2000 malibu sportster fuel gauge sender replacement.

[Cameron101]

My fuel gauge recently started going crazy. It jumps all over the place from full to empty and all points in between. I figured the sender was bad..probably an issue with the float. My boat has a cutout on the top of the fuel tank in the center. Well. The sender is all the way in the starboard corner of the tank. I can barely see it with a flashlight. I am baffled as to how i am supposed to remove it. I can maybe get one hand to it and may be able to blindly remove it but theres no way i would be able put it back. Also. I dont think there's room between the top of the tank and the bulkhead to remove the sender, even if i did get all the screws out. 

What am i missing?. What is the procedure here?. My current thinking is to just leave the broken one and install a new sender under my cutout. 

[drh]

@Cameron101 You'll need to remove the back seat to change out the sender. There are studs all along the top of the seatback that attach it. I had to loosen the side panels where the grab handles are to pull them out some so you can reach the studs along the seatback where it wraps around. The studs along the back can be accessed through the blower vent. A ratcheting wrench is your friend here. 

Once you gain access to the sender you can ground the pink wire and see if your gauge reads full just to rule out the wiring and gauge as the problem. When I replaced mine I had to use some gas resistant sealant when reinstalling because the top of the tank was warped and the gasket wouldn't seal fully.

Edited August 8, 2021 by drh

[Baggerlance]

If you decide to replace, compare the threads on the old screws to the threads in the replacement and make sure they match, or use the old screws if they fit the new sender. If the tank is like mine, the nuts are embedded in the tank and you don't want to strip them.

[Bozboat]

18 hours ago, Cameron101 said:

My fuel gauge recently started going crazy. It jumps all over the place from full to empty and all points in between. I figured the sender was bad..probably an issue with the float. My boat has a cutout on the top of the fuel tank in the center. Well. The sender is all the way in the starboard corner of the tank. I can barely see it with a flashlight. I am baffled as to how i am supposed to remove it. I can maybe get one hand to it and may be able to blindly remove it but theres no way i would be able put it back. Also. I dont think there's room between the top of the tank and the bulkhead to remove the sender, even if i did get all the screws out. 

What am i missing?. What is the procedure here?. My current thinking is to just leave the broken one and install a new sender under my cutout. 

One thing to check, my 99 sender has three wires, one to power, one to the MDC and one ground. If the ground comes loose the gauge will bounce around.  My understanding is that the gauge is on a delay with the MDC to keep it from bouncing as the boat moves.