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12iS Stuck Mechanical Fuel Gauge

Bob Y

Well Known Member
Looking for any suggestions to this issue. My mechanical fuel gauge is stuck at around 18 gal. Here are the things I’ve tried so far:

- Filled and emptied the tank multiple times trying to get it to “float” loose.
- Tried to snake a wire to the float arm, but no luck - too high relative to the baffle.
- Emptied the tank, lowered the tail to the ground and let it bounce on the nose gear multiple times to try and jar it loose.

Dreading the obvious of removing the gauge. Brilliant suggestions?
 

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Different airplane (RV-7A) but I had a stuck mechanical fuel gauge during the initial fuel calibration. I took a rubber mallet and tapped firmly on the access cover and it unstuck and worked fine for almost 1000 hours.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll give it a shot tomorrow. I did try banging on it with the heel of my hand, but didn’t think of trying something more aggressive.
 
Thanks again for the suggestion, Larry. It worked! All I had to do was let the head of the hammer drop about an inch and it was enough shock to break it loose, but… as I suspected, whatever caused it to stick hasn’t cleared, as it’s still sticking as I fill and drain the tank. Gentle taps with the mallet reset it, so guess I’ll be pulling it out at some point, but at least it’s a workable solution. I also wire tied a tube to a yardstick that I stuck into the tank and calibrated as I filled it, so I’ve now got a reliable backup. Just put my thumb over the end of the tube before removing and read the level on the yardstick.

I expected the mechanical gauge to have been the most reliable. Guess not…. Thanks again for the helpful suggestion.
 
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