Is my Electric Fuel Pump not working?

HandyDan · December 29, 2011, 10:52 PM

The ongoing saga of the electric fuel pump. Today I added about 10 gallons of gas to the MH. I couldn't get all the gas out of each gas can so I'm estimating I got about 10 in. I then tried to start the motor. It cranked for about 10 seconds before it fired briefly. I tried again and kept lightly pumping the accelerator. It started and kept going although occasionally it would hiccup. I let it run for about five minutes then shut it down. I then went back and looked at the electric fuel pump. I still hadn't put the wheel on the tag axle so I would have a good view of the pump. Everything at first looked okay but a closer examination showed some moisture on the "out" side of the pump. I grabbed a 5/8" wrench and turned the fitting a little bit. As I was doing that a drop of gas fell on my hand. Of course this perked up my attention. Just above the hose I was tightening is the hose coming out of the fuel tank. There to my wondering eyes would behold a cracked rubber hose. And the more I lookedl, the more cracks I found. This was going to take more time than I had to give it. I looked at where the hose entered the gas tank. It is on top of the tank and as luck would have it was held on to a nipple (I feel so uncomfortable saying that) with a screw clamp. However it is extremely hard to get to. It might be better to drop the tank and have a look see at the other hoses and just see what hose goes to what. While looking I also found a hose that was capped off. I have no idea what it is for. Anyway, I decided that this could wait until after winter for further action. Dropping the tank didn't look too hard. There is a drain plug to empty the gas. The tank is held on with four big bolts. It actually looked doable. But it could wait until better weather. I climbed out from under the coach and prepared to put the wheel back on. Being in the later years of my life, this is not as easy as it sounds. I was not looking forward to hefting a wheel remembering how much trouble I had putting the wheels back on the front when I replaced the air bags. I learned a neat trick from another forum about using a shovel to lever the wheel back on the studs. It worked like a charm. The shovel cradles the wheel and with a little leverage it lifts the wheel without much effort at all. I had it on and tighened up in no time and without the usual backache. Here are a couple of pictures of the cracked hose and the gas tank. BTW the hoses in the second picture have not been secured back in place, yet. They are just hanging there. The third picture is the top of the gas tank where the hose is fastened on. Only about two inches of clearance.

ClydesdaleKevin · December 29, 2011, 11:15 PM

Yep...any break in the hose will cause a suction loss and therefore a problem with running.

Kev

DaveVA78Chieftain · December 30, 2011, 01:27 AM

Given there is a hose connector inserted there, it looks to me like you are not the first to have this problem. Only thing is, you get to fix it correctly. Buy enough hose to eliminate that connector.

Dave

HandyDan · December 30, 2011, 12:11 PM

Yep, I'm going to go directly from the tank to the fuel filter to the fuel pump. From there is a rubber hose to the metal fuel line that runs to the front.

HandyDan · March 01, 2012, 11:19 PM

Since the weather was really nice today after the storms of yesterday (tornadoes, high winds, rain, hail, etc, etc., I decided to again look at my gas line. When I last left off I was going to drop the gas tank and see where all the lines went and replace the rotten main line. Well, after raising the MH up with the hydraulic levelers (Kev) and removing the tag axle wheel, I crawled under the motorhome (after placing a jack stand on the frame!) and looked at my options. I decided not to drop the tank because I didn't want to get into a project that I couldn't finish today. The weather was going to go back to winter tomorrow. I could just get my hand on top of the fuel tank and get a 1/4" socket on the screw clamp of the gas line. After many bad words, I finally got the clamp off. I used a utility knife to cut the line and removed it.

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I managed to squirm out and took a look at what I had. I was surprised to see that the hose was 5/16 instead of 3/8 like the rest of the line. Apparently this is the way it came from the factory. Anyway, I happened to have some 5/16 line that my son left from his Jeep project. I slipped it on and ran it to the filter in front of the fuel pump. I used the 5/16 to 3/8 adapter that was on the bad hose to hook up to the filter. I managed to cut out about two feet of line. You can see how much extra hose I had in some of the previous pictures. I zip tied everything in place and put the wheel back on. Decided to give it the big try at the ignition. I let it pump a little bit before I turned the key all the way so the pump could fill up the empty line up to the motor. It started right up but it sure wasn't happy about being woke up from the cold. It ran a little rough until it warmed up a bit and then it just purred. If you remember, I was going to fuel up the MH before the gas prices started to soar when I started this project. Well, that ship has sailed but I wonder just how much more it is going to go up before I hit the road. Presently the price here is $3.54. I'm going to try to go to the gas station next week when the weather is supposed to get nice again. I hope it hasn't gone ballistic by then. Then I'm going to run out to the propane dealer and fill that up. I am completely out. This is a temporary fix. I still want to do a bypass and I still want to drop the tank. Wow, this sure got long. Sorry about that.

ClydesdaleKevin · March 02, 2012, 10:26 AM

LOL Dan! Stop bragging about the leveling jacks...hehehehehe. I'm envious. Someday I'll install a set. I got to see how they install on my friend Julies '90 HR, and while I have the rear holes for them, right under the MorRyde suspension, I don't have the front brace welded in like hers, where the fronts attach...so its more of a project than I'll have time for for a while.

Congrats on getting that pesky fuel line! They never make it easy to reach the top of the tank...although I've heard tales that some rigs have hidden trap doors over the tank...ours doesn't.

Gas prices are supposedly going to continue to soar...average price down here in Apache Junction AZ is $3.79 for regular, with some gas stations at over $3.85! And it seems to climb a few cents every day.

Why is Washington so useless?...lol

Kev

HandyDan · March 02, 2012, 10:55 AM

I just couldn't resist, Kev. Wow, this crazy weather. Yesterday it was close to 70 degrees. Today it is snowing.
The Missouri average gas price today is $3.55 while the national average is $3.69 according to GasBuddy. However, it says the prices are rising. Gee, who knew!.

Froggy1936 · March 02, 2012, 11:05 AM

In Eastern Pa yesterday $3.89.9 They heard i was planning another trip Ha Ha Frank I mounted my electric pump on a Chev. automatic rear mount to elim noise .

DaveVA78Chieftain · March 02, 2012, 02:01 PM

I just went through all this myself.

Dropped tanks
Replaced all rubber and metal fuel lines from tank to carb (rubber line sucking air at tank)
Added a return line, new tank select valve for return line and installed a WIX 33040 vented gas filter at carb (like an EFI system circulation keeps the fuel in the line cooler)
New 15psi 140 gal/Hr fuel pump and fuel regulator
New see through filter for each tank just before new pump (you can actually see the air bubbles in the line if it is a problem)
Fuel pressure gauge at carb (Pressure does not mean anything when it sucks air at tank hose as you simply get to read pressurized vapor not liquid at the carb
Rebuilt carb again
Removed/Cleaned EGR valve.

I dare it to vapor lock now!

I will have to do a mod to this this summer. That high volume pump is a bit noisy and will move it to a different location. At least I will not have to drop the tanks to do that.

Shall we say I got very frustrated with this.
Dave

JDxeper · March 02, 2012, 09:16 PM

140 gallon per hour Hm? now that's a lotta fuel

Rover71 · August 15, 2015, 02:31 PM

I think most ,if not all these old P-30 Chevy motor home chassis had the in tank pumps,1/2 inch lines and pressure regulators to counteract vapor lock.Book I have says they started doing some in 1985. Still kept the mechanical pump with return line as well.

Rover71 · August 15, 2015, 02:59 PM

Just a comment on the pressure regulator--ours quit working a few years ago and the electric pump started pushing out 10+PSI (I have an installed fuel pressure gauge). First indication was a lot of big backfires, lucky we didn't blow a muffler off , got a lot of raised eyebrows from the neighbors! I finally smartened up and unplugged the pump relay and just ran on the mechanical pump until we got home, it wasn't too hot so no problem. The fun started when trying to find & fix the regulator, up inside the rear frame. Couldn't get it out, but got it apart and managed to get a kit and repaired it satisfactorily.