Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

To my fellow Newbs...I have a new pontoon that one would think would have an accurate gas gauge! Well...when my gauge hits 1/4 tank it is very very close to empty and drains fast! I learned the hard way if you know what I mean! I purchased these items and keep them on my boat to avoid embarrassment. Last weekend I decided to once again test the "accuracy" of my gas gauge with these new items on board. It hit 1/4 tank and I watched as the needle moved very quickly and within a few miles I ran out of gas. No problem because I wanted to try out these things, and they worked extremely well! The spare gas tank emptied into my tank very quickly and I was on my way...

Of course the moral of the story might be never test your gas gauge and fill up when it hits half full (or half empty for you pessimists) My "Seinfeld" friends will recall Kramer testing the needle on the test car gas gauge...living dangerously for the adrenalin rush! I'm done with my testing...

After learning the hard way last month, VERY good advice. Seeing as you have a Harris as well, I got the exact same behavior. Thankfully, Boat US and $85 later, I was at the fuel dock. Had a buddy and a cooler of iced beverages, so the wait for the rescue was much more bearable. Still embarrassing and humbling though. Is the siphon hose the self priming type that I've read about on here before?

I have that gas tank as well as the back up the gas tank. I have both of them with the gas mounts so that I can plug-n-play between the two of them. I noticed that I am blowing through the 6 gallons real fast with my 40hsp

A second reason is if your line or vent gets plugged up or something having an independent plug in fuel source can get you home or help troubleshoot motor problems...

I'm going to replace my 27 gallon tank with a 40 gallon tank. That should help.

Pontoon gas gauges very rarely are adjusted properly. It's not rocket science either. If your tank is open so you can get to the top you will see the gauge sender. All the gauges I have seen, the sender is adjustable. most have a simple arm and float arrangement. Usually the lenght of the float arm is adjustable with a set screw holding the arm onto the electrical variable resister. If the gauge still reads that you have gas, but in fact your empty the arm is too long. The adjustment is usually best done with an empty tank. Tie a string or a fine piece of fine soft wire to the float end, with an empty tank lower it back in if it doesn't read empty shorten the lever till it does. For safety reasons, I always adjusted mine to read empty when I still had a couple gallons left. Good Luck, and no smoking any where near the boat while your having fun.

Hey JS..it is a self priming gadget and it works great! Funny thing is after I emptied the 6 gallons in my tank it showed half full on the 30 some gallon gas gauge!

My Harris ( here comes another Newb description) fills up like a car...I don't see the gas tank just the fill cap on the back of my playpen. ( See Signature Picture..right above "Busy Living")
I just ran the end of the hose into it...put the jiggle end in the spare tank and "jiggled" it ..and watched the gas flow very quickly into the boat.

Who knew? Great advice. Thanks for sharing and good discussion/insights!

Our lake is only 16 miles long, so I cannot get into much range trouble. My best safety tool is a cellphone so I can call my cousin or next door neighbor to tow me in if there's a problem. I keep a 50' 1" rope in my boat, too.

But if I was going far off, I still have two 12 gallon Moeller plastic tanks and two 5 gallon Jerry Cans from my last pontoon boat. That's a 250+ mile range without stopping for fuel.

BobG wrote:I'm going to replace my 27 gallon tank with a 40 gallon tank. That should help.