How accurate are Yamaha digital gauges?

[Uncle Matt]

I hope to go out this Friday and Saturday tuna fishing. But before I go, I have to burn off my old fuel so I can fill it with the new stuff. I have a 23SE and am down to 2 bars on my digital Yamaha guage. Any clue approximately how much fuel is left? I plan on manually pumping out the
remaining fuel and am interested what I'm in for. Thanks again folks.

Matt

 

[Megabyte]

Matt, The in-tank guages are notorious for their inaccuracy, so I don't know that I'd rely on it at all.

I'd recommend that you install a fuel computer and transducer so you know exactly how many gallons you've burned, how many gallons are left in the tank, and how many gallons you are burning per hour.

Most of them are also equipped with a low fuel alarm, so you know when its time to visit the fuel dock.

I have a Navman 2100 on my boat, which is about as simple a fuel computer as you will find. Inexpensive too.
http://www.byownerelectronics.com/store ... 381&page=1

Other fuel computers can be found here:
http://www.byownerelectronics.com/store ... hp?cat=381

Good luck!

 

[TimC2520]

I need to get a fuel management guage one of these days but here is some info I hope helps.
I have a 1999 2520 with a single 225 Yam OX66
With the boat sitting still I had one bar left on the guage and up on plane three bars lit.
When I filled up, it "only" took 90 gallons. Sooo, with a total of 126 gallons, 36 were still left. I havent had any E10 problems yet and I have been checking the RAcor after every trip...no H2O.

Tim

 

[J.A. Veil]

The Yamaha bar graph fuel gauge on my 23 SE is not even close to accurate. The gauge stays at or near the top until I have used about 60% of the tank. Then all of a sudden, it drops down below half way. I have been contemplating Kevin's suggestion to add an aftermarket fuel consumption gauge. In the mean time, I keep records for each trip of engine hours and miles covered. This allows me to estimate how much of the 110-gallon tank has been used up.

On my previous boat, also with a crummy fuel gauge, I almost ran dry one time. Now, I make a point of topping off when I think I am down to about 1/3 tank.

 

[J.A. Veil]

Uncle Matt -

I wanted to use up most of my regular gas before adding E10 gas, but as noted in my other post, I did not want to run the risk of getting too low. In early June, I added about 70 gals of E10 to top off the tank. I assume there was about 40 gals of old gas already in. I ran the boat for the rest of that day -- it was a windy day, so the boat bounced a bit and I am sure the fuels mixed.

The next weekend, I changed out the old fuel/water filter and added a new Yamaha 10-micron filter. I also carry another spare filter plus an oil filter wrench on board in case the engine performance begins to deteriorate at some point. So far, I have had no trouble with the engine performance (knock on wood).

 

[floundermeister]

I agree with all of the other replies. Wouldn't trust it one bit.

 

[Uncle Matt]

A fuel computer it is then. And yes, I already have three spare 10 micron filters onboard. Thanks again everyone for the advice. This all Parker board is the great.

 

[Parker23]

Megabyte, does that guage work on fuel injected engines, it says carbs but not if not for efi. :?:

 

[Megabyte]

Megabyte, does that guage work on fuel injected engines, it says carbs but not if not for efi. :?:

Yep. My 225 OX66 is an EFI motor.

 

[Parker23]

Thanks. Checked the manuel on the Navman site and it says you have to calibrate the reading sometimes, have you had to do it and is it easy?

 

[DaleH]

Thanks. Checked the manuel on the Navman site and it says you have to calibrate the reading sometimes, have you had to do it and is it easy?

Very easy ... less the impact to the wallet that is! You fill up the tank, run around some and then go back to the dock. ((Here is where I'll try to to re-fill back up at the same time of day as the 1st day/time so hopefully the temperature is consistent))

Let's say your system says it used 12 gallons, but you only could put back in 11 gallons. You adjust the system to where you put back in 11 gallons and it automatically adjusts the tank to that new value as a constant. This value is invisible to you in actual use, and is only used by the device to "calibrate" itself ... that's why it is critical to me to fill up using the same fuel source, hose, technique, method, and/or time of day to achieve as reliable and consistent a cal process as possible.

To date I have done this only twice to my Navman unit (mine is integrated into my GPS) and on the 2nd time, it was only off by 0.3 gallons over 6 months of use and God knows how many gallons. Awesome products ... I'll never ever run a boat without radar, Bennett trim tabs, and a fuel computer integrated into the GPS.

 

[Parker23]

Cool! Thanks guys ordering one right after I type this.

 

[Parker23]

BOE,sent me a email saying that they do not have the Navman anymore, I had to go with the Lowrance 400 fuel guage. Anyone have this unit?

 

[rangerdog]

BOE,sent me a email saying that they do not have the Navman anymore, I had to go with the Lowrance 400 fuel guage. Anyone have this unit?

I have the navman 400. It is a mulit function gauge intended to run on a NMEA 2000 network. I hope you ordered the fuel flow sending unit as well as the other appropriate accessories. If you want MPG you will also need a speed sensor, or have a NMEA compatable GPS unit for speed, etc. See my install

• here: http://classicparker.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=496&highlight=
  Here: http://classicparker.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=497&highlight=
  And here: http://classicparker.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=498&highlight=

While I don't have a lot of hours with the gauge I am getting used to dialing in at cruise for GPH, etc. I have burned about 50 galons since the install and have cruised, run WOT, and trolled about 100 miles, which gives me around 2 MPG. Untill last week, when I ran at cruise to the CCNP Rips, about 30 miles round trip, I was getting 3+ MPG average.

 

[rangerdog]

Parker 23, here's the network that includes 1 LMF 400:

 

[Parker23]

Thanks for the reply and diagram, I got the fuel flow sensor with the gauge was the extension cable long enough to get up to the helm?