Baffled by Baffles on '95 GTX and 98 GTI

[Artgamble711]

Friends,

I own a '95 GTX and a 98 GTI.

My gas gage stopped working on the '98 GTI a few years ago and my local shop told me it was the baffle. They wanted about $200 to fix it.

I decided that since I always run the 2 machines together and the gas gage worked on the '95 GTX that I would not worry about it.

Last Saturday, we left with full tanks of gas. The GTX (which has a digital gage) was showing one bar short of full. After about 15 minutes out on the water it showed empty and the low gas light came on. The machine still ran strong.

On Sunday, I filled them up and the GTX looked like it was working again, but after a few minutes it showed empty again.

So, here are my questions:

Does it sound like the baffle on the GTX?

Are the baffles the same on the 2 machines?

Is it easy to replace them myself (I am not handy, but I have a lot of friends that are).

Do you have to pull out the gas tank?

Does the gas tank come out easily? How does that effect the oil tank? (It looks like to pull the tank you disconect the fill hose, undue 2 straps and pull...but I am not sure)

How does the baffle go in...does it screw?

Does anybody have a shop manual on line to look at?

I just joined this forum and I am excited to be able to pick the brains of people far smarter than me.

Thanks

Art

 

[JPX]

Hi Art, welcome to seadooforum.com!

I strongly suggest that you sign up as a Premium Member so you can have access to the downloadable shop manuals for these boats. Your boats are 10 years old now and there will be many things you will want to refer to the manuals for as things crop up.

That being said, the baffles are the same from what I can tell - there isn't a whole lot to them (unless you have an HX which doesn't have a gauge, float or circuit board in the baffle ). Certainly the floats are the same.

You do not need to remove the entire fuel tank. But you will have to remove the small storage compartment below the handle bar (just a few plastic screws). You should be able to remove the baffle by pulling it through the opening to clear the top of the gas tank.

Oh, and remove the baffle is easy - loosen the lower hose clamp (the big one) and pull the rubber boot off the tank. If it is sticking to the flange on the tank, shoot some WD-40 around the edges to ease it off.


Most likely the magnets on the float in the baffle fell off or the float doesn't float anymore. My GTX case had a sinky float which I drilled out a hole on to drain and then sealed with shut by melting a plastic ziptie over the hole like solder.


In any case, it is very easy to remove with simply a screwdriver.

 

[Artgamble711]

Thanks so much for the answer. My next question is would you trust a USED replacement baffle or should I buy new ones.

Thanks again!

Art

 

[kustomkarl]

You need to check the Pink and Pink/Black wire coming out of the baffle tube in the gas tank. The sending unit works off resistance. Pull the plug apart at the tank, and use an ohm meter to check for resistance between the two pink wires. The resistance will be different depending on how much fuel is in the fuel tank. If you get no resistance, remove the clamps off the sender, and pull the sending unit out of the fuel tank. Check the magnets on the float in the sending unit. To get to the float out, pop the bottom off and look for the 4 magnets on the float. If they are missing use a strong magnet to get them out of the tank bottom. If they are dirty clean them and re-insert it back in the baffle tube and check the wires again to check for readings of resistance depending on where the float is in the baffle tube. If still no reading of resistance replace the sender. If you get readings, check continuity of wiring to gauge. At the baffle you could un plug the guage and using a jumper wire between the 2 wires in the plug on the guage side. Attach the lanyard to power up the gauges. If the guage goes to full the guage is good. If it still doesn’t respond, do a continuity test of the wires to the guage. If all wiring checks out ok, and the guage still doesn’t respond, the gauge is bad. Keep me posted on your progress.

Karl

 

[JPX]

One last ditch thing if you get no resistance off the baffle:

There is a small surface mount fuse soldered to the circuit board inside the baffle. But this requires a leap of faith to get to it......cutting the side of the tube open to get to it.


When that fuse blows (you can't see it visually), you lose the board. It is not a safety fuse (like the ones designed to protect your MPEM). So you can solder a straight bridge across where the fuse is.

Cut the plastic tube with a hacksaw or a hacksaw (away from the fuel tank please). Look at the circuit board from the bottom end to orient the cut in the right place. If you do it carefully, you can reuse the cut off piece to "plastic weld" it back on when you're done with the fuse. I used plastic zipties and an old soldering iron tip to melt it back together.