Fuel pressure gauge

RV6A with a 0-320-E2D engine. The Vans fuel pressure gauge is reading 0 most of the time with intermittent readings of 3/4 psi. Turning on the fuel pump will occasionally bring the reading up from 0.
I guess the question is replace the gauge or does someone know of a tweak ?

I have the same problem with an O-360. I bought a new sender, but have not installed it because the electric pump does bring the pressure up, which tells me it is working. I have seen 17.5gph flow and pressure in the red. Other times the pressure is green, so it is not always low. - I'll be folowing this thread looking for sugestions...

A thought ...

Is it possible the fuel pressure sender needs to have air bled out of it, similar to the oil pressure sender? If there were air in there, it would lead to erratic readings.

The only thing the fuel pressure gauge on my carbureted engine is good for is to let me know that the electric fuel pump still does something.

Soooooo....???

I have pretty well the same symptoms that just started. Yesterday I saw pressure after start up going up to 9psi (electric on or off). Normal is around 3 - 5psi. After the engine had warmed up and I had done a run up it was still around 7psi.

I watched it pretty carefully and for the rest of the flight it was its normal 3-5psi.

Engine is a O-320 160

A week or so ago I noticed erratic fuel pressure. Eventually it decreased to zero. It was disconcerting over some layers of NH and Maine. There were absolutely no changes in motor performance not even auto rough. So I climbed high and hopped from airport to airport to get home. At home I read tons of threads here and traced the problem to faulty fuel sender. Ordered new gauge from ACS it took 4 days to deliver, 15 minutes to install and 1 hour of test flight to check.

I run carbureted O-320 and bought my gauges in 2005 from a VAF member. He had them for number of years never used and sold for cheap. The bargain worked tirelessly for over 2,000 hours. It will get an autopsy within a day or two


Sender removed aux fuel pump activated the line is cleaned.







New one ready to install.







Installed but not tightened yet. Run aux fuel pump again to get rid of all air in the line. Torqued, run the engine fuel pressure is back to normal.

Mine on an O-320 tells me that there is fuel available from both tanks, as well as the electric pump working. It also tells me that the mechanical pump is working. All this before take off and after it gives me an update on mechanical pump operation. A worthwhile instrument in my opinion.

Vlad,

Is that teflon tape on the threads???

pilot2512 said:

Vlad,

Is that teflon tape on the threads???

Click to expand...

Yes Jay it is. During Phase 1 I was chasing a constant oil seep from there. I didn't want to strip the threads by over tightening and I used couple turns of the tape on last threads. It's still there with no leaks and I am not touching it till gauge replacement.

Rusty innards

Autopsy revealed that potentiometer was worn beyond recognition and there was rust on certain components. It stunk when I cut it open. I would blame ethanol