What is wrong with my gas gauge, acting funny

[rkkoeb]

So I notice my gas gauge acting funny, at first it was showing full even after I drove the boat for a hour. I tapped on the gauge it went down and then jumps around. Every time you tap on the gauge it changes how much fuel it is showing. Is my gauge going bad or is it something to do with the fuel sending unit? Is there a way to test the gauge?

 

[rkkoeb]

I also notice last night while driving the boat that it was jumping around half full then it jump all the way up to full and staid on full until I tapped on the gauge and then it dropped down. It did this multiple times

 

[mikidymac]

Sounds like a bad contact either in the plug or gauge itself.

 

[rkkoeb]

I will take a look tonight and I will also check and test each wire to make sure I don't have a break or something else going on

 

[rkkoeb]

so it seems like my gauge is bad. I looked on E-bay and I see there are a few different part numbers but they look the same. Is there a certain fuel gauge I need to purchase or will any 2" fuel gauge work?

 

[hivoltage98]

My gauge does the same thing. When I bought my basket case challenger 1800 the fuse on the fuel sending unit board was bad so I had no fuel level. I took it out and fixed that. But now that we’ve been using the boat it bounces all over the place. I believe it’s something on the sending unit. I will be pulling the unit after the seasons over. I know sometimes the magnets on the fuel level sometimes fall off and that might be the culprit.