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mklimes · 07-01-2022, 07:56 AM

1993 American Eagle on a Spartan Chassis. I've got a diesel fuel leak coming from the top of the tank WHEN THE GENERATOR IS RUNNING. There are feed and return hoses coming from the generator to hard lines that run up and disappear above the tank. It appears that these connections are not accessible without dropping the tank. It looks pretty straightforward to drop the tank, having only 3 straps holding it up. My concern is that if these connections from the hard lines are hard plumbed directly to the tank and the tank is dropped, I'll bend and ruin the lines. Does anyone know if there are hoses connecting these hard lines to the tank? How easy is it to drop the fuel tank? Are these connections accessible through the floor under the carpeting?

MrMark52 · 07-02-2022, 03:14 AM

I don’t have a direct answer - but my experience with gassers is there is always rubber hose at the top of the tank, and you use ratchet straps and bottle jacks to slowly drop the tank down once the permanent straps are removed. You drop down enough so you can see what your dealing with before dropping the tank all the way to the ground.

First tank I did to replace the fuel pump discharge hose that had disintegrated was a 60 gallon tank that probably had 50 gallons of gas in it.
Bought gas “cans” from WallyWorld and siphoned gas into them to get the tank weight down.

tdrees · 07-02-2022, 05:56 AM

Bluebird made a BMC model on a Spartan Mm chassis. I had a 95. Seems like generator and maybe AquaHot fuel lines are accessible from above, but you need to know exactly where they are and cut thru the floor. Maybe someone had been in there before and already cut the floor. What flooring do you have in the living area? On my coach, the fuel tank was directly behind the front wheels, not sure if yours is. I would think if you had to drop the tank, it would get expensive in a hurry. Good luck

ptsaguy · 07-02-2022, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdrees

Bluebird made a BMC model on a Spartan Mm chassis. I had a 95. Seems like generator and maybe AquaHot fuel lines are accessible from above, but you need to know exactly where they are and cut thru the floor. Maybe someone had been in there before and already cut the floor. What flooring do you have in the living area? On my coach, the fuel tank was directly behind the front wheels, not sure if yours is. I would think if you had to drop the tank, it would get expensive in a hurry. Good luck

The area where the leak is just behind the front wheel and the area is carpeted , not sure if I could go thru the floor though, was thinking of dropping the tank but not sure of lines going to the rear and frt ?

Ray,IN · 07-06-2022, 03:54 PM

If you have HWH jacks, there is a stabilizing bar between them, under the 125G tank. The tank has a drain plug, makes it easy to completely empty the tank after pumping as much as possible first.
Going through the floor is not reasonable IMO, my coach has a 4" thick floor with an open space for wiring/plumbing, heating ducts,etc.
I think mrmark52 has the right method.

mackwrench · 07-07-2022, 08:29 AM

Just a idea, but if the generator is running while leaking, it's the return line from generator to tank, can you see, or access the Cummins engine return line to tank? Is it rubber hose / nylon line? Possible to cut it and splice a T fitting for the generator and run the return from generator into same hose?

Otherwise, yes drain tank, you might be able to rent or use a transmission or motorcycle jack.to lower tank enough to access the lines on top.

ptsaguy · 08-15-2022, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mackwrench

Just a idea, but if the generator is running while leaking, it's the return line from generator to tank, can you see, or access the Cummins engine return line to tank? Is it rubber hose / nylon line? Possible to cut it and splice a T fitting for the generator and run the return from generator into same hose?

Otherwise, yes drain tank, you might be able to rent or use a transmission or motorcycle jack.to lower tank enough to access the lines on top.

Finally got the coach to the shop to drop the tank, 3 straps unhook the fuel gauge disconnect the 2 filler tubes, had a forklift with extensions on the arms, lowered the tank and found the return line for the generator was leaking and the vent tube was pinched from someone repairing the tans previously , new line raised back up and all completed . All the other lines looked new so I left them alone, not too bad of a job especially with the forklift

MrMark52 · 08-15-2022, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ptsaguy

Finally got the coach to the shop to drop the tank, 3 straps unhook the fuel gauge disconnect the 2 filler tubes, had a forklift with extensions on the arms, lowered the tank and found the return line for the generator was leaking and the vent tube was pinched from someone repairing the tans previously , new line raised back up and all completed . All the other lines looked new so I left them alone, not too bad of a job especially with the forklift

Thanks for the report back!

One thing I didn’t mention in my post above - it is very important that to you routed the fuel filler and vent hoses correctly and supported them on the frame.

The vent hose needed to lay on top of the filler hose without drooping so as to allow gas to pool in the vent hose - if the vent hose gets air blocked with fuel, you’ll have heck getting gas into the tank.
PO of our coach had a stainless steel tank fabbed and installed - but the installer failed to properly support the hoses. PO told me you had to hold the fuel nozzle just right and go slow. Took me 2-3 months to get under there and see the problem. There is a hanger tab welded onto the chassis near the back end of the fuel tank that a strap around the vent and filler hose are to be attached to. The installer didn’t rehang the hoses, nor did they restrap any of the hoses.

Just FYI!