Fuel tank level gauge - 27' Hunter

[oldgranpop]

In July I bought a 1982 27' Hunter which I dearly love! I have one problem - there is no fuel level gauge! People tell me to plot the number of engine hours & then fill the tank to figure fuel consumption per engine hour. That sounds great except the only way I know the tank is full ifs if it overflows & then I'm in trouble!

Any suggestions???

Ole Dad, St. Pete., Fl.

 

[Warren Milberg]

I personally would never depend on a mechanical or electrical fuel guage on a boat. I fill the tank (see below), keep track of engine hours with a No. 2 pencil and notepad. I know the fuel consumption rate of my Yanmar 2GM20F. When filling your tank, you can avoid fuel spills easily. Either make a "Fuel Catcher" like the one I've pictured below, buy a "Fuel Whistle" on this site or elsewhere, or buy a fuel catcher from West Marine. My guess is that I know to within a half a gallon how much fuel I have at any time.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Fuel catcher might be a bad idea. If you have a low spot in your vent hose you will trap fuel if you overfill. Then the vent will not work and you'll take forever to put even ten gallons into the tank. My 1979 H37C has the original fuel gauge with the original cork float and still gives me accurate readings. One of the H27 owners will have some suggestions.

 

[David in Sandusky]

Our guage

Our '77 h27 has a guage monted on the top of the tank in the forward end of the starboard lazarette. All that is visible is a dial indicator, but it works very well!

I guess the question is, is there a modern guage you can retrofit at a reasonable cost?

 

[Guest]

Simple!

Try the "Fuel Whistle" to prevent those spills. You'll never have another.

Check it out in the "Store" on this site.

 

[bob c g]

suction tube

To accurately measure the fuel currently in the tank before filling, remove the fill line at the tank, get a length of clear tubing insert it into the tank until it touches the bottom place your finger over the top to create a suction (like a straw) remove the tube and note the level of the fuel in the tube, and there you have it!

 

[amcmahon]

Hey Old Pop- -from one old man to another, I have an 84 '27 and share your need to keep track of fuel. Three years ago I made the move. My 27 , as previous responder noted, did have a gage on top of the tank - pretty incredable it was impossible to see. So I bought an in-tank float and sending unit. It was a tight fit to squeeze between top of tank and cockpit floor above. Old gage and sender uses same size flange as new and is held in by about 6 screws. Be sure to install new gasket/seal to keep water from dripping in. In attaching also remember you are screwing into plastic, so not too tight. The old speed and depth gages on the port cockpit bulkhead did not work anymore ( I use GPS for speed and depth) so I put new fuel gage in place of old speed gage (had to make mounting plate from starboard since old hole for gage was too big). The 12v power for the old speed gage is used for new fuel gage. So now I have fuel and I added engine temp gage where old depth was on cockpit bulkhead. The fuel gage project really was not too hard - give it a try. I've added a picture of new gages on bulkhead. Tony