My L3400 quit a couple of weeks ago too. I guess I need to do the same thing. Only a minor annoyance but the fuel gauge is one of the big reasons why I chose the L3400 over the JD. The JD 3032e had a "cap" style fuel gaue where the cap had a float/indicator on it. I wonder if I could pick one up for my 'bota as a backup?
Little concerned about gas gauge - 6.1 hr, gauge shows full tank
- Thread starter smokey_truck
- Start date
EE_Bota
Elite Member
Thanks Keith, I chose this as a jumping off point because of your good explanation about the tank shape.
I got my BX2200 with 600 hours on it. First thing I did was check the oils, the coolant level, and off I went!!! I was happy as could be. Later that same day..it BROKE. It just stopped running and would not restart. So, I pulled off the fuel cap, and I could not see any fuel. I felt stupid. But the gauge said full! And it's getting close to dark! And my tractor is outdoors! Pretty silly, really.
I got fuel and filled it. Since it was mentioned, on a BX2200, running out of diesel is not a pain. Remember the starter has no cooling, and follow the directions, and getting it running is just a turn of the key. I drove away, and smelled fuel. Ok..no panic, my brother has an identical tractor, so the fuel gauge is leaky, and fixed under warranty...wish I had a warranty. Oh well...I had tools and a manual coming, so I tore into it.
I finally had the sending unit in my sweaty hands. I tested the sending unit, and it was fine, and very linear in its performance. I had marked it's position when I removed it, and when I installed it, it quit working again. I took it out and held it in position, but outside the tank. The answer was revealed: The sending unit itself is in the same position as the filler cap, but on the opposite side of the tractor. Yet, it senses level (with it's float) in the part under the seat that Keith mentioned. Someone at the factory, or in a failed leaky sending unit fix installed the sending unit just rotated enough to make it strike the front wall of the tank, so it could not possibly show low on fuel.
I put it in the proper position, and it has worked great ever since. My fix for the leaky sending unit slowed it down a bit, but it still leaks if hyper-filled.
A word about hyper-filling: to the float on the sending unit, nearly any level someone would consider "full" is hyper-filled to the sensing float, since it is sensing in the middle section. Giving the shape of the tank, Kubota had to decide whether to show full correctly or show empty correctly, so they apparently decided to show empty correctly. Also, there had to be some interest in sensing near the middle, or sloshing would be a serious detriment to any reliable reading.
So as you see, the idea of a gauge showing full for an awful long time, and then dropping rather quickly is in complete agreement with my observations of the sending unit location, and with Keith's description of the shape of the tank. Once it actually starts to drop, on a practical basis, the size of the tank is a much smaller tank, since the saddle bags, being around 2/3 of the tank are quite low on fuel at that point.
Oh...I forgot...wish I remembered before I made your eyes bleed..see the diagram. Eyes not bleeding yet? Consider this...if you look closely at the picture in the pdf, you might agree that if the gauge settles right near "E" and is almost immune to sloshing, you still have enough fuel to get to the barn.
Tractor Factor
Gold Member
Well, it makes sense now. :confused2: Thanks for the detective work, double E...nice piece of writing.