2006 23 LSV Fuel Sending Unit bad??

[BBonLBJ]

Fuel gauge stuck at E regardless of fuel level.  Removed Fuel Sending Unit.  Float was not 'stuck' nor constricted.   With sending unit out of tank,  turned ignition on and verified that by moving the float up and down the reed shaft,  the fuel gauge did go from F to E properly.   Thought that the float might have just been snagged somehow.  Re-inserted into a confirmed 1/2 full tank.   Still shows E.   Thought maybe the float 'isn't floating'.    Brought a small pail of water onboard and manually took the float system and submerged the reed and observed the float to properly float at the water level and also watched my gauge show the proper level as I moved the reed up and down into the pail of water.   So....the system work.   Re-inserted into the 1/2 full tank...and the dang fuel gauge reads E.    Has anyone seen this?   It is simple to buy new and replace .....but this makes no sense.   ideas before I just pull the trigger and buy new...which frustrates me becuz this one seems to work (in my pail of water)...but not in my tank?      I wonder if the float has properties that somehow don't float anymore (2006 boat) in gas but they do in water....which my chemistry side of my brain says makes no sense either.     Any help is appreciated.   

[Rednucleus]

What does it read with a full tank of gas?  Boat gas gauge accuracy is notoriously rotten.  

[smileysteve]

I have a 2006 as well, had to replace my sender a couple of years ago.

The resistors inside the sender can go bad.

Reading E all of the time is much better than reading 1/2 all of the time even though you're on E (which was my experience, which led me down a whole rabbit hole until I thought, why not just put $5 of gas in and it ran great)

In terms of it not working when it's in the tank; a few things come to mind

• Wires are fragile, maybe a crimp isn't tight enough
• Make sure that no unshielded wire is touching the aluminum honeycomb of the center floor panel
• Use an ohm meter across the entire distance.

[BBonLBJ]

So update to you guys...thanks for your quick response.     As I reported the sender 'works' - meaning - when removed from the tank,  I can manually move the float up and down the stainless steel shaft and watch my fuel gauge go from E to F corresponding to where the float is on the shaft...so electrically,  there is no problem with the unit.   The further test that I performed was to lower the sending unit (and float) into a pail of water and watch that the float did stay at the surface of the water....and as i moved the shaft up and down,  the proper reading was observed on the fuel gauge.   So here is the UPDATE...... for you chemistry majors.    I took a container and filled it with gas.    Did the same experiment.    The float has LOST all of its floatation properties in gas......even though it floated fine in water.    So......my guess is that either the float has over time absorbed so much fuel that it no longer floats when in the fuel tank (sinks to the bottom of the shaft - and therefore recorded an 'E' reading on my fuel gauge)....or that the float has deteriorated and changed its floating properties and no longer is able to float in fuel.    At any rate....this one is a weird one....but I brushed up on my chemistry none the less.   Now...next question....does anyone have a preferred vendor or do you have the ordering part number for the correct replacement?   thanks again!

[Bozboat]

Bakes

SkiDim

I used the toilet float style to replace mine, and carefully followed the thread here on how to install. It reads empty with 1/3 left in tank, so I either installed it wrong or that the problem with a shallow rectangle gas tank.  I will  probably go with the one that skidim offers next time I am really bored.