Faria Guages go up as Revs go up

[burr]

Guages seem to be the biggest problem of Tige. I have a 2003 20V and the fuel and volt guage go up when the revs increase.

The tacho doesn't read correctly always around 4000 no matter the revs. I have two speedos and the one on the right reads too high all the time.

Oil pressure and one speedo seems to work.

Where should I start looking? It has did it ever since I purchased it 18months ago.

[chpthril]

Wow, didnt now Tige was still selling 2002's new, did ya get a good deal? J/K Actually, problems with the Faria gauges are quite infrequent. The fuel level is the only problem you hear about and it's not the gauge, but the sender......which is not made by either Tige of Faria.

Does the tach always stay at 4K like the needle is stuck, or does is hover around 4K when the engine is running? Does it return to 0 when engine is shut off and what does it do when the key is turned to "ON" but not starting the engine? What about the other gauges i.e. oil, fuel, volt, temp......do they seem to read normal with key on engine off? If your speedo are mechanical (use the pressure pickup tubes), then look at the one that doesn't work as an independent problem from the rest of the gauges. Could be a leaking tube or plugged pickup? make sure it hasn't been eaten off bu a muskrat!

Your other issues sound like a bad connection, more then likely ground, a bad battery or weak alternator.

[burr]

Thanks for your quick reply chpthril and yes did buy it secondhand and anyway it takes a while to get boats here in Australia

Tacho seems correct at idle however at boarding speeds about 22mph its sits at or above 4000 don't think I'm doing those revs with 6.2l Black scorpion and an acme 537 prop. Key on tacho sits on zero

All guages (fuel, temp, volts) appear to read correct with key on and engine off. The speedo with the pressure tube and oil pressure are the only two guages that I think is correct when I'm moving or engine running.

Running two batteries both check out fine on battery tester. Alternator was replaced when I bought it.

I'm thinking ground and will probably run a ground lead and run each guage to that ground instead of the daisy chain ground on the guages at the moment.

Would that be the next step.

[dogbert]

My boat's pretty similar to yours. You have a ground problem. I'd check all the connections on the gauges (they are push on connections, so it's entirely possible they got loose). After that, there's a big connection in the wiring harness right in front of the engine. It's been shrink wrapped with some black sheathing, which you'll need to replace, but that's another place where you could have developed a bad ground connection issue. I'd try cleaning that out if the first suggestion doesn't help.

[R&T Babich]

... All gauges (fuel, temp, volts) appear to read correct with key on and engine off. The speedo with the pressure tube and oil pressure are the only two gauges that I think is correct when I'm moving or engine running.

Running two batteries both check out fine on battery tester. Alternator was replaced when I bought it. ...

Try checking the volts with a separate voltmeter.
The alternator regulator may be bad.
Gauges reading good with Key-Off, Engine-Off means they are ok with 12.7v.
When the RPMs go up the alt regulator may be allowing a higher voltage up to the max output of around 16.5v.
Gauges that are set to use 12.7v -13.5v as a reference would have high readings with higher voltages.
The speedo with a pitot tube doesn't use the system voltage to deflect the needle.
What is odd the oil press should go up, too.

Check the ground connections of the two gauges and see if they are loose.
The gauge connections are crimp connectors which should be soldered in a high vibration environment.

Check the alternator ground, too.

[Gordo]

fluctuating oil pressure gauge

Our 99' 21V has 800 hours on it. The oil pressure stared fluctuating today between 40 and 20 lbs. today at 25 mph. It is usually at 40psi. My daughter called me with this info and told her just to limp back to our summer place and put the boat away. I can't get up there until Friday.

I used to race boats and know that a fluctuating oil pressure can mean death to an engine. The gauges are Faria. The tach stopped working last summer, stuck at 1,500 rpm, but I get by without it. The hour meter within the tach is still working so I did not want to put in a new tach. I hope its just something loose or maybe corroded. I walked my daughter through a fast check of the sender connection over the phone. It was ok.

I'm hoping its electrical and not mechanical. An engine rebuild was not in my plans for the summer. My buddy is bringing up a mechanical gauge to run off the engine Saturday. It will tell the truth. I aways taught my kids to watch the gauges. My daughter took it to heart.