I have a 2002 Alumaweld. The fuel gauge worked briefly. It started to bounce around not long after I bought it. (new), now it doesn't even register a tick when I turn it on. It just stays pegged on empty.

I have talked to the mechanic at a shop that sells and services that boat, and he has said that it is a common problem with that make of boat. In fact he said it is the only problem that he hears people who own Alumawelds complain about.

I was thinking of getting a fuel flow meter, but the guy at West Marine tried to talk me out of it. He said for the big bucks that one costs I should try to fix the gauge first.

One of the things I have noticed is that the dealer I purchased my boat from used the fuel gauge as an accessory buss. So there are about seven extra wires connected to it.

Has anyone here had this problem with their Alumaweld?

Do you have a fix for it?

How do I test the sending unit if you know?


Should I just use the clock on my big motor, a 90 horse Merc four stroke, to gauge the fuel consumption.

If I call the dealer where I bought my boat they will tell me to bring it in. AGAIN!

I was hoping I could fix it myself a spare me the trip far away north to take advantage of the the warranty, if it is still valid after two and a half years.


Thanks for ANY input on this.

If you let me know what make the gauge is I can probably get you one at no cost. I'm in that line of work so it's no big deal, and you're in my neck of the woods!

The problem certainly sounds electrical. Your sending unit should have a couple of wires connected to it right on the top of the tank, check those for corrosion, if they are good you can actually pull the sending unit out by removing the screws holding it to the tank, probably half a dozen or so and see that the arm is moving but the fact that it remains on empty is pointing to electrical, there might be an in line fuse and I would check for that, also if there is a fuse panel check those, all those wires sound pretty normal from what I've seen with boat wiring, there is the gauge it self then a wire for the light to it and then the hour meter is probably hooked to it. I would not try to guage fuel consumption by the hour meter, that's a diasaster waiting to happen, too many varialbles in fuel usage for that. A fuel flow meter is a great tool, I have had three of them and they do a lot more than just tell you how much fuel you have used, they will help you trim the boat to get the best fuel economy and performance, I would highly recommend one, there are several on the market, all the ones I have had have been the Flo-Scan and they are expensive, I know that Standard Horizon makes one that is cheaper, NavMan has one on the market and Lowrance is working on getting one out, Mercury and Yamaha also have them in their guage packages. Consumers Marine Electronics in New Jersey carrries several models and if you Google them they have a web site.

I have not had trouble with this on either of my alumawelds.

My first alumaweld (2001 model) didn't have this but my new one (2004) has an access port in the floor right above the gas tank fuel gauge sending unit. This way you don't have to take up the whole floor to do this repair.

This implies to me that it must be a somewhat common thing to need to replace.

If you are having strife with a home repair, any Alumaweld dealer worth their salt should be able to fix this very easily. Check out the jokers that sponsor this site. (see above) They do good work.

-tony

Here is a link to troubleshoot the gauge if you have a multimeter and a little electrical know how, or a buddy with electrical know how. http://www.tflx.com/pdf/marfue%7E1.pdf
The quick check, make sure that the sending unit base is grounded to the battery, clean connections, and the case of the gauge is grounded. 12volts at the "I" terminal. If the case ground is hooked to the S terminal it should read full.

OK!!!

So I RE-checked the wires to the sending unit.

Was going to pull the unit, but my tank is too full and gas started to leak. So I cut off a piece of the garden hose to siphon some off. That didn't work so well.

Luckily I was "smart" enough to disconnect the batteries before starting the inspection process.

After spitting gas for a few minutes I gave up on that. Decided to get some clear poly tubing.

So here the good news. It works now!! It only goes up to the halfway mark, but thats better than nothing, (I think)


Here the bad news. I don't get to spend hundreds of dollars on the new gadget. OH DARN!!!

I wish every boat project was a wiggle the wire. Check the fuse. Clean the corrosion, type of problem.

Now, off Home Depot for a new garden hose.

See, I knew I could get a shopping trip out of this.

I have a 1999 Alumaweld Stryker. Have the same problem. Poor location of the sending unit. It is locted near the drain plug. I cleaned the corrosion off once or twice but stopped working again after a short time. I have just been running without. I have a general idea how far I can run.

Sounds like you have a bad fuel sender. Most marine fuel senders read 30 ohms full and 240 ohms empty. If you have this type a simple test is to disconnect the wire that is mounted to the center stud of the sender and connect it to ground. Now turn the key on and if the gauge is good it should read full. Usually you can just remove one of the screws that hold the sender in the tank and attach the wire under the screw. Do not turn the key on and then go back and touch the wire to ground as you may cause an arc and if there are fumes present.... well you get the picture. The other way to test the sender is to measure between ground and the center stud of the sender when the tank is full and empty with a multimeter. If your readings are + or - 10 from the numbers above you can usually bet that the sender is ok.
Fuel senders and gauges in boats are usually pretty low quality. Normally a low bidder wins the contract type thing. You can usually get a high quality sender to replace your oem unit and be able to trust your gauge for years.
If you need more info, email me and I would be happy to help.

yYou might also want to check the ground wire from the sender at the grounding point for tight, clean connection as that can cause grief also.

So how about the opposite problem - the guage is stuck on "full". Did the same erratic behavior. This is on an 18 ft Seaswirl 92'. Same troubleshooting routine?

When I bought my 98 Alumaweld Intruder second-hand, the only thing that didn't work was the fuel guage. After pulling the access plug in the floor, I found that the wires leading to the sender unit were getting wet with salt water and condensation where they connected to the unit and had shorted from power to ground. The entire top of the sender unit was corroded and worse yet, the ground wire had actually started melting.

After replacing the wires, I picked up a new sender unit for about thirty bucks. The tricky part about installing the unit is getting the float adjusted since my tank is only about 4 inches deep. You need to bend and cut the float wire the proper way so the float doesn't hit the bottom of the tank, but still reads right. The guys at 3 rivers told me how to do that when I got the sender unit, but it still reads a little off.

Now I check the top of the sender unit for moisture regularily and also wipe the underside of the access plug down. It seems like there is always condensation there.

MikeC, your problem sounds like something is shorted to ground. Try disconnecting the sender wire from the fuel gauge (most gauges will have a terminal marked S for sender) and turning the key on. If the gauge drops now you either have a sender wire shorted to ground or a bad sender. If it does not drop you most likely have a bad gauge. This is assuming that you have a standard calibration gauge. Some gauges will drop to E when you short the sender wire to ground and if that is the case all of the tests will work in reverse.

Have you considered contacting NASA?