'14 ProStar Fuel Gauge Issues

[volsandskis]

Has anyone had bad luck with the new ProStar's fuel gauges? I have had what I believe is a full tank of gas in the boat, yet it only showed a half a tank. When I had a friend in the boat, depending on where he stood in the boat, the gauge would show 3/4 full on the tank? I am having issues getting this issue fixed. If anyone has experienced the same problem or knows how to fix it, suggestions and ideas would be greatly appreciated. I lost a ski run this past weekend due to running out of gas. That was a major bummer.

[Not_The_Pug]

You don't want to run the new boats out of gas too much, the new fuel pumps don't like it. I know of a few people that have had to replace there because they are always pushing the limit.

 

Now to your question, not sure if it is a MC issue or just gas gauges in boats. I have found some work great for years and others have issues. My Nautique gauge shows full at about a needle width from the full mark. I know one of the MC promo's in our area showed full at 3/4 last year.

[chris_logan]

Nothing beats the "visual check" when unsure. I haven't tried this the the Prostar though, and I can see how it may be more difficult with the new design as compared to the 197.

 

I did, however, experience the fuel gauge bouncing back and forth between 3/4 and full in a new Prostar. We were refueling at the dock during a tournament and it went from 3/4 to full in about 5 sec while we poured from a 5 gal tank. Not really wanting to spill any we stopped adding fuel. Then for the next 5 skiers it bounced between full and 3/4 before resting back at 3/4.

[volsandskis]

@rico That is totally embarrassing to happen in a tournament! I agree that MC needs to step their game on this issue. Running out of gas is just poor in a tournament. I have found so far with this boat that being able to check how much gas is in the tank is near impossible. MC (and other boats) have had gas gauge issues for years, but I would have thought it would have been fixed with this new ProStar. It starting to sound like many people are having the same problems. Does anyone know what MC is doing to fix this under warranty? I hate to waste a trip to the dealer for something that ultimately will not get fixed.

[MattP]

@RampDodd‌ @richarddoane‌ @MarcusBrown‌ Have you seen any issue with the gauges in yours?

[volsandskis]

@scotchipman‌ Yes, you can lift the Starboard side latch and see the gas tank. The problem with that is, it is very opaque and you can only see the top of the tank. It does make me wonder if MC was aware there was an issue since @MarcusBrown‌ was showing this at the boat show.

[Not_The_Pug]

All the new tanks in the boats are a different material/darker than in the past where you could lift the trunk bottom and see how much gas in the 197's. Even the last few years in the 197 you couldn't tell. Was always the best way to check.

[LeonL]

@Krlee, not just new boats. MC several years back would burn up a pump if you ran out of gas, and tried a few times to restart. Saw that at a tournament. Heard about it numerous times.

[ForrestGump]

90% of all fuel pumps sold by OEM's, both automotive and marine, are manufacturered by the same company. The marinizers and marine manufacturers don't make them or have them made. Typically it's an issue with the senders attached to the pump assemblies. They don't seem to take the marine environment well.

 

Right now, I know of 4 2014 boats with fuel guage/fuel level issues. 2 nautiques, 1 malibu and 1 mastercraft. It's hard to lambast MC when it's prevalent in the industry.

[MarcusBrown]

@volsandskis , the new ProStar has too many 'industry firsts' to list on both hands. One of the sweetest things about the new design, from an everyday user standpoint, is how the walk through transom step, very easily lifts and removes.....which allows for easier rudder port and steering cable serviceability than anything else on the market. It just so happens that the fuel tank is easily visible through that opening as well.

 

regarding the malfunctioning of the actual fuel gauge, I haven't seen it yet. Will have to look into it a bit more.

 

@volsandskis‌ how does the boat ski and drive for you?

[volsandskis]

@MarcusBrown‌ Thank you for the insight on a different way to see the gas tank. That is very helpful!

I realize that it took around two years for this MasterCraft ProStar to be developed. I will say that I have probably skied behind every inboard competition ski boat brand dating back to my buddies 1978 ProStar 190. I will say that the developers of MasterCraft and @MarcusBrown‌ have built and designed the best boat I have ever skied behind and driven. Now I was only born in 1975, but I have had the luxury of skiing behind every generation of MasterCraft boats with the exception of the 1968 year. @MarcusBrown‌ this is absolutely the best boat made for skiing and driving since the 1995-1996 years of the ProStar 190 s. In fact, it is much better by a long shot and better than any other brand out to date! The tracking is incredible and the wake is flat as a pancake! This boat is a BEAST!

I do wish that for such a premium price for a boat that gauges would work semi properly. This seems like such an easy technical solution for such an advanced slalom boat.

[aussiemc]

I agree with the statements about gauges in boats not always being accurate. In saying that the new ProStar that towed the Australian Open and also towed slalom at our Nationals had a similar gauge to the one being describe here, it showed half / three quarters when full, and would run with the needle on empty for a fair while. So I guess it not a one off scenario @volsandskis .

[Than_Bogan]

Not quite on-topic, but perhaps relevant: Every TSC2 Nautique I've seen has a fairly bad fuel gauge. I believe this is because the tank is shaped like an L, but the gauge just measures depth. So it goes from full to 1/2 almost instantly, then much more slowly from there. This effectively compresses the meaningful range of the gauge, making it unreliable to guess how much fuel is really in there. Removing the cover panel inside the rear storage panel and looking at the tank is the only reliable way.

 

It sure would be nice if all of these very expensive boats had accurate fuel gauges!

[oldjeep]

So is the issue that the tank is long and flat, so any movement of the boat makes the gauge read funny? Seems like this has been an issue in boats for a long time. Always seemed like building a circular baffle around the level sender might mitigate the problem. It would need very small holes connecting it to the rest of the tank so that it would hold fuel more consistently and not react immediately to the position of the boat (or when you were filling the tank)

[Skoot1123]

I can say from personal experience designing and evaluating fuel gauges and fuel level senders that it is not as simple as it seems - "just measure the level of fuel". It is almost an artform to get a gauge to read correctly for a moving object and an object that rocks back and forth. With that said, we did have some tricks for getting it to read consistently. I think that is what everyone is looking for - a gauge that is consistent.

[bigtallweed]

Would a fuel flow gauge be an idea ? If you knew you put in x gallons and used x amount you would know when to refill. Would not replace the fuel level gauge but could be way more accurate.

[volsandskis]

@Skoot1123‌ How do you measure the fuel when it isn't a straight drop from the fill spot to the tank? I do agree that the best fuel gauge for boating is using a stick and marking it, but in this case, you can't get the stick in there.

[schroed]

Are all the boat manufacturers still using floats in the tank to determine depth and thus the level of fuel? That seems like such a 20th century low tech solution and, as we have all observed, doesn't seem to work very well. It seems like a better way to do it would be to use some sort of strain gauge load cell to measure the weight of the tank and use the voltage from the strain gauges to calculate the proper volume of fuel in the tank.

[6balls]

Why are auto guages so much more accurate?

[skier2788]

@6balls some are baffled and most are "shunted" which basically means they make them very slow to react. I think the biggest issue or difference is a fuel sender is a small delicate potentiometer. It handles the up and down of the float very well but they dont like horizontal force. In an automobile they face the float forward so when you accelerate it just pushes the float up. In a boat it gets force applied from all directions. This ends up pulling the wiper arm away from the potentiometer. This results in dead spots in the potentiometer. Then you get inaccurate readings. Hope that makes some sense.

[6balls]

@skier2788 it does, thanks. I do think though that the potentiometer in any vehicle I've owned gets one hell of a workout in all directions but they do well, remain accurate, and even give a pretty good distance to empty.

It is pretty hard for a non-mechanical goober like to me to think there is not a way to have accurate fuel guages in boats. Always makes me think it's a cut corner...but perhaps not and more difficult than I realize.

If we are forced to live with such a situation, a critical part of the tank should be easily accessible for a manual check and the tank should be light enough in color that it's obvious how much fuel is in there.

[skier2788]

@6balls I believe it is not overly difficult to get a fuel gauge that would be accurate in a boat either. Just pointing out some obstacles that one would encounter when doing so. I think if a little more time was spent on tank design it would help a lot but might also increase the price of the boat. As @Than_bogan pointed out my tsc2 nautique never shows above half because of the L shaped tank design. When designing that boat I think that was something that was overlooked or was sacrificed for the perfect wake. I mean they could run a clear hose out and up one corner and give you a visual..... none of us would say anything if we skied -39 behind it. :)

[skier2788]

Oh and whenever I do a fuel pump in a car I do the sender as well. Thats how tempermental they are. I do about four a week and if I dont replace them one will fail just from the movement of the removal and install.

[Skoot1123]

A float was used in the applications I worked on but like @skier2788‌ said they work better in certain applications. The other issue is the relative height of the fuel tank to the width of the fuel tank. The height is small but the width is large so the movement range of the float in the fuel tank isn't very large, which means that your potentiometer resolution is decreased. This effectively forces your gauge to react to the fluctuating fuel level - quickly - and it does, so that is why it bounces around when you have your holeshot.

Separate issues revolve around air pockets and adequate ventilation for when your filling it up.

Just want people to understand that it is a little more complicated than you might think.

[eleeski]

A fuel gauge is of little value. Really you can get by with just an idiot light warning you that you have a known quantity of fuel left and it needs refueling soon. Maybe 3 sensors, full, half and get gas before the next set. Or a sight gauge engineered as the primary gauge.

On an interesting aside, my 2004 MC seems to have a useful fuel capacity of about 20 gallons. My 2011 MC has closer to 30 gallons useful. The fuel pump design of the new boat may be responsible for the difference because the tanks look similar. Also the new fuel pump assembly seems more reliable - no fuel pump issues with the new boat and several on the old boat.

For tournament lakes, a small tank might be optimal. Especially when paired with a small boat. I really need to do the V6 ZO conversion for the old American Skier.

Eric

[Bobmcdow]

Fuel senders used to a bulky swing arm float that operated a resistor. Later compact tubes were developed that created the resistance with electronics. To connect to the newer computers (Why?) the sender needed to produce 0-5 volts. Looks like boat mfgr's went to a tube that relies on the small pressure created when inserted downward in the tank. Problem seems to be that with time & sloshing, the fuel creeps up the tube and we're getting low readings. I hope somebody's working on this.

[volsandskis]

@Bobmcdow‌ I appreciate the comments and maybe someone like @MarcusBrown‌ can relay this issue to MC.

[LeonL]

For whatever reason my '08 SN196 gauge seems to be very accurate.

[Jody_Seal]

I think it is a virus!! (FGV) fuel gauge virus. It is contagious and if it should spread %75 boat mortality!!

What the hell! it's the weekend!

Ciao!

[syndicate]

I have a 6.2 L Prostar gas gauge does the thing. Here is how I fixed mine. Remove the back tub on the driver side unplug the fuel sender unbolt remove it. Use a tape measure the tank should be 8" the sender is 71/2". Check the fuel lever with a tape measure. Put it back in the tank plug it and bolt it up gauge should work. It must get a air bubble lock in the tube so the pressure is so it can't read the right pressure to work.

[RichardDoane]

I've got a new sender on order for my new Prostar, and so far (12 hours) it's been the only issue, my motto is ,"put gas in the boat after use", it's not that difficult

 

 

 

 

[skierjp]

The fuel gauge in my 200 works great.

[Bobmcdow]

My very cooperative dealer & I have tried 3 different senders & are now waiting to hear back from MC. Since this is my hobby, I put together a temporary one as a "patch" that worked well over 2 tanks of gas. I used a Teleflex swing-arm kit cut down to 5.5 in and reversed the rheostat. Then put a 1 W 400 ohm resistor in series with the 12v supply. This makes the sender produce 0-5 volts and the computer happy. I really don't recommend this. Took a few hours & 2 trips to Radio Shack. More fun skiing & pulling skiers. Video of wake at 38 off 34 mph was awesome (not me skiing)!