Garden Tractor fuel gauge

[willshak]

You know, the kind that has a solid plastic float that operates a flat screw type axle to turn a needle in the cap showing the amount of fuel left. These plastic floats seem to allow gas to permeate the float, giving a less than correct fuel level. I suppose I can buy a new cap/gauge/float assembly for this particular tank, but that would only solve the problem for a while until that float gets heavier. I wonder if I can paint some sort of material on the float to make it more resistant to permeation of the gas? I know the material has to be non-soluble in gasoline. Ideas??

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Try to jury rig a metal ball(float). Maybe out of an old carburetor or auto parts store may have something like that for that reason. Some carbs used to have that problem.

[Dean Hoffman]

These aren't cheap but might be an alternative:

I didn't look for any deals. These are the first I found. Maybe a motorcycle style petcock would work. They let one use most of the fuel in the on position. Switching to reserve lets one know it's time to refuel. An example here: If you look closely, you'll see "reserve" on the valve. Some have the added feature of automatically shutting off the fuel once the engine is stopped. The valves are opened by the engine vacuum. This is the first of these I found with the markings easily visible.

[Jim]

Try brushing some fiberglass resin over it....Jim

[Joe]

Get a brass float from an old carburetor at your local wrecking yard. hey almost never leaked, and if they did were easily soldered shut again.

Joe

[Hustlin' Hank]

Some of the first floats in carbs were made out of cork. Get ya bottle of wine.

Hank

[willshak]

That, or make it worse. :-)

[Tony]

If it's anything like I'm picturing it would need some serious customization for a different float to work. I'm picturing the cap with something that looks like a dip stick, but with it twisted not quite 360 degrees and it goes through a small slit opening in the float. When the float goes up and down it turns the twisted dipstick which is attached to the gauge needle. (there is a little more to it that keeps the float from turning instead of the float turning the gauge) I don't know what type of sealant would hold up floating in gasoline?

[JIMMIE]

What this guy needs is a dip stick.

Jimmie

[willshak]

Nope. I can just look at the side of the tank to see the gas level, but thanks anyway..

[willshak]

Exactly.

The float has two indentations on opposite sides and rides up and down on a U shaped rod attached to the fuel cap which keeps the float from turning.

[Jules Richardson]

The one on our old lawn tractor bounces around so much as to be pretty useless anyway - maybe modern ones have a better setup and baffles in the tank or something.

I've got quite good at knowing how far it'll run on a full tank - and there is a slight change in engine note when it's about a minute away from going dry, so I know to fill up again on the next run past the shed where I keep the gas can.

[Midnite]

Pretty much have to buy a new cap. If gas has already soaked into the float, then no type of sealer is going to stick. Even if it did, it would weigh down the float and give you a wrong reading, which is the problem you are trying to solve. I dont see too many of theese type of floats go bad, but it does happen, and no type of repair or jerry rigging will fix it properly. Good Luck....Todd, Owner, Nuevo Lawn and Garden Equipment Repair

[willshak]

[e-mail] wrote the following:

Probably. I don't use it as a definite source of the fuel left, but I'd like to know that it is getting low when I am at the far end of my property so I don' t have to take a walk all the way back to the garage to get more fuel. When I am emptying the clippings from the baskets in the compost heap at the back of my property, I can check the level by eye, if I don't forget

[Hustlin' Hank]

I know this probably sounds stupid to you, but have you ever thought of filling the gas tank full before you start to mow? If you do this, you will never run out of gas and will not need a gauge.

Hank

[Jules Richardson]

... unless your yard takes more than a tank (mine uses a tank and a half, so I have to fill up even if I start off full).

[Jules Richardson]

Well, the float will sit more or less on the surface; in my lawn tractor the tank's maybe 10" deep, so even if the float sits 1/2" lower with sealer, that's "only" a 5% error (I say only because the thing bounces around so much in use that it's pretty much impossible to take an accurate reading anyway).

It's possible to get car body filler that's rated for gas contact, so that might be worth a try if the float is holed in a single place (but if it is, a soldering iron would probably work to melt the plastic and seal the hole anyway).

If the plastic's deteriorated and is letting gas through all over, I think I'd be looking at cutting the old float apart and somehow attaching a new one to it...

cheers

Jules

[Hustlin' Hank]

Sounds like you need a bigger tank, mower, or smaller yard.

Hank

[Jules Richardson]