Siphoned Gas. Broke Gauge?

JHunt012 · Post by **JHunt012** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 12:13 am

I just got my first scooter this weekend (2009 Stella 2T). It only has about 750 miles. Because it has basically been sitting since March of this year I decided to siphon out the gas and start fresh.

Before I emptied the gas tank it had about 3/4 of a tank and the fuel gauge seemed to be working fine. After emptying the gas tank I added one gallon of fresh gas.

When I took it for a quick ride I noticed the gauge was reading Empty. When I looked in to the tank, the float was sitting on the bottom. Maybe I bumped it with the siphon? Did it come unhooked from something? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I know many people have had fuel gauge issues and have just learned to live without one. I hate to think I broke something already. Thanks!

fisher1 · Post by **fisher1** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:51 am

My '09 fuel gauge never worked right, but at least it floats on top. Did you try to add some more fuel and then put a rod of some sort in the tank to bump it around a bit to see if it unsticks and pivots back up? Or is the linkage busted and the whole thing is on the bottom?

BTW -what color is your 09 2T? Orange ones seem to be more prone to 2T oil check valve issues right from the factory .... sound odd but its as if they made them in color batches. On some earlier years, I read that the Blue ones were more prone to crank issues (actually due to improper shimming during build) - I'm no authority but just saw that was noted in another group.

stASH · Post by **stASH** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:43 pm

I would think that even if something in the linkage broke, the float would still float, because it's a float. Maybe somehow it filled with fuel and sunk.

JHunt012 · Post by **JHunt012** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:08 pm

fisher1 wrote:My '09 fuel gauge never worked right, but at least it floats on top. Did you try to add some more fuel and then put a rod of some sort in the tank to bump it around a bit to see if it unsticks and pivots back up? Or is the linkage busted and the whole thing is on the bottom?

BTW -what color is your 09 2T? Orange ones seem to be more prone to 2T oil check valve issues right from the factory .... sound odd but its as if they made them in color batches. On some earlier years, I read that the Blue ones were more prone to crank issues (actually due to improper shimming during build) - I'm no authority but just saw that was noted in another group.

Fisher,
Thanks for your reply. I followed your advice and tried to manually lift it up and get it "un-stuck" it did float better but the gauge still read empty. Once I put more gas in it the gauge seemed to correct itself. It seems like maybe it just won't work once it gets below half tank. Oh well...

Mine is the Avocado Green. I got it with low miles last week and it was running great until yesterday. I just posted a question so that I can hopefully narrow down the problem, fix it, and learn from my experience. Thanks again for the reply.