Isata 5 Fuel Filling too slow

caseymyers · 06-27-2018, 09:18 AM

We are on the third day of a 14 day road trip. My fuel filler port will not take fuel. I’ve been to 6 diesel stations now with different nozzles and they all pretty much do the same thing. Unless you have the fuel going in at not much more than a trickle, the auto shut off of the pump nozzle will kick off and stop pumping. Just as you begin fueling you can hear and see fuel bubble up to the opening as if the tank were full. My guess is that the tank has a venting problem. Under the coach there is a long pipe that carries the fuel to the tank. There is also another smaller pipe attached to it that I guess is the vent pipe. Can you help me out here, maybe you’ve had this problem and you can direct me in what to do to fix it?

And if you don’t know of a fix who can I take the coach to in order to get a fix? A RAM dealer? A Morryde dealer? Or an RV dealer?

Thanks for your help,
Casey

**bclemens** · 06-27-2018, 04:09 PM

The first stop I made was the same way, normal car pump, it was a pain. The next stop I ended up at a Truck pump. It seemed the back end was a bit higher and had no issue on full blast. I feel like on the first stop, the pad sort of sloped TO the pump which may have been the issue.

I am not sure it is as much the nozzle as the slope of the unit on the pad. It is a long way to push fuel.

Engineering saw this and they mentioned to make sure the vent was oriented properly and the middle of the run was secured up. Otherwise it can go uphill in the fill.

caseymyers · 06-27-2018, 10:23 PM

Thanks, I'll study this and crawl under there and see what I can find. I was under there last week and as I recall as you say, it's a long run and the pipe looks just about level with the frame with very little slope. Takes me 30 - 40 mins to fill when I'm down about 3/4 tank. I'll report back after I've had a look, we get to our final destination tomorrow and will be there for a week so I'll have time to fiddle with it.

caseymyers · 06-28-2018, 12:31 AM

We are in a very nice RV park here in Canyonville Or so after reading your engineering drawing I went for a look. I took a bunch of photos, most are of the two fittings near the tank, they sorta look like your drawing but they are in different positions so if their orientation is important that could be the problem. What does the small hose going forward do? Supply fuel to the generator? Or the engine?
I have located what I believe could be the problem and I hope what I did will fix the problem, we'll only find out the next time I fill up which won't be till Friday. If you look at these photos of 'before' and 'after' you'll see where there was a 'sag' in the rubber connector hose between the tank elbow and the long straight pipe to the filler hole. I'm guessing this sag may be collecting fuel, causing it to slow down, backup and causing the pump to think the tank is full? What I did was tighten the hanger plastic wire tie that was holding up the rubber portion of the pipe. By doing that you can see in the after photo that the pipe and the rubber portion are almost straight. Keep in mind while looking at the before photo, the perspective is off a bit and the sag is/was much greater than the photo shows you. Also note on your drawing at the top of the page the engineer added a note of caution, that "Its critical that you make sure you have the listed slope and that there is no area that can cause fuel to pool on either the supply or vent line..." I think (hope) that the sag I discovered in the rubber hose is the culprit. We'll find out on Friday if my trouble shooting is on the mark.
If the photos are displayed in order of me uploading them the first one is 'before' with the dip in the rubber pipe, the second one is 'after' and I've got it pretty straight with slope and lastly there is this shot of me wedged under the coach pushing buttons on my iPhone and via the flash realizing I had the camera turned the wrong way. But I'm learning...

milkman55 · 06-28-2018, 08:03 AM

If there are any caves nearby to explore, you have just the gear you need.

Good luck with the fix, hope it works. I have been following the 5 series and the RAM chassis as the 30FW looks like a good upgrade for me.

FOURWHL · 06-28-2018, 08:04 AM

Looks like you accidentally mastered the “selfie”

**bclemens** · 06-28-2018, 08:14 AM

lol...I'm like "What in the world is hanging from your fuel line??? a big ball of foam? maybe that is making it sag". then I realized the pictures were upside down. lol...that makes me feel better.

But, yes, I think the orientation of of the tubes do make a difference. See if this works first, then we'll go on to the vent and fuel return.

PS. The engineer did say, if they don't cinch those up tight it could cause zero or reverse slope. So that may be what he was referring to.

caseymyers · 06-28-2018, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman55

If there are any caves nearby to explore, you have just the gear you need.

Good luck with the fix, hope it works. I have been following the 5 series and the RAM chassis as the 30FW looks like a good upgrade for me.

My younger brother bought me that and I sorta laughed at it when he gave it to me, but I love it, where it all the time for such chores. Very handy and very bright.

caseymyers · 06-28-2018, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FOURWHL

Looks like you accidentally mastered the “selfie”

Exactly, the flash went off and I couldn't see anything...

caseymyers · 06-28-2018, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclemens

lol...I'm like "What in the world is hanging from your fuel line??? a big ball of foam? maybe that is making it sag". then I realized the pictures were upside down. lol...that makes me feel better.

But, yes, I think the orientation of of the tubes do make a difference. See if this works first, then we'll go on to the vent and fuel return.

PS. The engineer did say, if they don't cinch those up tight it could cause zero or reverse slope. So that may be what he was referring to.

Sorry about the photo perspective. I'm laying on my back underneath, feet towards the drivers side. So the camera is looking from the center of the coach towards the drivers side and at the top of the photo just out of view would the the drivers frame rail, to your photo right the front of the coach. And in the 'before' photo the black nylon tie is actually fused into the glob of foam (maybe the installer doesn't know it expands?

). I pulled it free, moved it back off of the rubber and onto the clamped portion so it's on steel and cinched it up to take out the sag in the rubber section. You can see the black tie in the second photo, plus some white ties I added for support. Once I get out of the wilderness I'll buy some of those big heavy duty ones you all use and replace the thins ones. I'm optimistic that this is the fix and (hope so) I love simple fixes like this.

caseymyers · 06-28-2018, 10:36 AM

By the way, after laying under there for some time, I'm convinced that the plumbing can be rerouted enough to allow for adjustments in the jack mount. So the Jacks can be raised. It is a very congested area but I'll figure out a way. Just needs more study.

Isatago · 06-28-2018, 01:36 PM

Thanks Casey. We have the same problem. I'm unable to fuel at high flow truck stops at all. I can cut the flow of fuel at regular stations enough to fuel but finding one I can get into is a pain. When I get the I5 out of storage I'm going to check this.

caseymyers · 06-28-2018, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Isatago

Thanks Casey. We have the same problem. I'm unable to fuel at high flow truck stops at all. I can cut the flow of fuel at regular stations enough to fuel but finding one I can get into is a pain. When I get the I5 out of storage I'm going to check this.

If my theory and BC's engineering drawings prove correct, it's simply the sage in the rubber hose connector. If you see that, level it all out and go try to fill it with fuel to test it. I'll be on less than half a tank tomorrow and will report the results of my fueling test Sat night. Good luck.

caseymyers · 06-28-2018, 02:22 PM

Sag. Not sage. Stupid spell checker...

halla · 06-28-2018, 02:27 PM

We had a Thor Super C that sat on a Ford F550, they had a fueling issue as well, you had to use the jacks on the drivers side to make sure it tilted to the right for the fuel to go in. There was a breather on the top of the hose right where the hose came into the side of the RV. A lot of the breathers were crooked or pinched and wouldnt allow for proper fuel flow. Not sure the difference on the F550 and the Dodge fuel filler lines.

hiinthesky · 06-28-2018, 02:40 PM

Sounds like a clogged fuel canister to me.

I5PhilGa · 06-28-2018, 04:19 PM

Had the same problem twice recently while fueling, both times I had the generator running. Five times since I cut the generator off before fueling and no problem.

LandKKnight · 06-28-2018, 04:23 PM

Following (in case we have the problem).did this pop up the first time you filled or after a few times?. We are so far so good but have only filled up a couple times

caseymyers · 06-28-2018, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LandKKnight

Following (in case we have the problem).did this pop up the first time you filled or after a few times?. We are so far so good but have only filled up a couple times

It's happened since we took delivery, every time. No matter different pumps, truck stops, regular gas stations, just won't take fuel. I'm going to try the generator off thing too, who knows maybe that's it? In the west I always travel with the generator running using the roof airs to cool the coach, we have over 40 hours on the generator already. I'll know tomorrow when I take on fuel up in Centralia Wa.

milkman55 · 06-28-2018, 06:23 PM

Where you running the generator every time you encountered a problem? My money is on the back pressure from the generator if you were running it every time you filled up.

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