug and get used to idiosyncratic gauge personalities, ha ha.
ha ha yes i did think the whole setup was really silly.
Did you see the circuit at the bottom of the page?, there is no limit on how many leds and comparitors can be added.
Funny how someone creates a circuit that i have seen so many times but it didn't come to mind while i was thinking how to make a guage.
I must be born silly :-D.