Modern Buddy

Others have run into problems with the gas gauge on their Buddy series scooter. I'm finally ready to tackle the issue and would like outside support. My first question for those with experience:

From the tank all the way to the dial ... how does this system operate?

Sidenote: I've inspected the float arm and it *appears* to be just fine. My thought is that maybe there's a fuse somewhere in-line?

Once I hit the red zone, it hits the empty peg quickly. Much quicker than the rest of the tank (blue).

Agreed - it's non-linear. That last red-zone quarter tank runs out faster than the first quarter. Found _that_ out the hard way once.

Well in our case it's not working at all and where my wife is comfortable with using a trip meter, this scooter doesn't have one

So we're wanting to at least get it operating to some degree again.

I had a Kymco People 250 that was similar to the Buddy gauge. It had two tanks and the float was in the lower one. The upper tank was larger than the lower tank and would last for ~75 miles and lower one ~25 miles. The gauge would indicate full for ~85 miles and then quickly drop to zero in ~35 miles.
The Buddy gauge does the following;
Full for ~15 miles.
Linear drop for ~65 miles.
Enters the red zone (1/4 tank) and falls to empty in ~15 miles.
At this point, one gallon fills the tank.
I don't sweat the empty designation unless I'm at least 30 miles from a gas station.
Non-linearity is a hallmark of 'scoot fuel gauges(?).

k1dude wrote:Once I hit the red zone, it hits the empty peg quickly. Much quicker than the rest of the tank (blue).

Amen to that. Ask me how I know.



FWIW I'm really pulling for David Hasselhoff.

I can ride until showing empty then go another 10 miles or so before it runs out of gas. Generally just try to fill up every 100 miles so we don't run out of gas but it has happened on occasion, just never in a rain storm!

the tech itself is pretty old school, so it;s not that accurate. I really never had much luck with trusting gauges anyway. I tend to just fill it when it's on the empty peg, or top off if I've got less than 1/3 of a tank when embarking.

My solution was to measure how many miles I could ride when the needle hit the peg. 25 miles. The red shaded area before the peg adds 10 miles. Jotting down on the glass when I will run out is very helpful. Easy peazy.

Guys,

Your responses are quite informative (and will help others) but for MY purposes, you're MISSING THE POINT

Our gauge isn't working AT ALL. When I say "linear" what I'm meaning to suggest is that I'd like to know all of the prospective failure points that I should check to see if anything is broken or unresponsive.

Help me at least get this thing working again, badly or not

Hook it up to a multimeter and see if the value is changing as you sweep the arm through it's range of travel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHzeOOzQKR8

Is the buddy sender like the generic Chinese ones?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fuel-Sending-Un ... 16?vxp=mtr

Good stuff.

I seem to remember having tested it towards mid-winter and everything was okay. I'll check again soon.

JohnKiniston is right, the sending unit in the tank sends a variable voltage (amperage, wattage?) as the arm moves up and down. So unless there is a fuse blown the failure could be the sending unit, a shorted wire somewhere, a bad ground, a loose connection somewhere, or a bad gauge.


Helpful, eh?

I believe it's resistance that changes, Think of the gas gauge like a big slider on a stereo of old.

JohnKiniston wrote:I believe it's resistance that changes, Think of the gas gauge like a big slider on a stereo of old.

Oh, yeah, resistance, that's what it is (my electronics are a little weak)