generator fuel line

[David0725]

I have a 2003 Duch star on a spartan chassis. I figured out the fuel line to the gen set must have a air leak. Or something I have to keep bleeding the gen set. Has anyone ever had with problems and got it fixed? It runs great from a 5 gallon can.

[wallynm]

Yes and it took me a year to find it. I extended the generator slide all the way out and traced the like to the MH fuel tank.

David0725 wrote:
I have a 2003 Duch star on a spartan chassis. I figured out the fuel line to the gen set must have a air leak. Or something I have to keep bleeding the gen set. Has anyone ever had with problems and got it fixed? It runs great from a 5 gallon can.

[Gjac]

TechWriter wrote:

David0725 wrote:
I have a 2003 Duch star on a spartan chassis. I figured out the fuel line to the gen set must have an air leak. Or something I have to keep bleeding the gen set. Has anyone ever had with problems and got it fixed? It runs great from a 5 gallon can.

Have the identical problem. Dropping my fuel tank is the LAST thing I want to do to fix it.

My current "fix" is to detach the fuel line at the generator, connect it to a pump action siphon, and start pumping until I get flow. Then reattach to the generator.

However, I'd like a better more permanent fix before dropping my fuel tank.

So I'm going to try the "catheter" approach. Got this idea during an angiogram when my doctor routed a catheter up my arm vein into my heart. Very slick.

I'm buying a small fuel line to run inside my current fuel line.

We'll see.

I had this same thought I spent hrs trying to fix it without dropping the tank. I had some small dia plastic tubing which was stiff enough to push through, but it could not make the right angle bends. I think the fuel line would be much softer and would tend to bunch up when you push it in. Dropping a near empty tank was not so bad, probably an hr to actually drop it, going to the parts store to buy a new line installing the line, and reinstalling the tank was about a half day when all was said and done.

[TechWriter]

David0725 wrote:
I have a 2003 Duch star on a spartan chassis. I figured out the fuel line to the gen set must have an air leak. Or something I have to keep bleeding the gen set. Has anyone ever had with problems and got it fixed? It runs great from a 5 gallon can.

Have the identical problem. Dropping my fuel tank is the LAST thing I want to do to fix it.

My current "fix" is to detach the fuel line at the generator, connect it to a pump action siphon, and start pumping until I get flow. Then reattach to the generator.

However, I'd like a better more permanent fix before dropping my fuel tank.

So I'm going to try the "catheter" approach. Got this idea during an angiogram when my doctor routed a catheter up my arm vein into my heart. Very slick.

I'm buying a small fuel line to run inside my current fuel line.

We'll see.

[SuperBus]

This probably wouldn't be your issue but I'll mention it anyway, just in case. My LondonAire is also on a Spartan Chassis with the 12500 Onan. I had an issue where the generator wouldn't run for more than 60 seconds before running out of fuel. At the same time, I had been servicing the Aquahot and the Aquahot filter was not installed. With the filter/separator off of the lines going to the Aquahot, turns out the system couldn't pull a vacuum on the fuel lines and the generator would stall. It took me a few start / stalls to figure this out. In retrospect, I suppose it was obvious.

[Chum_lee]

ALL lines that transfer fluids have multiple ways to degrade/fail. They can deteriorate from the outside which you can see (cracks, discoloration, hardening, swelling, deflection, corrosion, oxidation, abrasion, leaks, excess/low pressure, etc.) and they can degrade from the inside, for the same reasons, . . . . which you CANNOT see. Then, they just fail, . . . . usually catastrophically, without notice.

Chum lee

[David0725]

I really appreciate all this information..

[wa8yxm]

Had that problem with the steel line on a car once.. Replaced it with a rubber line.Now I had to drop the tank on the car.. On some cars and RV's you can access the tank from above.. but not the one I had. Good luck.

I you do use rubber like line.> Make sure it's rated for the type of fuel you burn.

[Ed_Manifold]

We have a 2001 Phaeton with the 7500 Onan diesel and I had serviced the generator and it had run fine before we had left on vacation. We left about 2weeks later and when I went to use it If didn't want to start or would not run very long, I thought that I had installed the fuel filter wrong and had air in the lines. When we returned home I took it to our motorhome mechanic and he found the fuel lines were bad and changed them. It runs perfect now. I bought the motorhome new and I guess after 20 plus years they deteriorate.

[Gjac]

Yes I have had this problem. The hose clamp to the rubber hose came loose allowing air into the line, the hose itself looked fine except for a crack and deterioration under the clamp but having to drop the tank to access the line I changed the hose also. If you can get to the top of your tank without dropping it see if the hose clamp is tight or if the hose is cracked under the clamp and just a 1/2 in of hose can be cut off to get rid of the cracked portion. I used a motorcycle jack to drop the tank and only had a 1/4 tank or less of gas in it. Good luck.

[Matt_Colie]

David,
Just like tires, rubber lines have a life of about 10~15 years.
This also goes for fuel, coolant and brake lines.
Matt - has had the same coach long enough to replace all of them.

[Tom_Barb]

Be certain that there is more than 1/4 of a tank of fuel in the fuel tank. there is a stand pipe in the tank so you don't ru the engine out of fuel.. running the engine out of fuel causes big problems.