Fuel gauge says I'm empty.

[walan98]

After a 20 mile trek through the trees for a day, unload at home and the low fuel light is on with no bars showing. Anyone else had this problem and know the fix before I start tearing things apart?

 

[Jonce]

I would be interested in knowing too. It seems pretty unaccurate with the two tanks of fuel I've ran through so far.

First ride - 35 miles, left on full and returned with 2 bars.
Second ride - 55 miles, left on full and returned with 0 bars. Trailered it home, now it says 3 bars.

I am packing a wooden dowel or paint stir stick with me just so I can drip it in the tank and get a manual read out. I also pack 2.6 gallons of gas just in case.

 

[mt_archery_guy]

It is possible the fuel level float may be hanging up on the fuel line inside the tank. I had mine out the other day checking the pick up lines and noticed how close the float was to the fuel line coming up to the pump. Just a thought....

 

[Topogigo]

Figure out your approximate range.

I was having the same problem. Next time you ride set your trip meter and figure out how far you went, fill your sled. Formula= miles traveled divided by fuel consumed times the total amount of fuel your tank holds. I was coming home quite discouraged looking at my gauge however when I filled the sled I realized how inaccurate the gauge is. I am getting 100 miles on some fills. I trust my range not my gage. I hope this helps.

 

[dopey333]

pretty sure its a cat thing, every sled iv seen from them with that fuel meter has been inaccurate. ride it till she spudders record fuel milage then you know easiest way to figure it out.

 

[m8magicandmystery]

rig up a plastic sight tube on the side of the tank like the old Yamaha bravo's

a couple mini bulkhead fittings with two 1/4 inch 90 barbs and connect them with the tubing

 

[nosajlleb]

You have to tear apart your tank and bend the sender down which will make it much more accurate. On HCS there is a thread on it which includes fixing the stupid valves in there also.

 

[Bendy]

New day, everyday...

pretty sure its a cat thing, every sled iv seen from them with that fuel meter has been inaccurate. ride it till she spudders record fuel milage then you know easiest way to figure it out.

with the fuel gauge. I also use the trip meter.

 

[walan98]

It's all tore apart at home now. It was showing there was no fuel in the tank. Didn't know if there might be some electrical failure that someone else had come across?? With the assembly out of the tank and moving it by hand it still doesnt seem to want to work right? Thinking it has to be some sort of part failure wether it be mechanical or electrical.

 

[izzni]

It's all tore apart at home now. It was showing there was no fuel in the tank. Didn't know if there might be some electrical failure that someone else had come across?? With the assembly out of the tank and moving it by hand it still doesnt seem to want to work right? Thinking it has to be some sort of part failure wether it be mechanical or electrical.

How do you mean not work right?

You can hook a multimeter between the grey signal wire and the ground and should see resistance go vaguely between 0 and 100 ohms. That will tell you if the sensor in the tank is working right.

The stock software in the fuel gauge does some averaging of the signal over time, so you won't get an instantaneous response when you move the float arm around outside of the tank with the gauge hooked up. If you move it and then wait for a moment the gauge should update slowly.

That being said, even if the sensor and gauge are behaving correctly, the tank is extremely long on a Procross/Proclimb. You will get a very different reading when you are riding the sled at speed versus standing next to it while idling (due to the sled's pitch). Bending the float arm helps a bit, but if you're riding aggressively you will still get inaccurate fuel levels.

My reflash of the gauge fixes the inconsistency by only sampling the fuel level when the sled is traveling at a steady speed. It also is calibrated with the sled in a moving position. I was riding last weekend, and once the fuel gauge said I was under 5% fuel level I ran out of gas within 7 miles...

 

[mt_archery_guy]

For myself, I never really have a lot of faith in any fuel gauge on any of my sleds. They only seem to give you a ballpark idea of how much fuel you have left. I use my trip odometer to gauge my fuel. Just keep track of your fuel mileage each trip, taking in consideration riding conditions, and after awhile you will know how many miles you're good for on a full tank.

 

[lundracing]

Mine always is off. I don't even look anymore. Just fill up before we go out and figure as long as nobody else needs gas I should not either. One day I will probably pay for it but it will have you worried half the day if you start looking at your gauge.

 

[walan98]

Thanks for all the info. I ride with another sled like mine, so I wasn't to worried about running out. I knew I would get tired of the low fuel flashing across the gauge all day though with zero bars showing.
Averaging? That sounds silly to me. I guess they have to make everything complicated so ya have to take it in to the dealer to have anything worked on.
Put her all back together last night with a little extra bend in the float arm. As she sits, it is reading 2 bars shy of full. That is where I would expect it to be with 20 miles on it. Maybe that extra bend is just what it needed. I can also see how it could get hung up inside the tank by the way the float rotates on the rod and the fancy contours of the tank, also being right next to the pickup assembly.
Togwotee here I come!

 

[walan98]

Here is the pic I took while I had it apart. Shows most of the fuel assembly minus the 2 back stupid valves.

 

[skiarisfan624]

I got clear tanks. But no pro climb :'(

 

[MR.T]

The fuel guages suck. buddy's guage never leaves the full mark until end of trip, then it flashes on one bar. They are not very accurate. With a program and a full tank of gas we can do about 100 miles per tank. depending on how much you are on the throttle. Also fill the tank with the machine on a slight nose up angle. you'd be suprised at how much more fuel you can sneek in there !

 

[izzni]

Averaging and only sampling under certain conditions may sound overly complicated, but I can assure you it works. An ECU of a car has dozens of tables to control fuel, which is also pretty complicated, and my car was running fine today. A reflashed Deluxe Gauge has a fuel gauge that is actually worth a damn.

http://www.nextstagegauges.com/home/enhanced-fuel-gauge

 

[CallMeAl]

I know this is a very old thread, but I wanted to share my solution to this same problem. Sled is a 2014 M8000 SnoPro, 1800 miles.

When I took the pump assembly out, I noticed that the float had a pinhole leak, and was subsequently full of gas (instead of air). This was causing the float to not..well...float!

So, I drained the float, cleaned it, and put a dab of melted ptex (the stuff you use for ski base repair) over the hole. Now it works!

 

[eldereldo]

You can also easily get the float tangled with the pickup by rolling the sled. Sometimes rolling it again will fix it, some times just pulling it over on its side one way then the other will do it.