determining fuel level in 2013 Pathfinder 22 TRS, wooden dowel?

[elopomorph]

I am a new pathfinder owner and have put about 15 hours on my boat so far.  I purchased a used 2013 Pathfinder 22 TRS.  My fuel gauge is useless.  The needle on the fuel gauge has still has not moved in over 15 hours.  I know fuel gauges are commonly useless on boats.  So how do I determine the fuel level?  

I started keeping a notebook in the boat to record the date and how many gallons of fuel I put in the boat.  

Does anyone use the wooden dowel method for 2013 Pathfinder 22 boats?  So stick a wooden dowel down the fuel fill hole on the boat and use it as a dipstick?  Not sure if it will work on my boat since the fuel fill line goes down the hull at an angle to the gas tank.  Just curious if anyone had any luck with using the wooden dowel method to monitor the amount of gasoline in a pathfinder fuel tank.  

 

[Wanaflatsfish]

10 minutes ago, elopomorph said:

I know fuel gauges are commonly useless on boats.  So how do I determine the fuel level?  

 

 

check the owners manual for the gallons on the original build or give the HIN to the Pathfinder and they will tell you the size.

Fill the fuel tank to overflow - burp, then run it down to what you think is relatively safe....say it's 50 gallons, run it to 25 gallons.

then, as you are doing, gallons in / miles run = Miles per gallon.....do this 3 -4 times, and you'll find you are always within 10%.

I always refill my boats to full every trip ending or beginning, so, for me, it's about range..so on my HPS 2300, with a SHO 250, I know I"m getting about 3.5 MPG at normal cruise 28-30 mph....I have 62 gallon tank - so, I figure (conservative - 3.0 mph X 60 =180 mile range and take 70 % for safety and I'm at about 126 miles of range).

This will get me to any of the farthest points I fish in the backcountry and 20-30 offshore for summer dolphin....easy peasy.

Other option if you want to be exact, install a fuel cell in line...but, to me it's a waste of time and money for the average boater.

DC

 

[George Seither]

If I’m not mistaken ETech will give fuel burn rate/ gallons used if you have the right  OMC gauge is installed, next is if your running a Lowrance Fishfinder GPS latest recall was Elite or better ( research the unit on NEMA Capacities I Could be wrong) you may find the data cable to NEMA 2000 to your electronics, Garmin I believe has the same capability others may be able to inform you of this. what Wana has said works well once you get to know your boat, I use the old school method on my Mud Boat

[jim33042]

Would like to know engine and what gps model you are using... most likely a fuel burn from the engine would be best option.. garmin will let you program ttl tank size and add fuel, this will give you avg burn rate, fuel used, tank level/fuel left once you know and input size of tank.. and this info is easily displayed on the gps while running, depending on how much info you want.. I would believe other gps make/models should do same, but you have to have nema 2000 setup, if not it is not a hard system or an expensive system to set up... there are also fuel meters to connect online of fuel hose to give burn rates to gps as well, again this runs on a nema2000 network.. you can also replace your tank sender, not a difficult job to do.  Before you do that, have you checked, cleaned, or just loosened and retightened connections to fuel sender on tank (bad ground issue)? Sometimes that is all that is needed to get the sender reading again.

[fin-addict]

Love the old school stick it. Today you can’t use it due to all the fuel line bends. Tanks not directly under under fuel fill.

[elopomorph]

 Thanks for all the tips.  I have a Lowrance HDS9 unit which has a plug labeled "NMEA 2000".  So I think that is where I could plug in a wire that connects to my enguine to get fuel running data to display on my Lowrance HDS9 unit.  I didn't know that.  Very cool.  

Looks like my "old-school" method  of using the wooden stick to check fuel is not a valid option due to the fuel line bends in my 2013 Pathfinder 22 TRS. 

 

[George Seither]

You will need to identify which HDS unit you have 2013 time frame I’m guessing HDS gen 2 if it came with the boat but could be a later addition by past owner, it makes a difference as I recall in NEMA backbone T connection if you have manuals that came with the boat read up on them. This sote has been working on Pathfinder boats as well to view, if you download may want a fee for doing so.

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1112296/Lowrance-Hds-Gen2-Touch.html#manual

your issue with the fuel gauge may be as simple as cleaning two wires or replacing two ring terminals on the sending unit under one of the floor or in console round hatches, one of these hatches is access to the sending unit, they are notorious for corrosion. My guess is behind console where you stand.

https://teamcolibri.blogspot.com/2019/10/which-generation-lowrance-hds.html?m=1