Running out of gas

[tschneid]

Ok I will start by admitting I feel like an idiot... BUT... my Garmin said I had 77 gallons of fuel in my 2019 Cutwater 30S when the engine died... I religiously add the gallons of fuel I put into the boat into the Garmin with each fuel stop as the Volvo engine gauge has never worked... does anyone have a better way of knowing how much gas you have left other than keeping tally manually and calculating your use?? Thanks


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[fishheadbarandgrill]

I hope you're out of diesel and not gas 🙂

 

[tschneid]

I hope you're out of diesel and not gas 🙂

Yes diesel, lol


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[CAPTCRUNCH]

I think there is, indeed, a pretty much fool-proof way of determining the fuel on board - at least for my 2013 R27. The top of the fuel tank is under the step into the cabin from the cockpit and somewhat accessible through the hatch in the riser of the step. It looks like there is an unused tank fitting with a hex-head metal plug in it. That would accommodate a 1/4-inch dowel (at an angle or straight down through a hole TBD (to be drilled) through the step) for sounding the tank. I haven't tried it yet, but it's always worked on the old tractors on the farm. Stay tuned OR somebody please stop me from doing another something stupid on GADGET.

 

[NEDBETTY]

Cappy Crunch
So how long is the crossing at about 12 kn across that Chesapeake big bay?
I hear weather even on a nice day / forecast can surprise you?

 

[fishingdad]

Another simple way is with a really bright flashlight. If you shine it at a slight angle you can see the top of the fuel. I use this to make sure I actually have filled the tank, although I find my garmin is accurate if I reset the actual fuel on board each time I fill and then as I use it each day manually keep track. Have run out of fuel once and never want to it again.

 

[Rocky Lou]

I hope you're out of diesel and not gas 🙂

Yes diesel, lol


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I was at the fuel dock getting gas and the attendant was one of those friendly folks trying to talk a little too close. But the bigger problem was that he really caught my interest since he was saying another large boat was in the day before and when the skipper went to pay for his gas, the attendant told him he just put gas in his diesel tanks. They towed the boat to a close by slip and gave the owner the name of a company that can deal with that sort of issue. Too bad they only idiot proof the nozzles for gas, not diesel.

 

[BB marine]

Calibrate the fuel sender. The factory does not know or want to know how to properly calibrate the sending unit so it is inaccurate. I have posted the proper procedure on tugnuts. I was shown the procedure by a Volvo technician. I calibrated mine 3 years ago and it’s accuracy is within 3% or less. I rely more on the gauge then the Garmin. The boat must be running at a level attitude to be actuate but...... Today I filled the tank, Garmin read 39 gallons. My fuel gage read 43 gallons. I took on 36 gallons topping the tank off. (80 gallon tank) Both were close but the gauge was more actuate. Why have a gauge that doesn’t work?

 

[Rocky]

When you tell Garmin that you added fuel, do you always use the "Fuel added to tank" option? There is one that says "All fuel Tanks full" (or something like that). It is possible that the Garmin didn't know what full was.... You were adding the gallons but it didn't have a good reference point for what was left.

Next time you fill it, make sure it is full, and tell Garmin that. See if that helps.

Mine has always been within a gallon or two of what I expected to put in at the fuel dock....

I hope that helps.

Rocky

 

[knotflying]

I would go with Rocky's advice. I have found the Garmin to be pretty accurate. If you "add gallons" consistently you may have made an error when you entered the amount. I would fill the tanks to capacity. Make sure they are filled. Fill slowly and also make sure your vent line and fuel line have no dips and you are not actually full. After the fill up. Run the boat for a while and then fill up again and see if your added fuel matches what the Garmin said. This will confirm the accuracy of the fuel flow sensor.

 

[palle]

My experience: I ran out of fuel, or so I thought, even though the garmin showed 37 g left. I was towed back and filled the tank up. The tank was full after pumping only 43 g (80 g tank) so I knew the reason the engine had stopped was not because I ran out of fuel. After much head scratching and help from this forum it was discovered that the screen on the pick up line from the tank was full of gunk which prevented adequate fuel to be picked up. Removing the screen fixed the problem and no issues since.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

i fill by ear to ensure its properly full. - essentially just before completely full the bubbling diesel makes a loud gurgle sound in the vent line. I bend down to hear it with a spill rag at the ready.

Sometimes the garmin is exactly correct, other times it can be 10% off. if this happens a few times its easy to be out of sync when just adding fuel.

 

[sjreib]

I have a 2017 C30 CB and have found the Garmin fuel calculations to be very accurate. I always fill to full and give the diesel time to settle and go slowly with a spill cloth handy for the last few gallons. My last fill up was within a gallon of estimated.
The Volvo estimate from the sending unit is worthless in my estimation.

 

[BB marine]

I have a 2017 C30 CB and have found the Garmin fuel calculations to be very accurate. I always fill to full and give the diesel time to settle and go slowly with a spill cloth handy for the last few gallons. My last fill up was within a gallon of estimated.
The Volvo estimate from the sending unit is worthless in my estimation.

The way it comes from the factory you are 100% correct. If calibrated properly it is not an estimate it reads real time fuel. It must be calibrated as per Volvo's procedures. It works the same way as your automobile if calibrated properly. When I took delivery of my C26 I was told by the dealer, Andrew Custis and many Tugnuts the Volvo gauge is inaccurate just rely on the Garmin. I found the Garmin to be very accurate. I used it faithfully. After the second season of owning the boat my fill ups were less consistent and I noticed each time I got fuel it was off a bit more. At the end of that season I drained the tank and found a 13 gallon discrepancy between the Garmin and actual fuel in the tank. That is approximately 16% error. I spoke with a Volvo technician about this and he asked if the calibration was done. My answer was the dealer, factory and many owners said it doesn't work "worthless". He laughed and said " I wish our customers were that easy" He then said Volvo wants the sending units calibrated,Volvo feels it is important to have the fuel reading from the EVC to be accurate. If properly adjusted it can be very reliable. I use three ways of calculating fuel.With only 80 gallons 76 gallons usable and an auxiliary tank of 22 gallons and 18 gallons usable many trips require fuel management running at slower speeds. I record a log of every trip, hrs, average speed, fuel used, fuel added. I go through the motions of burping the tank to completely fill it. I enter the fuel taken on into the Garmin . I also have a calibrated fuel sending unit that has been my go to when I question how much fuel I actually have on board. The gauge is set to alarm at 13 gallons. To say the Volvo fuel gauge is worthless is a common statement on Tugnuts. As long as you don't make a mistake in entering fuel the Garmin is accurate within 10% +/-. It is worthless if you don't because it has no idea how much fuel is in the tank unless you enter it correctly and every time. Even then there is a % of error in fuel flow sensor. A properly adjusted fuel sender calibrated to the EVC is giving realtime actual fuel with less then 5% inaccuracy. Less the 5 gallons in 100 gallons. If you run out of fuel with that accuracy you were probably anticipating it. Running out with a reading of 77 gallons probably not.

We all have our own ways of monitoring fuel on board and usage. In 20+ years of delivering boats, fuel gage accuracy has always been an issue but never as inaccurate as my C26 fuel gage. My thought was the old sending units and analog gauges were more accurate then this new High tech Volvo EVC. I was assured by the dealer and the Fluid Motion representatives, the gauges are just not accurate use the Garmin. I was convinced until I gave it a shot, calibrating it. I cringe when I hear the sending unit is "worthless". The procedure that was used to calibrate it is worthless. The procedure that is used is a 1 step 100% full. Any irregularity in the tank throws that way off. It will let you know when it is full or empty. If it reads empty it is empty! I still contend why have a gauge on board that is "worthless" Fix it, calibrate it.

To follow up on the original post. The Cutwater owner was asking what other ways can you confirm how much fuel is on board. Most are giving his method (The Garmin) He used that and ran out of fuel. I agree it works well but it has a variable. It doesn't know how much fuel is in the tank unless you enter it. The fuel gage has never worked!!! Most don't in Rangers and Cutwaters, because WHY?
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=10780&start=0&hilit=calibrations

 

[Brian98133]

Is this problem inherent to Volvo only? With less than a year behind the wheel of our R23 with Yamaha OB, I have found that the Yamaha display is almost dead-on. So much so that I don't even look at the Garmin for fuel info... just hit "fill all tanks" when I fill up so I don't get an alarm when it thinks we're low.

The only time it's off by more than a couple percent is when I'm running the kicker, which is not tied in to the Yamaha main display.

Lucky, maybe? Or should I be learning more about the Garmin's fuel settings and compare? I suppose if the Yamaha display goes blank........

 

[Salish Seaker]

Is this problem inherent to Volvo only? With less than a year behind the wheel of our R23 with Yamaha OB, I have found that the Yamaha display is almost dead-on. So much so that I don't even look at the Garmin for fuel info... just hit "fill all tanks" when I fill up so I don't get an alarm when it thinks we're low.

The only time it's off by more than a couple percent is when I'm running the kicker, which is not tied in to the Yamaha main display.

Lucky, maybe? Or should I be learning more about the Garmin's fuel settings and compare? I suppose if the Yamaha display goes blank........

You are lucky Brian. Since we've owned our R23, the Yamaha display is NEVER right. We just depend on the Garmin and I too always religiously update the Garmin fuel info every time we add fuel.

 

[fmstuart]

I use the fuel burn calculation only. Our twin Yamaha 300s burn about 1.5 gallons per NM. The Garmin “fuel used” is about 10 gallons off of my calc. But I still don’t trust it. Plus, I never run with the tanks less than 1/3 full (per the fuel burn rate method).


Forrest Stuart
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