Optimax Fuel Guage

Tony Barber · 06 January 2005, 13:22

Hi,

I'm sorry for bombarding the forum with questions.

The fuel guage on my smartcraft guages isn't working. The dealers have said that they are getting a reasonable reading from the sender in teh tank, so it must be a preblem with the wiring somewhere.

The probelm is the wiring is all onder the deck and tehy have said they will have to take evrything out to find teh fault.

My question is, do you recon it is worth giving them the go ahead for an open ended cheque to fix it, or should I soldier on without the fuel guage and just carry a large jerry can of spare fuel?

Also, any ideas of an easier way to fix it.

Cheers,

Tony.

Rogue Wave · 06 January 2005, 13:37

Nah get it done later if you have to there is a much more sensible alternative to this and another of your problems the cracked opti guage.

You should always go out with a full tank and carry spare fuel, but the spare fuel is essential

what kind of GPS and Depth sounder have you got?

Alan · 06 January 2005, 14:03

Tony, presumably you mean the fuel guage input from the tank sensor to the smartcraft guage? Do you still have the number of litres burned, lph etc functionality working. If so then I wouldn't bother. If you know how big your tank is and how much you've burned then you can manage your fuel. Fuel tank guages on RIBS are notoriously unreliable IMHO. RIB fuel tanks are usually long and shallow which doesn't make for accurate readings.

Tony Barber · 06 January 2005, 15:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rogue Wave

what kind of GPS and Depth sounder have you got?

Hi Rogue Wave,

I have got a Garmin Fishfinder 100 and GPS 152. The GPS works fine. I'm yet to get the fishfinder working yet?

Thanks for your help.

Tony.

Tony Barber · 06 January 2005, 15:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan

Tony, presumably you mean the fuel guage input from the tank sensor to the smartcraft guage? Do you still have the number of litres burned, lph etc functionality working. If so then I wouldn't bother. If you know how big your tank is and how much you've burned then you can manage your fuel. Fuel tank guages on RIBS are notoriously unreliable IMHO. RIB fuel tanks are usually long and shallow which doesn't make for accurate readings.

Hi Alan,

I do still have the No litres burned, lph etc, its just the amount in the tank.

Cheers

Tony.

Rogue Wave · 06 January 2005, 18:29

The reason why I asked about the electronics is that Navman kit now interfaces with the smartcraft system, so you don't need guages also

Navaman make a flowscan decice which has an independant reader and sensor and can be fitted quite easily to your rib to replace your fuel guage

Alan's comments are entirely accurate so if you want you don't have to do anything

Tony Barber · 23 January 2005, 18:32

I've been away for a while so sorry for the delay in replying and thanks for the help and advice.

I picked up my RIB at the weekend. I have decided against investigating the fuel fault any more. I'll just have to live with it.

Thanks again,

Tony.

Paul F · 23 January 2005, 19:15

Tony
As a matter of interest,what is actually wrong with guage does it not read at all or is it telling lies.
Paul

Tony Barber · 24 January 2005, 20:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul F

Tony
As a matter of interest,what is actually wrong with guage does it not read at all or is it telling lies.
Paul

Hi Paul,

It is showing a fault on the guage with the fuel level. Therefore it is showing as empty. My local mariner dealers recon that it is a fault somewhere in the smartguage wiring loom, which could be anywhere between the engine and console or the engine and fuel tank sender. Therefore finding it would be a painstaking task, checking all the wires by hand.

The other guage still shows total fuel burned etc.

Rogue Wave suggested a Navman fishfinder/gps may do the trick as these can show fuel level etc, however I'm not sure if that would also show an error?

Tony.

Paul F · 24 January 2005, 21:48

Hmm, you could still have the fault with the navman fitted as that i believe just plugs into the loom that you already have, but will check tomorrow. I would have thought that they could have checked the wires with a meter to confirm as to if the loom is ok or the actual guage head that is faulty.
Paul

Paul F · 25 January 2005, 17:27

It does look as though the navman plugs into the smartcraft harness, so if you have a problem with the loom it could still be there when navman pluged in.
There are 2 wires coming from tank sender into loom and then into ECM.
Black and Orange is the earth wire which must be earthed into loom Earth and not grounded at tank.
Pink and Black is other also goes into loom and up to ECM via a couple of connectors.
Turn off electrics
Test both wires individualy for continuity(or get someone to do it for you) this will hopefully tell if the loom is ok up to ECM .
Paul

Daniel · 25 January 2005, 18:03

Do you have a GRP or metal tank? There is a retro-fit kit or service bulliten i beleive about this problem for metal tanks. Sounds like your dealer is bullshi**ing you a bit here... as Paul says diagnosing further is not too hard, just these things tend to be time consuming.

Tony Barber · 25 January 2005, 18:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul F

It does look as though the navman plugs into the smartcraft harness, so if you have a problem with the loom it could still be there when navman pluged in.
There are 2 wires coming from tank sender into loom and then into ECM.
Black and Orange is the earth wire which must be earthed into loom Earth and not grounded at tank.
Pink and Black is other also goes into loom and up to ECM via a couple of connectors.
Turn off electrics
Test both wires individualy for continuity(or get someone to do it for you) this will hopefully tell if the loom is ok up to ECM .
Paul

Hi Paul. I will get someone to check the 2 wires that you mention and report back. Thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel

Do you have a GRP or metal tank? There is a retro-fit kit or service bulliten i beleive about this problem for metal tanks. Sounds like your dealer is bullshi**ing you a bit here... as Paul says diagnosing further is not too hard, just these things tend to be time consuming.

Hi Daniel. This sounds bad, however I have no idea whether the tank is GRP or metal. I assume it is metal but ? The dealer did say he could investigate further but he warned about it being costly. Bearing in mind how much previous bills have been I decided against giving him the go ahead!

What is the service pack that you mention and how woudl I find out more about it?

Thanks

Tony.

Daniel · 25 January 2005, 20:59

Really need to know if your tank is GRP or metal. It should be obvious from any part you can see, for example where the fuel gauge bolts in or where the filler pipe enters the tank.

You could also 'phone RIBcraft, they'll know for sure.

If's is GRP what i mention is of no relevance.

If it's metal then i'll look into it for you.

Tony Barber · 25 January 2005, 21:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel

Really need to know if your tank is GRP or metal. It should be obvious from any part you can see, for example where the fuel gauge bolts in or where the filler pipe enters the tank.

You could also 'phone RIBcraft, they'll know for sure.

If's is GRP what i mention is of no relevance.

If it's metal then i'll look into it for you.

OK. I'll look into it tomorrow. Thanks.

Rogue Wave · 26 January 2005, 12:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony Barber

The dealer did say he could investigate further but he warned about it being costly. Bearing in mind how much previous bills have been I decided against giving him the go ahead!

Thanks

Tony.

He is seeing you over Tony, either pull him about it or find someone else!

If my memoery serves me correctly they have already told you that the fuel tank guage sender is reading OK.

To read the fuel sender they must have access to it and if you have access to the fuel sender which is attached to the fuel tank. Ribcraft would have installed some sort of access panel to allow you to examine the tank!

re your previous concern re the Navman kit not showing errors. You can have two solutions either stand alone or integrated with navman kit

The first is for fuel and the second takes the Smart guagues to a new level of info

http://www.navman.com/marine/products/fuel/index.html

http://www.navman.com/marine/product...aft/index.html

Paul F · 26 January 2005, 17:19

The srevice info mentioned concerns the earth wire from the sender.
It MUST go to the earth in the loom supplied for tank sender and paddle wheel.
If a metal tank is fitted and is earthed out to the battery, then the earth from sender is not to go to tank as a short cut.
Paul