We have been dealing with a fuel issue for about a month now. Before I get into it, let me give you the details about what we own.
We have a 1999 Fleetwood Flair on a Chevy P-30 chassis. I believe it's a 7.4, but not 100% sure on that. We have owned it for less than a year and from the beginning, it didn't start so smoothly.
At first, I thought it just needed me to pump the gas to get fuel to it and get it started. Typically, I'd try 2-4 times and it would start, never or very rarely, on the first try. This was from the very beginning of buying it after we drove it off the lot.
Now, about a month ago, our current issue started. We were on our way from a campground in Ohio to one in New York, a total of about 430 miles. We drove about 75 miles and stopped at a rest stop for about an hour or so, then went on for about another 125 miles before overnighting at a truck stop.
The next day, we drove the final 200 miles and stopped to get groceries about 8 miles from our campground. When we came out of the grocery store, the RV wouldn't start. I would do everything except start. All the normal sounds of starting up except that one final noise when the engine turns over and you're good to go.
We thought we may be low on gas and that could be the cause, so we walked to an autozone (we don't own a car) and got a 5 gallon gas can. We put 4 gallons of gas in it and took it back to the RV. After putting gas in it, it still wouldn't start.
I had my wife try, as I banged on the gas tank with a rubber mallet. After a couple tries, it started and I hurried in to drive us the final 8 miles. We figured if we got to the campground, we would be able to start figuring out the issue.
At first, I thought it had to be the fuel pump, but I got some advice from another forum telling me to try changing the fuel filter first. This seemed reasonable and I was able to change it myself.
After changing the fuel filter, the RV started up just fine, in fact better than it had ever started before for us. About 4 days later we left New York to drive 160 miles to a campground in Massachusetts for an overnight on our way to Maine. We filled it with gas (50-gallon) tank and made it to the campground just fine.
We were given a crappy spot and were both tired, so we didn't level out the RV with leveling blocks like we normally would. When we woke up in the morning, it wouldn't start again. I figured it was the angle, as we were at a pretty bad angle towards the back driver's side of the RV and I figured we had maybe a half a tank of gas.
Again, I pounded on the fuel tank and after a few tries, we got it started. The entire time, I could hear the fuel pump working inside the tank.
We didn't want to chance it not starting at a gas station and I figured we had enough gas to go the 130 miles to our next campground, which would buy us 21 days to figure things out. However, I was wrong. We did stop twice and let it idle for about a total of maybe 20 to 30 minutes, so maybe that was why my calculations were off.
Anyway, we ended up running out of gas on the ramp for our final exit about 10 miles from our campground. The transit authority brought us about 2 gallons of gas an a triple-A guy (very nice guy as we are not triple-A members) stopped and put in another 2 gallons.
We ended up having to have it towed to the campground where we are currently (driveshaft disconnected, still).
I was given advice in another forum to try changing the fuel filter again as they can sometimes get clogged if you have sludge in the tank. I did that today, but it's still doing the same thing. I have put another 3 to 3.5 gallons of gas in the tank, so I know there is about 7 - 8 gallons in the tank, maybe a little more.
We plan to bike it to the gas station and get about 20 gallons of fuel to see if we are still just too low on gas to get it started. We are not at much of an angle, but it does favor the back passenger side a little bit. Since we were towed in, we weren't given the ability to level out at all, but it would probably only take one leveling block on the back passenger tires to get it level.
I have also checked all of the fuses under my steering wheel and they are all fine.
Is there something I am missing here or is it for sure my fuel pump?
We are trying to avoid having to replace the fuel pump, if possible, as we know that's an expensive repair and we live in our RV, so it also means trying to figure out where the two of us and our two dogs will stay while it's being fixed. Again, we don't have a car, so our options are limited.
Could it be that there isn't enough gas in the tank still? Could it be a relay or some type of sensor I can easily replace myself?
We have about 12 days to figure this out before this campground closes for the season and we will have to be out one way or another.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Benjamin Ehinger
We have a 1999 Fleetwood Flair on a Chevy P-30 chassis. I believe it's a 7.4, but not 100% sure on that. We have owned it for less than a year and from the beginning, it didn't start so smoothly.
At first, I thought it just needed me to pump the gas to get fuel to it and get it started. Typically, I'd try 2-4 times and it would start, never or very rarely, on the first try. This was from the very beginning of buying it after we drove it off the lot.
Now, about a month ago, our current issue started. We were on our way from a campground in Ohio to one in New York, a total of about 430 miles. We drove about 75 miles and stopped at a rest stop for about an hour or so, then went on for about another 125 miles before overnighting at a truck stop.
The next day, we drove the final 200 miles and stopped to get groceries about 8 miles from our campground. When we came out of the grocery store, the RV wouldn't start. I would do everything except start. All the normal sounds of starting up except that one final noise when the engine turns over and you're good to go.
We thought we may be low on gas and that could be the cause, so we walked to an autozone (we don't own a car) and got a 5 gallon gas can. We put 4 gallons of gas in it and took it back to the RV. After putting gas in it, it still wouldn't start.
I had my wife try, as I banged on the gas tank with a rubber mallet. After a couple tries, it started and I hurried in to drive us the final 8 miles. We figured if we got to the campground, we would be able to start figuring out the issue.
At first, I thought it had to be the fuel pump, but I got some advice from another forum telling me to try changing the fuel filter first. This seemed reasonable and I was able to change it myself.
After changing the fuel filter, the RV started up just fine, in fact better than it had ever started before for us. About 4 days later we left New York to drive 160 miles to a campground in Massachusetts for an overnight on our way to Maine. We filled it with gas (50-gallon) tank and made it to the campground just fine.
We were given a crappy spot and were both tired, so we didn't level out the RV with leveling blocks like we normally would. When we woke up in the morning, it wouldn't start again. I figured it was the angle, as we were at a pretty bad angle towards the back driver's side of the RV and I figured we had maybe a half a tank of gas.
Again, I pounded on the fuel tank and after a few tries, we got it started. The entire time, I could hear the fuel pump working inside the tank.
We didn't want to chance it not starting at a gas station and I figured we had enough gas to go the 130 miles to our next campground, which would buy us 21 days to figure things out. However, I was wrong. We did stop twice and let it idle for about a total of maybe 20 to 30 minutes, so maybe that was why my calculations were off.
Anyway, we ended up running out of gas on the ramp for our final exit about 10 miles from our campground. The transit authority brought us about 2 gallons of gas an a triple-A guy (very nice guy as we are not triple-A members) stopped and put in another 2 gallons.
We ended up having to have it towed to the campground where we are currently (driveshaft disconnected, still).
I was given advice in another forum to try changing the fuel filter again as they can sometimes get clogged if you have sludge in the tank. I did that today, but it's still doing the same thing. I have put another 3 to 3.5 gallons of gas in the tank, so I know there is about 7 - 8 gallons in the tank, maybe a little more.
We plan to bike it to the gas station and get about 20 gallons of fuel to see if we are still just too low on gas to get it started. We are not at much of an angle, but it does favor the back passenger side a little bit. Since we were towed in, we weren't given the ability to level out at all, but it would probably only take one leveling block on the back passenger tires to get it level.
I have also checked all of the fuses under my steering wheel and they are all fine.
Is there something I am missing here or is it for sure my fuel pump?
We are trying to avoid having to replace the fuel pump, if possible, as we know that's an expensive repair and we live in our RV, so it also means trying to figure out where the two of us and our two dogs will stay while it's being fixed. Again, we don't have a car, so our options are limited.
Could it be that there isn't enough gas in the tank still? Could it be a relay or some type of sensor I can easily replace myself?
We have about 12 days to figure this out before this campground closes for the season and we will have to be out one way or another.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Benjamin Ehinger