Fuel capacity & range for 2005 342 Fiesta Vee with twin Merc 350's

Jillicious

I'm planning a trip the end of August from Put-in-Bay, Ohio  to Sarnia, Ontario and I'm trying to find out what my fuel capacity and estimated range would be.  I dont have my owners manual with me and I've seen fuel capacity listed at 180, 200 and 230 gallons respectively and I wondered if anybody knew which one was correct and what my range might be?

Hamdog

I have the same boat. Fuel capacity is 235 gallons. Mine burns about 22 gallons per hour at just a bit above slowest planed speed. That's about 26 mph. Given a 10% margin of error, I'd guess your range to be about 250 miles but I'd play it even safer than that.

Black_Diamond

You should hold 235 gallons total.  Range will vary from boat to boat, sea conditions, speed, etc.  My 2003 342 with 350 MAG MPI's..I burn about 30 gal/hr at a reasonable cruise ~27mph (aound 0.9 mpg)

If you have charts or plot a course on GPS/chartplotter you'll know the miles to go very close.  Then you can see where you'll need to stop for fuel, if at all.  A nice rule of thumb is to leave about 1/3 of your fuel as a reserve, just in case. 

Enjoy your trip!

Now waiting for RY to chime in about diesels.... 

)

Jillicious

Thank you gentlemen.  Your feedback is very helpful as now I dont think I'll need to worry about refueling as the trip is about 120 miles and even holding 1/3 in reserve I should be just fine getting there.

andyd

Rule of thumb...one third of a tank getting there, one third coming back, one third reserve. I highly recommend a Floscan fuel flow meter. When I pull up to the pumps the fuel jockey says "how much" and  I tell him the reading on the gauge, for example "15.6 gallons" and it's usually accurate to about .2 of a gallon.

Andy

Black_Diamond

++ on Floscan fuel flow meters. I can fill up almost exactly to the gallon from the meters. Great for knowing what's left in the tanks too!

Hamdog

Jillicious,

I would agree. Using 30 gallons per hour and the 1/3 rule, you are at 140 miles so you should be good.

Have fun!!

DanD2

Is there a difference in fuel economy between the 5.7  Bravo III's and the Volvo DP's?

Black_Diamond

I would expect the same performance with the same engine displacement and similar outdrive ratios...

DanD2

Kind of what I was thinking but wanted to hear from the "experts" here.

Black_Diamond

Hamdog: 22gph at 26mph is nice...what prop pitch are you running?  I have 22P BIII 

Hamdog

Actually, I don't have a clue what pitch props I have but I know it is stock. Bravo III's. And the 22 gallons per hour is just a guess from a chart I saw somewhere so don't read much into it. But it seems to be about right.

Hamdog

I'm probably closer to your 30 gallons/hour estimate just don't know it.

brianluck

I need fuel flow meters

DanD2

Instead of a Flowscan, you might be able to tie it into your chartplotter. You would just need to purchase the flow meters. A lot cheaper than the Flowscan.

Lifes Good

RinkerYan
Garmin has a great set up for fuel flow. Should check it out before you drop a dime on the lowrance.

Black_Diamond

Diesels are more complicated than gas for fuel flow monitors due to the return fuel lines.

212rowboat

RinkerYan said:

Gas has return lines too.

I recently learned otherwise... Uscg regs disallow return fuel lines for gas, they are considered 'under pressure'... diesel isn't an explosive, you can return it all day long..