Chinese Gas Gauges

[piperrode]

Hello all ,,,, New guy here. I hadn't ridden a scooter for close to 50 years until the $250/month I was using to fill my Jeep gas tank told me "there has to be a better way!". I did my Web research (thank you Google) read the various boards and visited 5 local (Twin Cities, Minnesota) dealers. Decided on a Baron 150 but before I bought it, I found a "scratch & dent" Tank 250 at a local dealer (Quad Central Motor Sports - Blaine MN) at a good price so I moved up a notch.

The scoot and I now have 100 miles together and things are going just fine. Tomorrow will start the daily commute routine 25 miles each way. Weather permitting of course.

My question concerns the notoriously shoddy gauges on the China scooters. Mine is woefully inaccurate (shows 1/4 when full), which, after reading the heavy grumbling on the BBSs was not unexpected.

Has anyone done anything more than just complain ? Is the issue one that can be dealt with by simply bending a rod in the tank or adjusting a screw on the gauge ? I'm pretty mechanical and will probably investigate on my own but I was hoping there was already a "fix" technique out there.

Suggestions anyone?

[Aaron]

Yes the gauge can be tweaked in the manner you mentioned. Stan Jessup a member here has a great site with helpful tips on the Tank 250. His site is www.oregonvintage.com There have been posts on this forum about this fix too. I have no idea where or in which board (it's been awhile!) Try a search for fuel gauge fix. Welcome to the forum and good luck with your new Tank 250!

Aaron

[piperrode]

Thanks Aaron,

I did manage to find a thread on Page 17 of the 150cc forum that sounded like the fix I need but I'll try the web site you suggested as well.

Thanks again. I'll let you know how the Tank holds up in daily use.

Dave

[Gary]

You should be able to remove the gas gage float and with a bit of trial and error, bend the rod so you get a reasonable reading. I did this on my Tank 150 and it was very easy.

The gage is very nonlinear though. Before readjusting the float, the 150 showed full for only the first 10 miles of riding and then dropped to empty like a rock. Now it reads full until the tank is about 1/4 full, then plummets to empty. I know that as soon as the gage starts coming off full, its time to start looking for a gas station.

[piperrode]

Thanks Gary,

My early riding had just been gentle neighborhood jaunts but yesterday I did the first commute. Boy are there qualitative differences in the maintenance level of the roadways between cities. You don't notice it so much in a car but you sure do on a scoot.

Anyway, the joggling of the real roads seems to have loosened up my "hung up" gas gauge and now it shows 3/4 full ...... all the time. I'm guessing that as the tank gets really empty I'll see the plummeting you mention but, at the moment, I'm filling it every day until I get a real feel for the mileage. Day one implied about a gallon for 120km or just a bit over 65mpg. We'll see.

One further question .... All gasoline in Minnesota is oxygenated by law with a 10% ethanol mix. I bought a 5 gallon can of special non-oxygenated "classic car & small engine" gas to break in the Tank but am wondering if that's going to be a requirement hereafter. Has anyone had problems with the issue of gasahol in the Chinese scoots ?

Dave

[scooterollie]

Dave;
The 10% blend should not be a problem. This is found in many states. There is a very slight hit in MPG but I doubt you will notice any performance issues.

[piperrode]

Thanks for the reassurance Rollie,

I'd been a bit concerned about seals and hoses, figuring the Chinese might not be familiar with blended gas.

Update on the gauge .... 2nd day of the commute and 100km more road joggling has moved the needle to the top. I'm getting real curious to see if it will ever, actually return downward.

Dave

[T W I S T E R]

my experience with 10% blended fuel is:

less power
less MPG
noisier engine / valves I think.

[buckeyescoot]

Hi Dave -

I have the same problem with my Roketa Bali 250. Reads full until about 172 Km then drop to empty before I hit 200 km. I can get about 300 - 325 KM before i look for gas. Usually take on 2.6 to 2.8 gals, getting 65 MPG.

I just use my trip gage to track mileage (km) and look for gas around 300 KM.

I may look for the posts from Stan Jessup and others to see if there is a easy fix to do in the winter months (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Joe

[scootermass]

piperrode said:

Thanks Gary,

My early riding had just been gentle neighborhood jaunts but yesterday I did the first commute. Boy are there qualitative differences in the maintenance level of the roadways between cities. You don't notice it so much in a car but you sure do on a scoot.

Anyway, the joggling of the real roads seems to have loosened up my "hung up" gas gauge and now it shows 3/4 full ...... all the time. I'm guessing that as the tank gets really empty I'll see the plummeting you mention but, at the moment, I'm filling it every day until I get a real feel for the mileage. Day one implied about a gallon for 120km or just a bit over 65mpg. We'll see.

One further question .... All gasoline in Minnesota is oxygenated by law with a 10% ethanol mix. I bought a 5 gallon can of special non-oxygenated "classic car & small engine" gas to break in the Tank but am wondering if that's going to be a requirement hereafter. Has anyone had problems with the issue of gasahol in the Chinese scoots ?

Dave

Dave: I use this stuff here for both my 24' Eastern boat & my Kymco Peopel S200. I live in Mass. & we use E10 gas here as well. It's fairly cheap $12.00 for a 32oz. bottle.

StarBrite Star Tron E10 gas additive.

Link: www.starbrite.com/sproductdetail.cfm?ID=1537

Good Luck!

Alex

[livewire]

My 250 tank gage does the same thing. It's kinda on 7/8 full all the time. Basically i've picked a bogey as to how many Km i can travel b4 a fillup and i just monitor that....seems to work ok. If you noodle with your gage and get it to work, i'd love to know LOL

[Showme]

Love those Chinese fuel gauges. I had such a mess that maybe if I relate it to you, it might help you or someone else. I started by putting one gallon of gas in the tank. The gauge went to full immediately. Rode to the filling station and filled it up. Gauge went to flat empty and stayed there.
I found that the blue stripe and the yellow stripe wires were reversed. Also wires were loose at gauge. Connected wires properly and tighten screws that were loose. Today fuel gauge dropped normally and when it said half full I went to fill it again. Supprise, suprise, it took one and a half gallons of fuel. I have a three gallon tank. I guess all I'm really saying is that today it worked just like is should. Tomorrow, who knows.

[YellowScooter]

Mine never goes beyond 1/2 tank. from a fillup it'll go me about 40 miles before it'll move. I've let it go to dead on empty and that fillup took right at a gallon. It holds a gallon n a half but it'll start sputtering on hills right at the "E"

[swampsniper]

Traditional Chinese fuel guage!