| Author |
Message |
Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 07, 2005 - 6:51 pm: | |
Well, another fun trip (Burning Man) and another few things learned about my bus.
After putting 20,000 miles on it, so far without a hitch, yesterday I had a BIG "in-yo-face" lesson about trusting what nameplates and manufacturers say.
I was just taking the last nasty grade out of owens valley and I suddenly lost power...in fact I lost it all and came rolling to a very unhappy stop with a dead engine.
Hmmm. Yes the gas gauge was reading "E" but it had always been out of calibration....so I thought... every time I've filled the bus from "E" it's taken a maximum of 50 gallons of fuel, and according to the nameplate, the manual and all I've read about my Crown, it has an 85 gallon tank. So I've never given a thought to the gauge saying "E" except that at that point I have another 350 miles worth of fuel left.... well as I said, so I thought...
Yesterday stopped it did. I pulled the engine's fuel filter and empty it was. Luckily I was pulling my generator trailer that still had 40-50 gallons of diesel in it, and luckily I had a little electric fuel pump with me so I could transfer some to the bus, which I did.
But now I was faced with a diesel engine that had run out of fuel and I don't have a primer pump system installed. A messy situation. Definitely a "no-start" scenario.
The mickey-mouse part of me kicked in, and I realized that the bus's fuel filter had a plastic drain valve on it. I unscrewed the valve and found that it was threaded roughly similar to a 1/4 pipe, and that a plastic water valve I had used on my now un-needed radiator sprayer "kinda" screwed into the hole (a lot of teflon tape and a bit of cross-threading, and it fit right in)
I filled an old gallon water bottle with diesel, put my electric fuel pump's inlet hose in the bottle and connected the outlet to the mickey-mouse filter fitting valve I'd just put together...
Luckily my Crown came with a fuel shutoff valve so you can change the fuel filter without letting the tank line drain back. So I shut that off and when I turned on the electric fuel pump, it sucked diesel out of the water bottle, forced the fuel filter to fill up, pressurized the injector pump, and at that point the engine started right up. Finally, pump still running, I re-opened the main fuel valve and pumped the remaining fuel in the bottle back thru the pipes and into the bus tank, thus purging all air from the lines.
Done, I shut off the mickey-mouse valve now on the bottom of the filter, put the pump and stuff away, and off I went. (stinking of diesel from head-to-toe...yuck)
Happy day, roughly only 25 minutes lost.
Lessons learned?
(1) Measure your silly fuel tank before you believe what you read. This morning my tape measure and I found out that mine is really only 60 gallons! Oops.
(2) Plumb in a fuel primer pump system of some sort, as has been described by many folks on this board. I have had it on my list but never got around to it and I was LUCKY that I had enough junk on board to do this out in the middle of nowhere on a nasty hot day. Well maybe it wasn't really all just luck... that's why I carry an extensive set of tools and weird parts with me always, so mickey can have something to work with when needed... but as of this incident I now see how much a fuel primer pump system is one of those "required" things to have installed.
(3) Carry some spare diesel fuel
(4) Now I trust my fuel gauge enirely when it says "E"
Have fun!! |
Randy Davidson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 5:57 pm: | |
Good post. Thanks for the story and warning/advice. I need to add a pump (someday, hah) too. |
Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 6:58 pm: | |
My plan is to carry two five gallon Rotella empty buckets, cleaned with the tops poppd off and use the buckets for general storage until I need them to carry fuel. Then I will bum a ride or take the toad and get fuel. I don't want to carry fuel because diesel stinks and most fuel cans leak a little. I am a lot more careful after running out. I now use a dipstick and do not pass by an expensive station when I am getting low. I just buy $50 worth and find a cheaper station to fill up at |
David Hartley (Drdave)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 8:22 pm: | |
I use one of the old 12 volt vacuum pumps used on ambulances. It sucks the air out of the lines and pulls fuel from the tank. I can also put the exhaust line into a jug and see if I have air leaks in the fuel lines or filters.
Works for me... |
FAST FRED
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 09, 2005 - 5:46 am: | |
"see if I have air leaks in the fuel lines or filters."
The EZ way to monitor this is with an "armored sight glass" of the correct size from the refrigeration parts store.
$10.or so and be happy if you DONT see tiny bubbles when ever you look!
FAST FRED |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 09, 2005 - 12:52 pm: | |
The one (and only) time I ran out of fuel, I could actually see the EXXON sign about 100 feet away and that was where I was heading. After about six hours of working to get it re-primed you can be sure I mounted an auxiliary priming pump the very next day.
Richard |
FAST FRED
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 10, 2005 - 6:00 am: | |
A far simpler and more usefull addition is one of the $40. vacume oil change pumps used on boats.
These can be hoked to the primary filter and then the secondary filter to suck fuel to fill the filters with little effort or time.
They can also be used with an extension to suck the gunk from the bottom of the fuel tank , if not fitted with (or you wont risk opening) a tank drain.
Remember the BIG parts count is the source of failure , so adding pumps , valves ., by pass ect is the road to unexplained stopping.
FAST FRED |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 10, 2005 - 10:03 am: | |
Although the vacuum pump is far simpler, in FF's opinion, I prefer to have something mounted permanently so that I do not have to be rooting around in a tool box or compartment to try and find something at midinght.
The bypass I installed did not add any extra components, other than a couple of T fittings, in the fuel supply system and the convenience far outweighed the potential decrease in MTBF in the system. Additionally it served as a priming pump for both the genset and the Webasto furnace as well.
Richard |
MCI 5A
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 11, 2005 - 7:56 pm: | |
When I had my diesel run out of fuel, I still had lots of air, so after putting some fuel in the tank I hooked up my air hose (always carry one) to the fuel fill opening , cracked a line by the engine and presto here comes the fuel. Just one way. |
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