Community Forums

sposh · 11-16-2014, 11:25 AM

I have a 2000 36 ft Winnebago Chieftain on a Ford F53 Chassis I need to replace the fuel pump but the leveling jacks are mounted around the tank. Does anyone know if an access hole can be cut and if so what are the measurements for cutting or can you give me step by step instructions on how to get this tank down. The jacks are bolted in such a way that it looks like many things will have to be removed Thank you in advance for your help

sposh

djbmsu · 11-16-2014, 12:19 PM

I am going to guess you won't find someone that has completed what you need to do.
However I did cut a access door into our 1995 HR Endeavor LE because of the same circumstances. You will need to crawl under and make some measurements but it is doable.

TomBr · 11-16-2014, 03:45 PM

I had this done on my 1999 Airstream on a F53 chassis, and dropping the jacks to do so ran the bill up to about $2000, but I'm getting too old to want to tackle it myself.

Arch Hoagland · 11-16-2014, 04:35 PM

How do you know the fuel pump is bad? Sure hate to change something like that to find out it wasn't causing the problem.

Just changed the fuel pump on a Chevy pickup a couple weeks ago and there are a couple things that will give similar symptoms.

sposh · 11-17-2014, 07:13 AM

I had the diagnostics done on it to make sure it was the pump. Believe me I was keeping my fingers crossed that it was something real simple

Lt46 · 11-17-2014, 08:52 AM

Sposh,
Check the Ford Chassis Forum on this site, there are quite a few threads dealing with fuel pump changes on the F53, some posts include photo's. Unfortunately, many RV repair jobs require non-affected components to removed for access to the real problem. Just the nature of the beast.

tderonne · 11-17-2014, 11:25 AM

Dropped the tank on my F53/Winnebago. Jacks under the tank, same as yours. Jacks just unbolt from the frame rails. Getting at the bolts was tough on the right side, as they were behind my propane tank. I did it over a couple days, in my garage, would have been tougher in a remote gravel storage yard or someplace like that.

As for cutting a hole in the floor, I think you'll find your furnace ducting in the way. You'd have to cut through a couple "layers".