Won't Fuel Properly

[demichef81]

I know this is a problem with many RV's from what I hear. I am new to the RV world. I have a 2007 Gulfstream Sun Voyager on a Freightliner Custom Chassis. It holds 75 gallons, and it takes me like 45 minutes to fill this thing up. Sometimes, when at a truck stop pump, it is a little bit better, but very rarely. At Freightliner they told me that it is what it is, and there is nothing I can do about it. I find this very hard to believe. With all of the technology in this world, not to mention what is on this thing, it is amazing to me that they have not figured out how to make this thing able to take fuel easier. Does anybody have any suggestions or a solution? Thanks so much for anybody's response!

Brad

[RVRon]

Brad,
My first thought would be to check your tank vents, but failing that I have no idea.. most truckstop pumps can deliver 20+ gallons a minute and most retail gas stations run at about 7 gpm. I can only imagine your frustration at only being able to accept 2 gpm into the MH.

[RVThere]

FCCC replaced the fuel tank on my 2006 chassis because if would belch as the vents were not positioned on the tank properly. If you filled it too fast, a spray of diesel would hit you.

I don't have belching anymore, but it will only hold about 60 gallons of fuel between my 'low fuel warning' on the dash and a 'full tank'. The tank is advertised as 100 gallons.

[Chuck 1935]

Make sure the fuel vent hose on top of the tank is not pinched or plugged. You can also straighten out some of the bends going from the filler cap to the tank. Also check to make sure the filler pipe has not sagged below the tank entrance. make sure the filler vent hose has not sagged below the level of the filler hose. I also aim the nozzel toward the rear of the coach and do not insert it all the way into the filler opening.
I have done all the things I have suggested and it now takes the the fuel with no problem.

[Vintage]

I had a similar problem with mine. I found that the vent hose that parallels the filler hose would fill with diesel and prevent the tank from venting and thereby shutting off the fill nozzle.

I detached the vent hose from the fill hose and actually inverted the vent hose by suspending it with a few spot ties to some of the framework. This way it drains itself of fliud and can vent the tank while filling without shutting off the fill nozzle.

[Crabby Mike]

Originally Posted by Chuck 1935

Make sure the fuel vent hose on top of the tank is not pinched or plugged. You can also straighten out some of the bends going from the filler cap to the tank. Also check to make sure the filler pipe has not sagged below the tank entrance. make sure the filler vent hose has not sagged below the level of the filler hose. I also aim the nozzel toward the rear of the coach and do not insert it all the way into the filler opening.
I have done all the things I have suggested and it now takes the the fuel with no problem.

x2 -- this is a well-known problem, and not unique to Freightliner. If the hose sags between the fill neck and the tank, it forms a "trap'" like a P-trap under a sink. Instead of flowing right through the tube, it builds up in the sag until pressure from above pushes it through. Straighten and support the hose, and the problem usually goes away.

[Grimesy]

I went round and around with Winnebago over this very same problem it is a design defect compouded by finger pointing by Winnebago at Freightliner and vice versa. Freightliner did agree to pay for the labor but Winn. wanted $500.00 for the parts, a real case of corporate greed. Some one said if you lower the jacks and raise one side of the rig it might help, haven't tried it.

Don

[bob109]

I had the same problem with my 2001.5 Discovery which is on a Freightliner Chassis. Forgot where I read of the cure, but it was really simple. After inserting the nozzle with the handle in the 6 o'clock position turn the nozzle handle to the 3 o'clock position and start pumping slowly, at first, then increase the flow. Fueling at truck lanes is now a breeze without any fuel discharge.

I had suspected the vent and checked it with my main slide out. It wasn't the problem. The real culprit is the routing of the fuel fill tube. The fuel has to overcome two sharp L bends in the line before entering the tank. For reasons unknown to me, simply rotating the fuel nozzle handle 1/4 turn, to the 3 o'clock position, works. Sometimes it's the easiest fixes that cure problems.

[bob461]

My Astoria has fills on both sides. The driver's worked fine but the passanger side just would not take fuel without constantly spitting back. That hose ran upward before sloping down into the tank. I gave it a tug downward and it stayed down. Full speed filling without spitting back on both sides since. I thought about securing it in this position but it hasn't moved for 9 months.

[Skip426]

Having side to side filling issues with my 1999(new to me) DSDP . Left side puts 10+ gals more into the tank than right; no matter what the side to side slope of the coach. Tank/filler/vent tube access is tight, but pulling the gen-set forward and working from the cavity, looks like the best for geting at things. The rotation of the pump filler nozzle works because , the flow cut off is orriented to the trigger lever, rotating the nozzle puts this higher and so means more back pressure required to kick off flow. My repair in this area is on my to-do list.

[demichef81]

Thank you so much everybody for your input. The update is, the problem is fixed! I took it to many places for various issues and always brought this up to the techs. They all said that it couldn't be fixed. I then took it to Transwest Freightliner in Commerce City, CO. near Denver. Jason, the tech there, fixed it in about 10 minutes. It had a low spot in the air vent hose, and it went lower than the fuel tank. He simply unhooked it, cut it shorter, hooked it back up, and now it takes me about 5 minutes to fuel this beast up! I couldn't be happier. It was a real pain. I hope this can help somebody in the future. Thanks again to everybody for your input and help.

Brad

[JMonroe]

Originally Posted by demichef81

Thank you so much everybody for your input. The update is, the problem is fixed! ...
Brad

Cool! Seems many are always looking for a complicated answer to simple problems, and will overlook the 'obvious'.

Happy trails...