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Tedtoo's avatar
Tedtoo
Explorer
Jun 07, 2013

Need help with Cummins diesel

2000 American Dream. 350 Cummins diesel. I am stopped in a rest area between Clayton, NM and Raron, NM (far from everything). My MH is bogging down. Started yesterday-stopped and cleaned air filter (the big cannister) and changed the fuel filter. Ran much better. Then filled up this morning and drove about 150 miles and it started again.

Symptoms: Power seems to drop off. With foot on floor, coach goes about 40-45 mph. Today, ran fine after fill-up then when I started climbing in elevation, power dropped off again. It acts like the engine is surging a little. There were 3-4 small puffs of black smoke (have someone following me). Any ideas? This is not the end of the earth, but you can see it from here. And if anyone knows a truck service in Clayton or Raton, that would be a help, too. I have another spare fuel filter and just sent after some disel to put in it when it's changed.

Thanks for any help. Not a good place to be stuck and not sure if I can limp on into Raton.

TedToo

9 Replies

  • Don't wait for something to happen, change them again as soon as convenient.

    Barb
  • Thanks for getting back to us with the solution. Suggest you get two new filters to take with you....you just might need them sooner than later.
  • UPDATE

    There are two fuel filters and after replacing the second one, the MH runs like a top! Thanks for the suggestions. Put that second filter on my maintenance list.

    TedToo
  • You stated that you changed THE fuel filter. Their are generally two fuel filters, a primary and a secondary. If you are changing one only, you won't eliminate the problem.
  • Agree with those that say change the fuel filter again. In fact, don't be surprised if you go thru 4 or 5 more filters before this is all ironed out. A bad load of fuel will do that.

    If it is bad fuel, you could pay to have the fuel drained, tank cleaned, (and of course they will charge you a "disposal" fee, even though they will most likely be using the fuel themselves.

    You could also try to find a mobile 'fuel polishing' service. Those are often found near big boat marinas, as that is what is needed if a diesel boat takes on a load of contaminated fuel. Fuel polishing is the process of pumping out the fuel, passing it through several filters, and returning it to the tank. This process continues until the fuel is clean. Probably pricey to have done, so changing your own filters might be the least costly.
  • Had a very similar experience in Moab last week. No diesel shops in the are.
    loss of power, missing out and starving for fuel, black smoke. Had to be towed 90 miles to Grand Junction but they replaced the fuel pump and it cured my problem. There are two fuel pumps...if the primary fuel pump fails the secondary or injector fuel pump will continue to suck fuel thru the primary fuel pump but not at a rate that is sufficient to run properly or climb a grade or hill and if allowed to do so will ruin that secondary fuel pump...$2000.00.

    The primary fuel pump for my Cummins was $190.00. Good luck. Thank goodness for Coachnet.
    One other problem that I had a couple years ago was a loss of power on hills and just got worse and worse in a matter of a few hundred miles.
    My Cummins has a short 14" 1" or 1 1/4" hose that runs from the front of the intake manifold (underneath) to the air compressor. It had a hole you could stick your finger into at the bottom of the hose right where it connects to the air compressor. A very easy fix.
  • Since it cleared up after replacing the FF and then started doing the same thing 150 miles later, I suspect you got a load of bad fuel. Possibly contaminated with algae.
    When this happened to me (same symptoms) I had to change the filter 3 times before all the nasty fuel was used up. It was fine after that. But you can bet I always carry an extra filter now!