New boat, but no gas guage!

Taildragger · 01-27-2004, 06:02 PM

My fishing buddy bought a brand new 17 ft arima and said it didnt come with a gas guage. I thought he was joking until I went sturgeon fishing with him sunday and noticed that the only guage it had was rpm. He paid like 22,000 for this boat and no flippin gas gauge! What gives? Does anyone know if this is standard on basic packages?

offshore · 01-27-2004, 06:33 PM

he could add one him self. go to any parts store and by an aftermarket one and sending unit.

Taildragger · 01-27-2004, 06:46 PM

Thanks offshore, but I think that if I paid 22000 for a car that thing better darn well have a gas guage! I just dont get it. Do you suppose because he is an old man they were trying to rip him off?

jimh · 01-27-2004, 07:25 PM

Gas gauges on a boat aren't always that accurate due to the shape of the tank. Maybe the Arima's are worse than most, so they didn't bother?

Wolfguts · 01-27-2004, 07:30 PM

Arima 17' boats do not come with a gas guage as standard. Nor do a lot of other boats. When you buy a boat you need to sit down with the dealer and specify every little thing you want and then make your deal. Most other guages come as a package with the outboard motor, but again you need to specify what you want. The multi function guages are pretty nice and don't take up the room of multiple guages. When we bought our Arima we went to the factory (Auburn WA.) and saw what was available and then went to a dealer. The factory is very good and easy to work with.

skybuster · 01-27-2004, 07:31 PM

I think jimh is onto something. I have a 50 gallon tank in my boat and after I fill it I can run for quite awhile and the gauge doesn't budge. All of a sudden you look down and the needle has gone from full to quarter. I just fill my boat about every other trip to be safe.

Wood N' Fish · 01-27-2004, 07:33 PM

How Ironic______ [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

Wolfguts · 01-27-2004, 07:35 PM

One thing I forgot to add is that the gas tank on our 17' Arima has a translucent gas tank so all you have to do is lift up on the back panel and you can see how much gas is in the tank. The tank is marked with gallons. I suspect your friends tank is the same. This is more accurate than most gas guages. Pretty simple and good.

fishnpray · 01-27-2004, 07:36 PM

No point in having a defective boat...I'll take it off his hands! :grin:

Taildragger · 01-27-2004, 09:51 PM

Thanks WG! I did see that the gas tank has easy access by removing the panel and that it is marked and easy to read. I just never been in a boat that didnt have a gas guage and thought maybe my buddy was gettin the short end! Still cant believe they cant put one in as a courtesy though. to me seems like that would be the no 1 priority as far as guages go.

but instead they were kind enough to install an rpm guage. [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

1pump · 01-27-2004, 11:53 PM

IMHO, I wouldn't trust it anyway, so it seems like kind of a moot point. Besides, if there's no gauge, then you're forced to check the level in the tank by looking at it like Wolfguts said. If there was a gauge a person might get lazy and find themselves hitchiking home from 20 miles out. :depressed:

Dinikin · 01-27-2004, 11:58 PM

Those Arimas are nice.
Friend had it. Same story - no guage. Just have to eyeball it. Must be a reason. Any ideas.

KNOPHISH · 01-28-2004, 05:19 AM

Damned if my drift boat didn't come with a gas gauge either. And I can't find the tank to eye ball it. But I checked the cooler & we're down to a case. Better make another beer run. heh heh

Silver Eagle · 01-28-2004, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by skybuster:
I think jimh is onto something. I have a 50 gallon tank in my boat and after I fill it I can run for quite awhile and the gauge doesn't budge. All of a sudden you look down and the needle has gone from full to quarter. I just fill my boat about every other trip to be safe.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">I would love to fill my boat every other trip, what happened to once in the morning poor in more on the trip and fill up to make the dock. The sad thing is my tanks hold over a hundred. Ray

01-28-2004, 05:53 AM

Fuel gages in boat tanks are NEVER accurate. Install a fuel meter.

http://www.ifish.net/cgi-local/ultim...;f=21;t=003606

TundraIII · 01-28-2004, 06:21 AM

My dad has an Arima with no gas gauge also. You just pop off the panel at the transom and take a look at the translucent tank. No biggie, and more accurate than a gauge I think.

Swim Shady · 01-28-2004, 07:24 AM

I have a sled and the fuel gage is very inaccurate. I will be installing a fuel flow meter this spring. Flow Scan makes some very reasonable priced meters, however, install is another story. A meter is the only real way to know how much fuel you have consumed thereby knowing exactly how much is left. If you can't see the tank that is.

Troller · 01-28-2004, 07:41 AM

My boat did come with a gas guage. Accuracy is not very good. As long as you dont go under a 1/4 tank your safe. I installed a flow meter and now know withing a gallon or so where I am at. I would never take it down that low but it is nice to know. My tank holds 80 gallons so I have never had a problem on day trips but longer trips I have had to refill.