REV Gas Gauge Fix.
As all of us REV owners know the mechanical gas gauges are so poor it’s questionable whether it’s even useable. Ski-Doo doesn’t seem to be addressing the issue so I made the choice to repair it myself. The way I see it, worst-case scenario is the gauge might no longer function at all, and that’s not far from where I am before I mess with it so here’s what I did.

First I removed the gauge. After some investigative work I realized due to the angle the gauge sits at when installed and the total length of the gauge it didn’t extend to the bottom of the tank so my goal was to change the angle or extend the rods. Changing the angle was quickly eliminated because I was worried about where the top of the gauge seals so gas didn’t splash out while riding. I choose to extend the rods. Below is what the gauge looks like and the materials I used for my modification.

I measured the overall length of the gauge. It was 12 3/8” long. I measured the distance from the top of the tank to the bottom of the tank estimating the angle the gauge sits at. That came out to be 13 ¼” deep. I decided to add ¾” to the overall length. That would make the total length of the gauge 13 1/8” long, which gives me 1/8” of clearance at the bottom of the tank.
I cut the gauge approximately 1 ½” from the top. To extend it I riveted a piece of brass flat stock to the middle rod or the rod the float rides on. This gave me my desired length so the only thing to do now was lengthen the support rods. I used hollow pieces of aluminum or tubes and slid them over the gauge support rods. One challenge I had was how to connect the aluminum tubes to the solid gauge rods. I choose to pin the rods at both ends using finishing nails. Once the hole was drilled I inserted the nails and bent them over cutting the excess nail off. This worked like a charm. Below is the final product.

Well everything’s modified and it looks good but the big question is will it work?
I reinstalled the modified gauge and started refueling in a controlled fashion and here’s the results.

Gauge Reading Actual Fuel

Full = Full
¾ = 7.5 Gallons
½ = 5.5 Gallons
¼ = 3 Gallons
1/8 = 2.5 Gallons

On problem I created with my modification is the gauge no longer goes to “E”. The float hits the bottom of the tank at 1/8 but I know I have 2.5 gallons left. Although this isn’t a perfect solution it gets the gauge readings close enough to actually use. You might ask the question is it worth the effort? My answer is, it’s up to the individual.

Good luck and please give me some feedback.

Skully

So long as it reads Skully you'll be happy with your mods. Just Doo a favor to the next owner, and include your findings written in the Owners Manual along with an explanation of your mods. (Been there)

That’s a good idea Troll. I think I’ll just print the post and slip into the book.

Good job Skully, glad to see someone had the iniative to get this problem solved.
Cause it doesnt look like bombi is dooing it

Nice one. Way to go! :thumbsup:

Skully,

How about giving us a play-by-play on how to get the gauge out.
how hard was it to get the gauge out? And how did you went about it?

trapper

Guage is piece-o-cake to remove! Take big nut off from around the fuel filler neck to free up the plastic cover that goes over the guage and you gently pry the gauge out of it's grommet. Pulls right out. 5 minutes easy!

geat job skully!!!

What if you taper the float at the bottom where it would "contact" the tank. I think that will give you a more accurate reading at an 1/8 tank and below and COMPLETLY solve the problem??


Taper = I mean cut the bottom of the float at a 45 degree angle on both sides?? It will still have plenty of boyancy-

regardless - you da'man! :D

Hey ViperER2 although I didn’t mention it in my original post I did explore two other options for my gauge modifications. One was giving the center rod or float rod a twist, and the other was modifying the float.

If I gave the center rod a twist I could make the gauge more accurate but I still wouldn’t get any readings in low fuel situations because the gauge didn’t extend to the bottom of the tank. Modifying the float presented the same challenge and more.

When I had the gauge out I performed a float test in the gas can. The gauge float becomes buoyant when ¾ of the float is submerged. Originally the only way to modify it was to make it more buoyant because remember the original problem the gauge was reading below the actual gas level so I needed to bring the float up. That proved to be too much of a challenge and the gauge still wouldn’t extend too, nor read the bottom of the tank.

Now my problems have changed, and modifying the float is my next coarse of action. Once I modify the float I’ll need to twist the center rod to compensate for the different level the float is actually floating at. I plan on doing this when I install my 1 ¼” tunnel protector kit because I need to remove the gas tank anyway but I needed to get the machine back together because we’re heading up to the U.P. this week and I didn’t want to get caught putting it back together the night before a trip. I’ll keep you guys in the loop on this one.

Does anyone know how the electric fuel guage float works? I have seen posts that it works quite well. Is this true? If so, I think I will pester ski-doo and/or dealer to give me a deal on it to compensate for the defect in the manual fuel gauge.

ttt

Skully Very Well done....... nice post, and the pictures really help........ Have you sent a resume to bombi... they could sure use you in the engineering dept!!!

DooZ ;) ;)

its amazing how a company who engineers planes, trains etc can't engineer a fuel gauge that works. Somebody in R&D needs a kick in the pants. $13K snowmobile and we can't even have a gas gauge that works. BULL####

Originally posted by Rocketman@Dec 31 2003, 09:23 PM
Somebody in R&D needs a kick in the pants.
Same guy that designed GM's T/G cables :cussing: :D