Has anyone had this gas gauge problem?? : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

Costa Rica · 10-06-2003, 04:53 PM

A couple of tanks ago, my fuel gauge started acting weird.

Once the gauge gets past 1/2 full it quickly drops all the way to below empty and stays there for a while. About 20 to 40 miles later it goes back up to 1/4 tank or so.

Has anyone else had this happen? Does anyone know how to fix it?

I have started to use the trip odometer to tell me when to fill up. I usually get about 125 miles (200 kilometers) per tank.

Regards,

VRodDrew · 10-06-2003, 05:51 PM

Several folks have reported weird gas gauge behavior from their V-Rod - me included. I remember once filling up at a station near my house - and watched in horror as the gauge dropped to "empty" in the 2.5 miles back to my house. (It returned to "full" the next time I started it up...)

Do a search on the forums for more discussion of this - If it only happens once in a while its probably nothing to worry about, but if it is consistent you ought to go and get it looked at.

By the way, I sure wish I could get 125 miles out of a tank on my V-Rod - but then maybe you feel more comfortable running around with the needle on empty. I've heard from at least one forum member that its not a real good idea too let the tank get too low (can damage the fuel pump due to overheating)

Polizzio · 10-06-2003, 06:59 PM

In the last couple months mine has developed the same symtoms, what a drag, I'm out of warranty. I believe replacing the sending unit is what it needs, but I'm holding out for a while.

DJW · 10-06-2003, 07:37 PM

Yes it's a faulty part, and needs to be replaced. mine was under warranty. I believe the cost would have been about 100 bucks. There was apparently a distributor that provided a bad part.

Costa Rica · 10-07-2003, 12:46 PM

Thanks!

Does anyone know the part number and/or service bulletin number?

Was the part recalled?

Since the Harley dealer in Costa Rica has only seen about 6 V-Rods and has little experience servicing them, I want to give them all the information I can to help expidite the process.

Any further information or documentation on this subject would appreciated.

Regards,

Max · 10-07-2003, 01:24 PM

Part number 75122-01 for the sending unit, fuel gauge.

V-Fred · 10-07-2003, 06:00 PM

MaxM: Damn. How do you know these all these things? You must be hacking the MoCo from your workstation between fixing cages. The rest of us live in a dimension with 24 hours. Yours must have at least 36.
Fred

VROOM · 10-07-2003, 06:25 PM

Is it something that I can just order or install myself or does the dealer have to do it?

Max · 10-07-2003, 06:49 PM

LOL V-Fred, no I made a .pdf doc out of the parts manual. It comes in very handy.

Vroom to make a homemade tool for the filler neck is very easy. I think you could make it out of a 4" piece of pcv pipe and then cut a couple of grooves in it to remve the tank unit.

R+R of tank unit takes about 30 minutes including beer breaks.

Max

VROOM · 10-08-2003, 11:45 AM

Thanks Max, I have about a month left in my warranty so I think I'll just go ahead and take it in and have them fix it. These little "bugs" can be quite a pain in the ass.

xreichardx · 10-10-2003, 04:50 PM

I hate that fuel gauge. Damn thing drives me crazy. Now I just use the tripmeter.

On on full tank (right to the fillerhole) gauge reads "full". Drive 95mi, tank is a needle-width below 1/4. Then it takes exactly 2.2gal to fill it back up. Don't know how some squeek out 125.

The MoCo tells us it has a 3.7gal tank. So doin' the math gives me 43mpg and 1.5 gal left in the tank. So I should be good for 43 * 3.7 = 159 miles. Yeah, right!

stevenksa · 10-12-2003, 05:07 AM

I toured from Beruit to Jeddah on my VROD and had to fill it up every hour. Luckily gas is cheap here. This bike passes everything but the gas station!

notso4x4 · 06-10-2004, 11:12 PM

xreichardx, One thing that you forgot. The fuel pump, filter, and sending unit take up .2 gal of that 3.7 gal tank. Leaving you 3.5 of usable tank. The reason I know this is because I ran mine all the way out of gas to see how much and how far it would go. It took 3.5 gallons of gas and I went 154 miles. I was very impressed with that. After I hit E I went 40 miles before it quit. As far as the fuel guage problem. My 02 did that too. It did it 4 times and I never fixed it. I just sold it and bought a 03. No problem with my new one. knock on wood.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xreichardx

I hate that fuel gauge. Damn thing drives me crazy. Now I just use the tripmeter.

On on full tank (right to the fillerhole) gauge reads "full". Drive 95mi, tank is a needle-width below 1/4. Then it takes exactly 2.2gal to fill it back up. Don't know how some squeek out 125.

The MoCo tells us it has a 3.7gal tank. So doin' the math gives me 43mpg and 1.5 gal left in the tank. So I should be good for 43 * 3.7 = 159 miles. Yeah, right!

OK VROD · 11-01-2004, 08:21 PM

MY 03 was doing a very similar thing. I was in extended warranty. Took it in had them remove the sending and scotch bite the float tube and now my fuel gauge is back to normal. There is a HD tech bulletin to this affect. Donald

trickvrod · 12-26-2004, 02:14 PM

Mine does the same crap. Gauge is worthless, has been from DAY 1!
When I took it to HD they said it's operating normally and there's nothing wrong with it (though at that time it was still under warranty, likely they'd sing a different tune now.)

I too do the tripmeter gas gauge thing...100mi and I begin looking for gas.

This unfortunatly doesn't take into account touring w/ a windshield and all my luggage at a constant 85 mph. At 93 miles it died and I had to push it 5 miles to the next station - try it sometime, it sux.
Mine holds 3.5gal. Not sure where HD comes up with 3.7, but it won't fit in my tank.
I've run out three times now and it took exactly 3.5gal each time.

I'll add that the V-Rod's out of gas warning is non-existant. It goes from running fine to OFF instantly and will not restart no matter how you wiggle and jiggle. I suspect the pump is not self priming and must be completely submerged before it'll prime again.

The rest of my recent 2404 mi trip was spent in a near constant state of fear of running out of gas. Touring Florida there's a lot of places where there's no gas for a long way in any direction.

Yes, the lying gauge might say you have a half tank, but you don't know where the next gas is so you stop. When in the boonies I often found myself stopping under 50 miles from the last gas.

What I did find that was interesting is that my bladder lasts longer than the V-Rod does.
4 tanks per pee was my average.

Another annoyance is the venting they use. With the filler neck vertical and so far below the top of the tank venting is violent when you are filling. 9 out of 10 times it spews fuel all over. Even being very careful I almost always spill.

I think the only way to realisticly make a V-Rod into any kind of distance traveler is to tie a 5gal Jerry Can to the back...

Of all the things I like and dislike about the V-Rod this is by far the largest negative.
Whatever moron at HD decided that 3.5gal was plenty and didn't send the engineers back to the board for more should be left 100miles from nowhere with a V-Rod to push home.

I don't mind so much that it gets sucky mileage - to be expected from a high performance machine.
But to call it a 'cruiser' when you can barely go 100 miles is ludicrist.
A 3.5gal tank, no reserve and a gas gauge that's wrong more than it's right is nothing short of a complete blunder in an otherwise good design.

While the CVO V-rod does look good I've no interest until they put 6 gallons of gas in it and a 6 speed.