What's up with the gas gauge?

[Bearbait53]

The trip odometer has 145 miles. The gas gauge had 2 bars and the fuel light was not on. Started down the road, maybe 2 miles and the gas light came on, O.K. so I have to fuel up within 30- 35 miles right? No, the bike quit and shut off. I pulled off on the side of the road, sat there for a couple of minutes and it started back up, rode 1 more mile to the gas station and re-fueled. Took 5 gallons to fill it up. I thought when the light came on I had plenty of time to get to a station. This was scary. What's up with out fuel indicators? Are they not reliable? I usually wait til the light comes on to re-fuel, but this was very strange. (06) 1600 Nomad.

[dank]

I have no idea what happened. Mine always came on at 4.2-4.3 gallons used. Left me a gallon to get fuel.

[tomm]

The fuel gauges are notoriously unreliable. On some bikes, they work better than others, but even those can act up now and then.

Use your trip meter and your average mileage to figure out when to fill up. Best not to let the tank get below a 1/2 gallon. The fuel pump is cooled by being immersed in gasoline, and it can overheat if the gas gets too low.

Also, if you do run out again, rock the bike side to side to re-distribute the gas to the side with the pump (left side I think). May buy you just enough to get to the next gas station.

[Bearbait53]

Originally Posted by tomm

The fuel gauges are notoriously unreliable. On some bikes, they work better than others, but even those can act up now and then.

Use your trip meter and your average mileage to figure out when to fill up. Best not to let the tank get below a 1/2 gallon. The fuel pump is cooled by being immersed in gasoline, and it can overheat if the gas gets too low.

Also, if you do run out again, rock the bike side to side to re-distribute the gas to the side with the pump (left side I think). May buy you just enough to get to the next gas station.

That's what I did and it made it one more mile the the gas station. I can usually get 160 miles before the light comes on. Not sure what happened this time.

[Bearbait53]

At 150 miles I try to keep a close eye on the fuel light. Again this was crazy scary!!

[cnc]

My is pretty consistent but as mentioned I reset t the trip meter each fill up. On the running out part, remember there is a tunnel down the middle of the tank and you can usually get going again for a few miles by leaning and sloshing the bit of gas left over to the pump side.

[Navigator]

I haven't looked up the mechanism in shop manual but does anyone know if there is a float in the tank and if so, is it on the end of an arm?

The reason I ask is that is what my Rocket had and to adjust it you opened the bottom of the tank to reach in and gently bend the arm.

[tonik]

I get a lot of flack everytime I say this, but put a bunch of Marvel Mystery Oil in the tank. When my gauge on my 1600 would act wonky like yours did I would do that and it would be fine for a long time.

I have no explanation, I just know it worked for me multiple times.

It's a Mystery.

[Top Cat]

Simple, forget the gauge and use the trip meter.

[Tortuga]

Originally Posted by tonik

I get a lot of flack everytime I say this, but put a bunch of Marvel Mystery Oil in the tank. When my gauge on my 1600 would act wonky like yours did I would do that and it would be fine for a long time.

I have no explanation, I just know it worked for me multiple times.

It's a Mystery.

I know, that's why it's a Marvel. Sorry, couldn't resist.

[cnc]

Originally Posted by Tortuga

I know, that's why it's a Marvel. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Marvel mystery oil, isn't that made from ground up super hero comics?

[Tortuga]

It would be Marvelous if it was....

[degreaser]

my 05 800 has a manual trip meter which I reset to zero after every fill-up, I go by distance to figure out when I need gas

[dank]

I always used the trip meter also, but in combination with the gauge. Mileage varied greatly depending on speed and headwinds. So just deciding to fill up at say 150 would not have been wise. I had one tank in South Dakota with a very strong headwind where I got 24 mpg. I would not have made 150 miles. I filled up just shy of 100 miles on that tank. As I said, my warning light always came on at 4.2-4.3 gallons used, but I watched the gauge's lights progressively going out on each tank and compared it to miles traveled to get an estimate of how much farther I could go before gassing up. That is one of the things I don't miss about the Nomad. I still set the trip meter, but on the ST with 7.7 gallons and around 50 mpg I just don't have to worry about it.

[Navigator]

Originally Posted by tonik

I get a lot of flack everytime I say this, but put a bunch of Marvel Mystery Oil in the tank. When my gauge on my 1600 would act wonky like yours did I would do that and it would be fine for a long time.

I have no explanation, I just know it worked for me multiple times.

It's a Mystery.

That's why it is called "Mystery oil" and I have used it for years. I had a valve ticking in old 1973 Ford F-100 390 engine and added about a half quart with the last oil change. Problem solved. It's a good product to keep on the shelf.