Fuel gauge not accurate

[Rod Fosback]

our fuel gauge does not read accurate, reads full just fine, but when it is at 3/4 full it takes 50 gallons, worried about this when boon docking with the gen set feed, any suggestion?

Rod and Jackie
2005 Alpine 36 FDDS 75316
Eugenestan Oregon

[Craig36]

You don't mention how many gallons your tank holds, but I assume it is either 75 or 100.

I'm on my fourth MH (3 gassers and 1 diesel) and all are inaccurate, with the bottom half being used up much faster. When driving, I never let the tank get below half. That being said, I understand your concern. I would talk to the maker of your chassis to get their thoughts.

Any good RV chassis repair facility can install a new sensor (or is it a float) in your tank. That is what I would do. While it will involve some cost, it is an older coach (like mine) and parts wear out.

[AlanTerry]

Never knew a gas gauge that did read acccurate! Your coach generator feeds off a stand pipe inside the fuel tank, therefore it “ should” stop when it reaches a quarter of a tank. This is so you will not get stranded. But your mileage will vary

[Jim A]

Gauge accuracy, or inaccuracy, would have no effect of the gen set pickup. That is controlled by how deep the fuel pickup is physically placed in the tank.

An inaccurate fuel gauge isn't really a problem if it is at least consistent. If you find it always takes ~50 gallons at 3/4, and say ~75 gallons at 1/2, you can adapt to it.

An engine monitor like VMSpc or BlueFire should give you a very accurate reading of how much fuel you use, or more importantly how much fuel you have left. But won't take into account how much fuel you use in the generator. Or how much of that fuel tank capacity the engine pickup can get out of the tank.

[RVPioneer]

Originally Posted by Rod Fosback

our fuel gauge does not read accurate, reads full just fine, but when it is at 3/4 full it takes 50 gallons, worried about this when boon docking with the gen set feed, any suggestion?

Rod and Jackie
2005 Alpine 36 FDDS 75316
Eugenestan Oregon

Rod,

You should have the 115 gallon tank. Some 2005’s got the 100 gallon tank. Ours behaves similarly, much like the gauge in my pickup truck.

I’d speculate that if you put 100 gallons in an empty 115 gallon tank, the gauge would show as full. If you have the 115 gallon tank and add 50 gallons at 3/4 then you have 65 in the tank at 3/4. Fuel cut off to the generator is at ~1/4 tank, so ~30 gallons. Figure 1 gal/hr at full load, 1/2 gal/hr at half load. If you park with a full tank the generator could run for 85-170 hours before fuel is cut off.

I’ve found that the coach can cover 500 miles on the first half of the tank, according to the gauge, and 300 miles on the second half, so I always try to fill up at 1/2, because the mileage is so much better.

That was attempted humor.

Bob