My Horizon has a drip

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LK23

LK23

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 14, 2008
Posts
238
Location
Colorado
My 2005 Itasca Horizon has a small drip near the passenger side front jack.  After several weeks of sitting in this paved campground there is a 12 inch diameter spot on the pavement.  This spot is on the interior side of the extended jack.  I crawled under the coach and found the drip is coming from somewhere above the frame member on the curb side of the fuel tank.  I cannot see the topside of the frame member.  I can see there is a large hole in the frame that allows passage of the curb side gas filler hose and another smaller hose.  The dripping fluid feels like very light oil.  My first thought was hydraulic fluid.  I checked the hydraulic reservoir and found it full.  Then I though it might be diesel.

Prior to parking, I filled the fuel tank and drove about 40 miles to the campground, so I burned off about 6 gallons.

Any ideas what is causing the leak?  Could it be diesel?  Is there some way to determine if the leak is diesel vs. hydraulic fluid?  If the tank is almost full would a loose connection on the filler tube leak?
 
The smell of diesel is very different from hydraulic fluid. I would bet the hydraulic line to the cylinder is lose & leaking. Good Luck Art
 
My 2005 Journey 39K had a small drip after fueling when I got it in October.  The fillerneck hose clamps were loose.  The curbside was hard to get to on mine but I changed out one clamp and have not seen it leak again.  I checked the road side and tightened them also.

Ronnie
 
On further inspection, the curb side fill tube connects to a rubber elbow with hose clamps on each end.  This entire rubber elbow is covered with oil (probably diesel).  The street side is total dry and clean.  I now suspect that this may be the problem and I will attempt to tighten the clamps.

Three questions:

1)  Would the filler tube leak if the tank is almost, but not quite full?

2)  Are there other connectors past this rubber elbow?  The pipe passes through the frame member and I cannot see where it connects to the tank.

3)  Is there a method to test the drip to determine if it is diesel?
 
Here are some photos of my drip.
 

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Is that being blown back by the fan?  That looks like quite a bit of moisture there to be just a "drip".  That drip should still be dripping from somewhere. You may need to stop at a carwash and clean all that off, then crawl under it and see what is fresh. 
 
SargeW said:
You may need to stop at a carwash and clean all that off, then crawl under it and see what is fresh.
Click to expand...
I second that. If it was mine and I couldn't identify the fluid I'd get a couple cans of engine cleaner, or  go to a detail shop and have it steam cleaned, then drive it home and search again. Much easier to find the source when everything is clean.

I'm sure you're watching the fluid levels closely. If something is leaking, eventually that level will drop. One exceptions to that would be air conditioning compressor oil, which I'm pretty sure you can't check without depressurizing the system. (Been a while since I worked on an AC, if that's wrong someone please correct me)

After it's clean, a good flashlight and a mirror should be quite revealing.
 
I may have answered my own questions.  I crawled under the Coach and cleaned as much of the gunk off as possible.  Then I loosed the bottom hose clamp, hoping to reposition it so I could better reach the screw head.  Before I could get the clamp totally loose diesel fuel came out.  And, the diesel fuel appears very similar to what is dripping off the fuel tank.  So, yes, fuel will leak from the filler hose since the hose goes into the side of the tank.  I would guess anything above 3/4 full would leak if the hose clamps were not tight.

I tightened both the bottom and top hose clamps.  I plan to purchase two more clamps and put them next to the existing clamps.

If you look at the bottom side photo, it looks like Freightliner did not push the bottom hose fully on the tank inlet.

It also appears from the photos that both the top and bottom hose clamps may have been leaking.

I may have a new hose installed when I get my next oil change.
 
LK23 said:
I may have a new hose installed when I get my next oil change.
Click to expand...
If it was me, an the leak is fuel, I wouldn't wait. I'd do it now. I'm probably a little over cautious when it comes to stuff like that, but I like to think it's served me well.
 
John,

I only noticed the leak since we have been parked on pavement for the past three weeks.  At first, I thought it was water.  Then I took a closer look.  Funny, the filler tube on the street side, where I usually fuel is spotless.  I guess the fact that both ends of the rubber elbow were dirty means both clamps were leaking.
 
Roadmack,

There is no way I can replace the filler tube elbow until I use fuel and get the tank level down to around 1/2 full.  We don't plan to leave this location for a while so it will have to wait.  Plus, I think the real problem is the hose clamps, except that the hose could have been positioned a little further onto the fuel tank tube.
 
I am glad you found your problem. On mine, Winnebago did not put the clamp correct on the 3 inch rubber coupling between the black holding tank & the outlet plastic pipe. It wasn't fuel we smelled for 6 months before I finally found & repaired it! I would rather the fuel smell! Art 
 
Can a perosn over-tighten a hose clamp?  I tightened both clamps as much as possible and I noticed the bottom end of the hose has flared past the clamp.
 
Yep, you sure can, they will snap.  And if it snaps you will have a big mess.  I sounds like the hoses need changed out as they may have started to deform.  Usually if a hose has bulged it means that someone has over tightened it already and deformed the rubber.  Hoses tend to get soft when they get old, and tightening a clamp over tight can cause it to deform and leak as well.  I would see what I could do to get it replaced. 
 
Once the hose starts to flare, you've gotten what you can. If if still leaks, the hose is probably cut from overtightening and needs to be replaced. The other possibility with a new hose is that some foreign material got under the hose before the clamp was tightened leaving a path for leakage. That one is very unlikely. As you noted, the hose may not be on properly; easy to fix.
Ernie
 
I am considering placing a second hose clamp next to the two existing clamps until I can burn off some fuel and replace the hose.  Assuming the second clamp can "grab" the filler tube and the tank inlet, does anyone see a problem with two clamps?
 
Rex - on the boat every fitting that was below the water line was always double clamped.  I see no problem assuming your clamp will be fully/almost fully engaged with the pipe.
 
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