'99 Monaco--How much usable fuel??

[mmorgan]

I was looking at the owners manual earlier and it says that fuel tank capacity is 100 gallons but up to 35 gallons is not usable.

This can't possibly be correct, has anyone else seen this in the manual and actually determined how much of the 100 gallons is usable?


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[GBRG07]

Could it be that they are talking about the generator ?
Most gen sets only have access to 1/4 tank level or about that.

[avfordguy]

I had a 99 monaco dip 38a never put more than 85 gallons at a fill up, gen set would run out of fuel at 1/4 of a tank, the rest i burned getting to fill station.
My current 04 dip 38pst genset quits at 1/3 tank never filled more than 83 gallons, never have run the cummins out of fu e l.

Gordie

[Dr4Film]

Depending on how your tank was built and mounted it is possible.

My fuel tank is 128 gallons plus I really don't trust my fuel gauge completely so I rely on true life experiences.

My Aqua-Hot and Generator will stop running when I need between 80-85 gallons of fuel. I know that because I stretched in one time TOO far and lost both the AH and Generator at the same time.

I also know that there are 28 gallons of unusable fuel for the Cummins because again I stretched it a bit too far and recently ran out of fuel as I was coasting into the diesel pump. I pumped 100 gallons of fuel to fill the tank.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[mmorgan]

I understand about the generator pick up tube but it sounds like the engine pick up tube is also well off the bottom of the tank according to the explanation in the manual.

I have a 1998 manual and a 1999 manual in my paperwork and the 98 manual is the one that talks about the fuel tank. There is no mention of it in the 99 manual other than stating the fuel capacity is 100 gallons.


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[mmorgan]

Here is what is says in the '98 manual.....again, nothing like this is mentioned in the '99 manual.

[Coma]

I once put 90 gal in my tank. I know that no matter what the gauge says if I've driven 600 miles, I need fuel.

[jacwjames]

When we first bought our coach I had in a covered storage site and was doing some work on it installing a laminate floor. I was running the generator as needed to run a saw. The fuel gauge read half full so I thought everything was OK until the generator ran out of fuel. Drove the RV ~25 miles to get fuel and pump 100 gallons into the tank so my at ~97 gallons my generator runs out of fuel 1- (97/128) = ~25%.

Haven't run my engine out of fuel yet and planning not to. I now use a Silverleaf monitor and it tracks fuel consumption. I start looking for fuel at 80 gallons maybe sooner if we are running the generator for AC's.

[oldguy70]

The engine pickup is about six inches above the bottom of the tank and the generator is about six inches above that. I changed that on my 98 Dynasty and pulled the tank and
built a sump and now my engine pickup is below the bottom of the tank and my generator
is about 6 inches above the bottom of the tank. I now do 800 hundred miles on a tank and
probably could do a 1000 miles.

[mmorgan]

Thanks for all the replies, 6 inches of fuel across the bottom of the tank is a lot so I will assume I probably have a 65 gallon fuel tank


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[RCG604]

When I first got my coach. I was told it has a 100 gallon tank. Well the gauge was about 1/8th or maybe a bit higher and I thought I better get fuel. It took 98 gallons. I no longer trust the gauge. I use my scan gauge now.

Richard

[10Boomer]

Originally Posted by oldguy70

The engine pickup is about six inches above the bottom of the tank and the generator is about six inches above that. I changed that on my 98 Dynasty and pulled the tank and
built a sump and now my engine pickup is below the bottom of the tank and my generator
is about 6 inches above the bottom of the tank. I now do 800 hundred miles on a tank and
probably could do a 1000 miles.

Can you post what you did, maybe some pictures. Thx


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[oldguy70]

I marked my tank where I wanted the sump and I made the sump about a foot square and 11/2 down as I didn't want the sump to below the frame rails. I used a zip grinder to cut out the hole in my tank. I used my miter saw to cut the pieces for the sump. As the tank is aluminum the material is easy to cut
if you have a carbite saw. On the side of the sump at the bottom I drilled and
tapped a 1/8 pipe hole and put a valve with a cap in to the hole. I welded a 1/4 X 1 inch square piece of aluminum to put the valve into. The pickup tubes
are soldered into the fittings that go through the tank. I think the pickup tubes
are 3/8 tubing. When I heated up the fitting to take the old tubes out I couldn't
believe how bad a soldering job they had done. I redid all the fittings as they
were all bad. The person who had done the job had never been trained properly. I take the cap off and open the valve on the sump every time I service my RV to check for water. I hope this helps. To take pictures and
post them is be on me.

[10Boomer]

Originally Posted by oldguy70

I marked my tank where I wanted the sump and I made the sump about a foot square and 11/2 down as I didn't want the sump to below the frame rails. I used a zip grinder to cut out the hole in my tank. I used my miter saw to cut the pieces for the sump. As the tank is aluminum the material is easy to cut

if you have a carbite saw. On the side of the sump at the bottom I drilled and

tapped a 1/8 pipe hole and put a valve with a cap in to the hole. I welded a 1/4 X 1 inch square piece of aluminum to put the valve into. The pickup tubes

are soldered into the fittings that go through the tank. I think the pickup tubes

are 3/8 tubing. When I heated up the fitting to take the old tubes out I couldn't

believe how bad a soldering job they had done. I redid all the fittings as they

were all bad. The person who had done the job had never been trained properly. I take the cap off and open the valve on the sump every time I service my RV to check for water. I hope this helps. To take pictures and

post them is be on me.

Wasn't aware our fuels tanks were aluminum.


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