Fuel gauge eratic

[Capt. Bob]

I run my CK30 gear drive till the fuel gauge gets to a point that I know it will take a full 5 gallon can of fuel. When I put fuel in last time I noticed that the gauge did not come up to the full make for several minutes. Now when I shut the tractor down it does not return to the empty mark I have also noticed lately that it takes a couple of cycles on the glow plugs for the engine to start right up. I bought the tractor new in May 2008. Any ideas? Thanks

 

[phiferpharm]

My gauge is always an adventure. I kind of look at it as close counts..

 

[creekbend]

I bought our Kubota new, two years ago. From the beginning, the guage didn't even move until half empty.

 

[Mark Headley]

A fuel sending unit is only about 68 bucks US$...just a thought. Before I traded mine for a DK I had a mouse nest atop the tank and they apparently made the wires out of peanut butter at Kioti so mice proceeded to eat them.

 

[DKCDKC]

My JD 2030 never had a working guage. I could have fixed it for under $100 I think, but it was no big deal to just sound the tank went I went to work... And after several hours. I carried a rod just for that.

 

[DirtHauler]

The gauge will always stay at the point of last reading when you turned it off. This type gauge is, I believe, called a "pulse" type and does not return to "E" when power is off. As far as accurate reading, what I discovered on my CK is the float will hang up on one side or the other of the tank due to the design of the tank. It took a little while but I was able to "tweek" the float arm to where it reads fairly accurate now.

 

[VictorW]

My 2004 CK30hst fuel sending unit did the same as DirtHauler's. After some rebending of the float arm so it wouldn't drag on the tank sides, I was able to have the tank still holding 3 gallons when it read an eighth of a tank. I always just get 5 gallons at a time, so when it hits "E", I can put in all 5 gallons.

 

[SSdoxie]

Your fuel gauge is working normal. It does not return to empty with key off, stays at last level reading so you can see fuel level at your next pre-start inspection to see if you need to add fuel. Gauge has a slight delay timer built in so it doesn't jump around when running over rough ground and fuel is sloshing in the tank.
Of greater concern is the cold starting problem, where you live at this time of year you shouldn't have to wait for glow plug cycle for engine to start, let alone have to glow plug it twice.

 

[ritcheyvs]

I agree with SSdoxie. My DK fuel gauge is very slow to move. What you describe sounds normal; is the current behavior something new?

WRT glow, MY DK starts immediately after just a couple seconds of glow. Your double glow indicates a problem, IMO. If it were me, I'd sort that out before you get cooler weather. You may have some bad glow plugs. You may have a bad connection to the bus bar that connects all the plugs. You could have a problem with the ignition switch (that was my problem). You could have a problem with the glow relay/timer. Or it could be something wonky, like a bad wire or a corroded inline connector. If you can read a schematic and know how to use a voltmeter you should be able to isolate the problem fairly quickly. It helps to have a helper so one person can work the ignition switch while the other tests the voltage at various points. Start with the bus bar to see if the glow plugs are getting power with the switch in the glow and also in crank positions.