Intermittent fuel level in a 206 - fuel sender issue?

[SilentSeven]

My dash gauge varies between reporting the correct fuel level and no fuel. There is no real pattern - the dash will show the correct level for hours or days and then flips over to reporting no fuel. The low fuel warning light on the Faria system triggers as well.

From my read, this has all the makings of a sticky tank sender. I think if the gauge itself was failing, I wouldn't get the low fuel warning.

It appears that the 206 uses a 'calibrated sender' - calibrated in that it accommodates reporting the correct % of fuel for the L shaped gas tank. Kinda pricey at $220 before board discount - https://nautiqueparts.com/fuel-sendi...002-2009-11-5/

Best case is that my float is sticky and I can pull my existing sending unit, do a little magic to free it up and avoid buying the new one.

Does anyone have any experience this issue?

[Jonny Quest]

I replaced the sending unit in my model year 2001 Ski Nautique. I purchased a Moeller Marine reed switch sending unit (looked just like the one on N.P.). I haven't needed to replace the sending unit in my 2003 Ski Nautique 206 (1 year earlier than yours). The part you referenced from N. P. says it works for model years 2002 through 2009. I recently changed out my Faria gateway box and digital gauges using the Correct Craft "fix" that provided new wiring harnesses and new analog gauges. The stock OEM sending unit in my 2003 communicated just fine with the new analog fuel gauge. That makes me believe that the Moeller reed switch sending unit would work fine as a replacement. The Moeller units are designed for use in applications calibrated to 33 to 240 Ohms. You can check your current unit's output using a multi-meter. It's likely that your current sending unit's output is in the 33 to 240 Ohms range. Do a search for "Moller marine reed switch fuel sending unit 035762-10". That is for an 11" tank depth. The length is typically 1" shorter than tank depth. The unit on N.P. says 11.5" Don't know if that means the application is for a fuel tank depth of 11.5" or if the actual sending unit is 11.5. Moeller part number 035764-10 is for a 13" fuel tank depth (12" sending unit). These Moeller units can be found on Ámazon for under $90. If the sending unit is a bit short, your gauge will simply indicate empty when there are still a few gallons remaining. That's a good thing in my opinion.

JQ

[SilentSeven]

Thanks JQ - interesting. I suspect if I can't get my current unit to work (via the remove/inspect/clean approach), I'll likely spend the extra few bucks for the Nautique unit. For various reasons, I'd like an accurate fuel reading and it seems the calibrated Nautique version of the gauge is the only option. But it also seems pretty clear from your findings that the Moller units would also plug in and report levels.

I can see how the L shape of the tank complicates the sender. :/

[SilentSeven]

So I dug into this more today.

First...the sender in the 206 is in a god awful position. It's sandwiched between the aft seat back and the trunk. If you open the trunk and slide aside the covering panels, you can see the sender amidship and access the wiring connection. There is no way I can see to remove the sender without sliding the fuel tank aft. And to slide the tank aft, it looks like you need to remove the covering panels, the tank anchors and likely the left and right filler hoses and the vent hose. THEN...it collides with the 'trick tank' (if you like me you have one) which means there may still not have sufficient clearance without pulling the trick tank. This tetris like assembly was all easy at the factory but is not good for field repairs. :/

So...I decided that maybe I should assume my sender is really OK and I just have a wiring harness problem. The boat is 22 years old. I can access the harness. First I measured the sender resistance and it returns an in range value. Then I disconnected the sender harness plug and cleaned the connections and put in a contact enhancer and reassembled. Yay...I now get a tank level on the dash.

We'll see if it the repair holds. I really don't want to have to dissemble the back of the boat to swap the sender unless it's the fix of last resort.

[SilentSeven]

update: My fuel gauge is officially intermittent even after a wiring cleanup. Seems to work more than less at the moment which is good enough for now. Due to apparent swap out complexity, will wait until the sender completely dies before attempting to replace the tank sender.

If anyone has any sender replacement tricks, I'm listening.

Drat.

[SteveDoc]

I also bought the new style calibrated sending unit from nautique parts. My sending unit works it’s just not accurate due to the L shape tank and I wanted to fix that.
l saw your post and was hoping and looking forward to how the project turned out and if you had to slide the tank so I’m a little disappointed you aborted the project .
I did a lot on my boat this past November, strut bearings, rudder and shaft packing, new prop shaft and engine alignment so when I looked at tackling the sending unit I ran out of energy. I’ll tackle the sending unit in November and change the fuel lines at that time I’ll update how it turns out and what I had to do to complete it.

[biacs]

Steve Doc - great to hear you have a plan! One thing to mention:-) Your ballast tanks WILL have the same issue over time - they will just flake out. If your center ballast is reachable when thee fuel tank gets done, change the ballast sending unit as well!

I had a 220, so my tank was ahead of the fuel tank - good to slide the ballast back when you have access! I'm not sure how this applies to the 206 - but hope it helps! These are such great boats, but with age comes some preventative upkeep

[SilentSeven]

l saw your post and was hoping and looking forward to how the project turned out and if you had to slide the tank so I’m a little disappointed you aborted the project .

Sorry to disappoint. But I think the job is simpler on your boat as the 196 doesn't have the trick tank that my boat has. Your boat the the aft locker but I bet the locker is deep and goes nearly to the bottom of the boat. If that's true, I don't think this job is so bad. You'll have the required space to slide back your fuel tank the few inches needed to lift out and replace the sender.

In my boat with the trick tank in the aft locker, I don't see the space needed without removing the trick tank. Now....thinking out loud...the job still may be possible on my boat if I can slightly rotate my fuel tank just enough to gain the necessary clearance. That may actually be the trick to swap the sender without pulling the aft tank.

[SteveDoc]

Yes I don’t have to worry about a tank in the locker so that’s a plus I don’t like the idea of having to move the fuel tank though. I’ll see how it goes in the fall. Thanks for the info.