Country Coach fuel capacity?

[stuhly]

It is not unusual to have as much as ten gallons of unusable fuel on the bottom of a large rectangle tank. Plus on the top depending on where the inlet enters you may have quite a bit of air space that can't be filled. Ten percent less than advertised is a very likely number.

[gbburgess]

I always run on the top half of the 130 gallon tank. I have seldom put in more than 75 gallons and most often 60 gallons or so. This is our 3 rd motorhome and I NEVER trust the fuel gauge. I know our unit gets 6.5 miles per gallon and I do the math every time I fill up. Also, I love the Silverleaf - it matches the calculator virtually every time. The only problems occur when running the generator or the AquaHot for longer lengths of time. This fuel usage does not show up in the fuel gauge or the Silverleaf so you need to make allowances for that.

[Mr_D]

We have a 150 gallon tank but then I ran out of fuel with ¼ tank showing. I sat for a while after calling Coach Net. After sitting for about an hour right at the stop sign for a busy three way intersection I tried it again and it started.
Found out later that CC had changed tank suppliers and there was a known defect in the new tanks. In some situations like going down a hill and braking with ¼ tank showing, fuel would rush away from the pickup and the engine would stall out. After cranking enough they'd restart though. I was able to get it going after about an hour, which was before the Sheriff got there to direct traffic and I called CN to cancel the call.

[Hinmanjim]

I also have a 2007 Tribute. The spec sheet for it shows that the fuel capacity is 100 gallons.


Jim and Jean Hinman
Country Coach Tribute #81056

[JohnFitz]

Generally speaking diesels need some reserve fuel in the tank for cooling. The engine fuel pump pulls in much more than it burns and sends a lot of fuel back to the tank in a return line. The engine uses the fuel for cooling the injector pump and on many engines the ECM. If too little fuel is left in the tank the recycling fuel will get too hot and the injector pump will have increased wear. It could be that CC placed the pickup line at the 20% full mark for this reason. But the gauge should still read E at this level. I've seen specs listing both tank size and "usable" capacity but usually I just see tank size.

Another reason to keep the fuel cool is efficiency: every 10 degrees F increase reduces the efficiency by about 1%- nothing that would normally be noticed on the road.

[bobfleener]

Thanks, you could be right. Someone also told me that perhaps the draw lines to the generator and engine were mistakenly reversed, with the engine tube not going deep enough. It's all Greek to me!
Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by JohnFitz

Generally speaking diesels need some reserve fuel in the tank for cooling. The engine fuel pump pulls in much more than it burns and sends a lot of fuel back to the tank in a return line. The engine uses the fuel for cooling the injector pump and on many engines the ECM. If too little fuel is left in the tank the recycling fuel will get too hot and the injector pump will have increased wear. It could be that CC placed the pickup line at the 20% full mark for this reason. But the gauge should still read E at this level. I've seen specs listing both tank size and "usable" capacity but usually I just see tank size.

Another reason to keep the fuel cool is efficiency: every 10 degrees F increase reduces the efficiency by about 1%- nothing that would normally be noticed on the road.

Just wondering if you have seen any manufactures recommend keeping a certian amount of fuel in a tank for cooling purposes.

I have been involved in diesel powered equipment my whole career and never heard of that.

The last 16 years I managed a facility where it was routine to refuel much of the equipment when the low ( near empty )fuel light came on.

We would replace the machines at around 20,000 hours and still have the original fuel system components with the exception of some lift pumps.

Running the tanks low also helped eliminate the sludge build up, by sloshing the fuel around.

We ran Cat, Cummins, Mack, Duitz, JD and an assortment of other diesel engines.

[JohnFitz]

Originally Posted by twinboat

Just wondering if you have seen any manufactures recommend keeping a certian amount of fuel in a tank for cooling purposes.

I have been involved in diesel powered equipment my whole career and never heard of that.

Twinboat,
It's fairly new to me too. Cummins list as a requirement to OEMs the max inlet fuel temperature allowed. They also provide the max temperature of the fuel being returned to the tank at worse case conditions so the OEM knows how big to size the cooling. They don't care if you use the convention of the tank or active cooling. I'm working with a QSK60 engine at work and the max inlet fuel temp is 158F. The maximum possible output fuel temp of 246F. I'm going to guess that with higher pressure injection systems the rejected fuel is getting hotter. I think most ECMs measure the temperature but I'm not exactly sure what the ECM does with it. My 1991 coach has a Detroit 6V92 electronic engine. I have a VMS dash reader and the highest I remember seeing the fuel temp is about 121F. My tank is 148 gallons and I usually fill up at 1/4 on the gauge but it takes only 75 gallons. Below 1/4 on the gauge I start feeling uncomfortable and cave into filling up.
Even though it's for marine engines I found this article interesting: Understanding Marine Fuel Coolers - Seaboard Marine

[Rshuster2]

Originally Posted by Mr_D

We have a 150 gallon tank but then I ran out of fuel with ¼ tank showing. I sat for a while after calling Coach Net. After sitting for about an hour right at the stop sign for a busy three way intersection I tried it again and it started.
Found out later that CC had changed tank suppliers and there was a known defect in the new tanks. In some situations like going down a hill and braking with ¼ tank showing, fuel would rush away from the pickup and the engine would stall out. After cranking enough they'd restart though. I was able to get it going after about an hour, which was before the Sheriff got there to direct traffic and I called CN to cancel the call.

Have you figured anything out with the fuel tank? I have an '08 Affinity with the same issue. Looking for ideas to remedy it. If it makes you feel any better, my 600 ISX also fractured a valve at 17000 miles and Cummins wouldn't do a thing for me. 28K out of my pocket plus a $3500 tow bill from Charlotte NC to Pittsburgh PA. Ain't campin FUN!!!