Boating How-To’s - Cabo Fuel Tank Level Guage Mystery

Looking for some ideas for troubleshooting a problem with our 31' Cabo's fiel tank level gauge. Since we have owned the boat, the level gauge did not work correctly. At near empty it would read 50%, full would read full. We pulled the level sender to adjust it (a capacitive level device, tube in a tube), and the adjustment screw was broken. So we invested in a brand new guage and sender that was already calibrated. We verified it would work on diesel. Installed last summer; when we tested it by lowering and raising it in the tank, it worked perfectly.

We bolted in place with a half-tank of gas (it read 1/2), then had the tank filled. It has never worked since; it behaves just like the old level system; at near empty it reads about 50%.

The one thing we did check was for water in the fuel, however our seperators have never had water in it, and we have no engine problems or filter fouling from contaminants.

Any ideas?

John

Did you purchase a WEMA sender? Have you removed it to see if the float is sliding up and down the shaft? If the float gets some dirt or grit under it, it wont move.

Is there a tank baffle in close proximity the float hits at 1/2?

The sender is capacitive (no float), so no issues of a sticky float (I wish we could find a float type that would fit down thru the mount hole lol, would be a lot easier to troubleshoot). The tank is a section of the boat that is glassed in; the fuel take off to the engines is directly below the mounting plate for the sender so doubtful there is a baffle.

Funny I have a chevy truck that has been the same way since it was a year old. Chevy even "fixed " it a few times O_o

Similar on my cabo 32. I think the fiberglass tank is v shape so the lower it goes the smaller it gets. This is why at 50% I really have about 25%.