Is the fuel cell pickup replaceable???

Plastic tube looks fine. No signs of pinholes or any damage at all. Called ECI fuel systems, they are the manufacturer of the tank. Great customer service, they are sending me a whole new pickup assembly at no charge. They even did 2 day shipping, since this weekend is my last chance to work on the camper before a big trip in 2 weeks. Hopefully this fixes the issue. I'll keep you guys posted.

rmoore0852 wrote:

Bedlam wrote:
Could your fuel pump be going out and it is too weak to lift fuel once the tank runs down?

I have definitely considered that, but when running from the gas container, it was a quart container on the ground. A good 18-20 inches lower than my fuel cell. I would think that this additional lifting distance would have caused more problems. I don't know how to strain the pump any more than that. It ran perfectly for an hour before hooking back up to the tank, where it died within 5 minutes.

It sounds like the pump is fine. I would lean toward a leaking pickup fitting or line like others have posted.

Could the plastic line have a pin hole in it around the tank level it stops running?

Bedlam wrote:
Could your fuel pump be going out and it is too weak to lift fuel once the tank runs down?

I have definitely considered that, but when running from the gas container, it was a quart container on the ground. A good 18-20 inches lower than my fuel cell. I would think that this additional lifting distance would have caused more problems. I don't know how to strain the pump any more than that. It ran perfectly for an hour before hooking back up to the tank, where it died within 5 minutes.

Could your fuel pump be going out and it is too weak to lift fuel once the tank runs down?

Have run it many times, but usually with a relatively full tank. This was the process I went through.

1. Showed just over a half a tank, ran perfectly for 2 hours. I was just getting ready to go shut it off when it died.

2. When pushing the prime button, can hear the pump. The clicking noise changes speed, like it is sucking air then gets a gulp of fuel.

3. Restarted several times, died within a few minutes. I have a clear fuel filter inline, it had a little gas in the bottom, but not much. While running, it would get little "splashes" of gas into the filter, but not enough to keep it running under a load.

4. Disconnected fuel line at the filter and put it into a container of gas that was on the ground. I was purposely trying to strain the pump by making it suck the fuel up from ground level. Genny ran fine for an hour.

5. Reconnected fuel line to the long line that runs back to the tank. Generator died within a few minutes.

6. Pumped out 13 gallons of fuel from the 30 gallon tank before dropping it. The pickup tube for the generator runs almost to the bottom of the tank, so it should have still been sucking fuel fine.

My thinking is that if there was a problem in the fuel line, it would have showed up immediately. If there was a problem in the pump, it would not have run while pulling gas from ground level. The only thing left is the tank pickup, right??? Where the plastic tube presses onto the metal pickup, there is a little movement. My theory at least right now is that as the fuel level drops, the vacuum on the fuel line increases since the pump is lifting the fuel farther. Maybe it's not sucking enough air to affect anything until the fuel level gets below about a half tank??

I'm open to any other suggestions of what to check. Kind of on limited time before our next trip. It's hot in TX, and I can't risk our generator quitting on us in the middle of the night.

i doubt you're sucking air by the description, at least not at the pickup tube.

To eliminate that try putting a hose in a gas can and running the generator, see if it acts up after a time.

Have you run it from full to 1/2 full without it shutting down? You might also check your vent on the tank...could be trying to pull a vac and then shutting down...just a thought.

Ok, update and looking for advise. Pumped out 13 gallons of fuel, so it still had almost a half a tank while the generator was acting up. Dropped the tank. Pulled the pickup tube, expecting corroded metal. Well, what a surprise when it is plastic. There is an aluminum elbow that has a barb on the end with a plastic pickup tube that goes almost to the bottom of the tank, so now I know that I have to be sucking air. The plastic tube is not clamped at all to the barb. It is pressed on snug, but I can spin it with my hands and can pull it all the way off with some force. I can't find any obvious leaks, and I know that the fuel line is good, since it ran fine for two hours before quitting. It has to be related to the fuel level in the tank. Two options, what are your thoughts?

1. Seal the plastic to the metal with some JB weld and put it back together. This seems like the safest bet, since it uses the factory plastic and aluminum fittings.

2. Build a new pickup tube with brass fittings and copper tubing, all soldered together.

I sure hope this is the problem. Next day off I will run the generator from a gas can that I put the fuel line from the tank into. This will check the entire fuel system except for the tank. I don't see how I could have a bad fuel line, since it ran for 2 hours before acting up.

Typically they screw in through a bung in the tank, otherwise there's an access port in the tank. Could be the sending unit serves as the access port, large enough to get your hand in the tank. You should be able to fix that.