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Belthasar

87 Fleetwood Pace-Arrow Chevy P30 Chassis w/454, Hesitation, Backfiring and stalling oh my.

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Hey Again All - Need another helping nudge (or kick in the butt) from the "Gas Heads" on this thread....

 

The RV its running/driving great, but now the generator isn't getting fuel. After examination I am only left to think there is a crimp, or the mechanic did not reconnect things right on top of the tank.

I just replaced the fuel pump after checking for line continuity / integrity, but it appears this wasn't the true cause. (I was able to blow back through the fuel line to the gen, and heard bubbles, but in hind sight it may have just been bubbling from residual fuel in the line I heard.) Upon cranking, a small amount of fuel enters the filter, but does not draw enough to get to the engine - (bubbles can be seen in the quarter inch or so of fuel in the filter) while the pump is trying to get to the fuel.

Does anyone have any dimensions on where I should cut a hole in through the floor for any future work or repairs on this. Or has someone done this on a similar model who may be able to give me some guidance - I really dont want to take it back to the shop, and I am hoping to avoid dropping the tank if at all possible. Plus I would think it would be beneficial for any future troubleshooting and fuel pump replacement efforts. 

My RV (Eagle-5) has (for now) the two twin beds and the center is wide open. I'm not worried about messing up the floor, as I am planning to strip all the carpet out anyways. May put an actual access panel in - but dont want to make the floor  look like swiss cheese  in the process with trial and error efforts.

Edited by Belthasar

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First of all, how much fuel is in the coach tank? The builder of most coaches sets the fuel pickup tube so that it will not pick below a quarter of a tank to insure that the generator does not drain the fuel tank to keep you from getting stranded. This may not be your problem, but make sure that you do have adequate fuel.

Edited by kaypsmith

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The first thing I would do is get a small/2 1/2 gallon gascan and some fuel line. try running the generator off this fuel supply. This is also a good way to run something like  carb cleaner at a high ratio without needing to treat the main tank. If it runs good then you can look at the supply lines going to the tank.

Bill

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16 hours ago, kaypsmith said:

First of all, how much fuel is in the coach tank? The builder of most coaches sets the fuel pickup tube so that it will not pick below a quarter of a tank to insure that the generator does not drain the fuel tank to keep you from getting stranded. This may not be your problem, but make sure that you do have adequate fuel.

Yep, thought that may be it as it was close to the 1/4 tank level - so now I have freshly filled to the top tank - and of course now need to potentially drop it 😃

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13 hours ago, wildebill308 said:

The first thing I would do is get a small/2 1/2 gallon gascan and some fuel line. try running the generator off this fuel supply. This is also a good way to run something like  carb cleaner at a high ratio without needing to treat the main tank. If it runs good then you can look at the supply lines going to the tank.

Bill

Generator runs great when it has fuel or using starter fluid. (Sorry, I forgot to mention I ruled out generator operability)

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There is no way to reach the top of the fuel tank from a wheel well or any other creative method? 

If NO, I would try and give it a different fuel source and see how that goes (as mentioned above). My guess is the old fuel line deteriorated somewhere along the way and its either pulling air in or collapsing internally. One time I did see the sending unit on top of a fuel tank rust out, oddly it was only the line to the generator that had the excessive rust. 

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On 11/19/2020 at 9:03 AM, jleamont said:

There is no way to reach the top of the fuel tank from a wheel well or any other creative method? 

If NO, I would try and give it a different fuel source and see how that goes (as mentioned above). My guess is the old fuel line deteriorated somewhere along the way and its either pulling air in or collapsing internally. One time I did see the sending unit on top of a fuel tank rust out, oddly it was only the line to the generator that had the excessive rust. 

I fully expect it was just a mis-install at the shop as the genny was working great before the work on replacing the chassis internal tank pump. But advice well taken, I intend to completely re-run the generator fuel lines either way, am just having issues seeing how i can get beyond where the line runs through the frame (and connects to a hard line at that point) to verify the top of the tank connection is good.

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Did the shop drop the tank to replace the internal fuel pump? If yes, they may have removed the pickup tube for the genny. I think that in an earlier post you stated that while back blowing the fuel connection that you heard gas gurgling.

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On 11/20/2020 at 12:19 PM, kaypsmith said:

Did the shop drop the tank to replace the internal fuel pump? If yes, they may have removed the pickup tube for the genny. I think that in an earlier post you stated that while back blowing the fuel connection that you heard gas gurgling.

They Did trop the tank, and im now wondering if I only heard fuel that was in the line bubbliing, but did not see anything dripping, so at that point I assumed it was bubbling in the tank, am looking more into it today. Tried to explore putting in a fuel pump access pane, but the pilot hole I drilled showed the grey water tank is above the fuel tank, so im left with dropping the gas tank again. 

 

I did however make a good bit of progress in ripping out the 87 carpet and headliner for the front half of the vehicle though - and holy dog doodie, they must have had a sale on 1/4" staples!! I must have pulled over 200 just in the two step stairwell alone!!

Now that my back is killing me, I think ill try to drop the tank next week 😃 I did however exercise the generator a bit with external fuel tank, runs great on its own!

 

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Now that you have a full fuel tank, you can get a 100 gallon bladder from Northern tool, Harbor Freight or Tractor supply, they are not expensive in that size, then siphon out yours and drop tank! 😂

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On 11/22/2020 at 8:05 AM, manholt said:

Now that you have a full fuel tank, you can get a 100 gallon bladder from Northern tool, Harbor Freight or Tractor supply, they are not expensive in that size, then siphon out yours and drop tank! 😂

Yay me! new life experiences, right?? I may just hold a bit until the back and forth from the storage yard to the house during this remodel gets it runnning on fumes. Perhaps a bit of uphill WOT can drain it faster right? 😃

 

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