Hi all, first post here. I need some suggestions please. I have a 1985 ford motorhome with a 460cid. Last year when I parked it,it ran fine. The other day when I started it,it kept stalling? It would run on reg & fast idle for about 30 seconds then quit. I restarted it & blocked the choke open,no change.I kept restarting it till the engine warmed up,no change.I removed the gas caps,no change. Two gas tanks, 1/2 & 3/4 full. If I rev it up & down it will run a little longer but not much. What the heck could it be?
Thanks for any help...Bill

 

Is it possible you were using ethonol mixed gasoline? The older engines weren't designed for that junk. The alcohol attracts water/moisture in the fuel tank. It could have degraded the needle valves in the carb. I would suggest you disconnect the fuel line from the tank and run a hose into a 5 gal gas can and see if that helps. if not, look at a rebuild kit for the carb and try it again with the gas can.

I think they have something you can add to your fuel tanks to clean out the water issue

The other check may be the fuel filter..

Hope this helps

 

Something else to add to that, few years back if ethanol was in the pump gas, it was a big label on the pump letting you know how much ethanol content was in the gas.
Nowdays though, you got to look the front of that gas pump over real good for the content label & all they have on them now is a real little yellow sticker down in a bottom corner of the front.
You dont look good you'll miss it for sure.

I hope when you gas up each time your using prem gas just as an attempt to protect the heads, make them last longer.
Lot of exhaust heat in the ol 460's in motorhomes & you need to try & remove much of that as you can to save those valve seats & valves.
Neil

 

Check to see if the float bowl has gas in it. A quickie check is to twist the throttle with engine off and watch to see if you see fuel spurting out of the jets. A better check is to open the view plug on the carb and check the fuel level there.

If the fuel level is OK then, there is probably something wrong with the internal jetting in the carb. If the fuel level is low or you don't see fuel coming out of the jets then perhaps the float valve is stuck or you have a clogged fuel filter or a faulty pump.

Don't know your model but in general letting an engine sit too long can cause gunk in the fuel which can clog things. You might use a gas stabilizer in the winter and or disconnect the fuel inlet and run the engine til it dies to empty the carb before storage.

Good luck,

Jim Henderson

 

 

Nope,I was using just regular gas.It's difficult to get a ethanol mix where I was using it last.
Manufacturer Information This looks similar to the part I took off and blew through as explained in the post I'm waiting for.Except mine had two hookups for fuel lines.

***PS..I have posted another post with pix,just waiting for it to show up***

 

this is the part I tried to show.

 

Yes, inside the green box, there is a filter inside.
Its hard as crap to do, but you got to get two wrench's into that area. One to hold the big filter cap, the other to loosen the fuel line nut. Once the fuel line nut is loose & out of the way, you can take the big nut/cap off to get to the filter.
Probably would do good to use a fitting wrench on that fuel line nut, a regular open end might mess the hex up if it slips off & then you would have a mell of a hess.
Neil

 

We have an 85 Jamboree motor home that did the exat same thing only it was in Portland Ore. traffic. I could start it and run just enough to go 6o feet or so, pulled into a 7-11 and pulled out the test light. I was only getting power to the fuel pumps when cranking the motor, in the run position there was no power to the pump. I had to run a jumper wire from a switched circuit in the fuse panel ( I used the heater fuse) to the fuel pump supply going to the switch in the dash. It has worked fine since. I could never find a schematic for the rig to trace where I lost power in the original wire and didn't want to try and trace the wire thru the harness in that cramped space motorhome,
so I don't know where the short is..
Check the power going to the selector switch on the dash and I bet you find you only have power when cranking...

 

Flamebuster,
Could be you need to replace the switch itself.

Do you know what chassis the M/H has ??. I would guess since you on here, that it must have a 460 engine & with that maybe a Ford or John Deere chassis.
Which ever one it is, the switch if its mounted on the colume under the steering wheel, the switch that would need replacing is down under the dash low on the steering colume.
Probably be hard, to cram yourself between the seat & pedals so you can see up under there, but look for a big bunch of wires all in one connector. The switch should be hooked to those bunch of wires.

If the switch key is in the dash, then the master switch will be on the backside of that in that area.

With that fuel pump hot wired in straight & not through the switch, you could be over riding a safety function.
Neil

 

Thanks for the info Neil, yes there is very lilltle room in the cab. I need to pull the drivers seat to really get in there and see the wiring and find the loss of power. The hot wire is switched and fused by being on the heater circuit but I am sure this is not a proper amp. fuse for the fuel pump. And yes it is a 460 carb. in a F -350 chassis.
I always hated that motor homes layout so we havn't used it in 2 years. I now pull a 5 er with my 88 F-250. (anyone want a motorhome ha ha )
My main point was this is porbably trucker101's problem and not the fuel filters etc. Just trying to give options in his search for starting problem....

 

I was crawling around under this thing today, I thought I had a mechanical fuel pump but nope. So on the hunt for an electric one. The photo I am posting I know is my tank switch gizmo.I had my wife switch tanks back & forth & it clicks when she does that. But is it also a electric fuel pump? Thats all I can find?

 

I believe you have an electric pump in each tank...At least mine is that way..

 

the very first picture you posted is your fuel preseure regulator i think what you discribing is what i just had to replace mine for it will cost you about 58$ and I could only find it at the dealership

 

Bill, could this simply be some moisture in your gas or even bad gas? You mentioned that it had been sitting for quite some time. Try either ridding the gas in the 1/2 full tank and adding new 93 or try adding 93 plus some gas dryer additive into the 1/2 tank to dillute it with good gas. May take a few cranks to get the good gas into the carb. Make sure your switched to the tank that you either drained and added new or added the dry additive too.

Hope this helps as it's probably something stupid easy.