During Winterizing Water Pump just stopped

No, fuel filter has not been changed that we know of. We know the generator shuts down at 1/4 tank and it did that today while running it a bit. It is a Ford Chassis and I do remember reading about fuel pump issues as well. I will ask my husband about that, we can try that tomorrow. Thanks for your help.

Has the fuel filter ever been changed?

Your comment "It seems when we get down to a quarter tank, we have this problem. That is very characteristic for generators, as the fuel pick-up for generators is usually situated that it will not supply fuel below about 1/4 tank. Just to clarify, you're NOT talking about the generator here, correct?

Is this on a Ford or Chevy chassis? I seem to recall that some Fords did have fuel pump issues somewhere in that era, but not sure if that was on the E-350/450 chassis or the Class A F-53 chassis.

With an ear near the fuel tank, you can usually hear the fuel pump run when the ignition key is put into the "Run" position, right before starting. Can you hear the fuel pump run?

I don't know much about your specific rig so I'm just shooting in the dark. Hopefully someone with more experience can chime in.

Good Luck,

~Rick

P.S. One other thing that occurred to me. If you routinely only keep the tank "half full" or less, there is a good chance that over the years condensation & corrosion have built up in the tank and may be impeding fuel flow. Most recommend that the fuel tank be kept as near full as possible, especially when stored for long periods (and "double especially" if you're in a climate that has cold winter temps). Keeping the tank less then full encourages condensation since there is a larger air-space in the tank.

I forgot to mention, we tried jumper cables and it is definitely not the problem, the chassis battery is fine, the radio plays fine. We had this problem over the winter and just thought it was too low on gas, once we put more gas in, it did start. Right now there is 1/4 tank and were going to put at least half in but like i said, when we started it, it turned over and almost started, but would not hold enough to run. The emergency starter won't work with the dead coach battery, of course.

This is a 2000 Coachmen Leprechaun. The regular battery is relatively new, it turns over fine, tries to start with starter fluid but won't hold the start. It seems when we get down to a quarter tank, we have this problem. We checked the fuel shut off under the dash, that is intact as it should be. the coach battery is from 2006 and we should have changed it when we de-winterized the RV and did not. I just find it weird that the water pump stopped and then the motor will not start. It started fine when we took it out of storage to bring over home here. We assumed the water pump problem was the coach battery but wasn't sure if that could affect the fuel pump or not. Just hoping it is not the fuel pump itself.

iluvwdw54 wrote:
During our annual winterizing routine, our water pump worked fine for shower and toilet and while pumping to the bathroom sink, it just stopped. Our coach battery is bad, stopped putting the step out, so we assumed that is completely dead and that is why the water pump stopped. Then we start the engine and the entire RV will not start! We have had this issue in the past but it ran fine all summer, no issues. Does a bad step/coach battery effect power to the fuel pump too?

Hi, and welcome to the forums. :)

It might be more helpful if you could give us the year, make & model of your RV. But lacking that, I'll do what I can.

I think I agree with you that your coach battery is dead, which is why the steps and water pump do not work. If you're plugged into shore power, you should have some DC power from the converter. However, if the converter is not working, then the coach battery won't charge.

"Then we start the engine and the entire RV will not start!" Did it start or not? Did you mean "Tried to start the engine....?"

If it didn't start, then most likely the chassis battery is dead as well. There should be an isolator between the two batteries that prevents them from both discharging simultaneously. However, if the isolator isn't working (or isn't there), then the batteries are most likely connected together in parallel and both will run down. Normally, a dead coach battery won't keep the chassis engine from starting. And vice versa, a dead chassis battery should not run down the coach battery. Most rigs (I thought) have an emergency start switch which will "parallel" both batteries so if one battery is low, you can use the other to "jump it" to get started. Again, if that circuit isn't working properly, or someone rewired things, the batteries might always be in a parallel connection with no isolation.

If the chassis battery runs down, that will keep the fuel pump (assuming it's an electric fuel pump) from operating, as well as the starter and usually any electronic engine control module(s). The obvious result is that the engine won't start. But a low coach battery should NOT keep the chassis fuel pump from running UNLESS someone did some rewiring from the factory configuration.

Like MEXICOWANDERER asked, do you have any tools & know-how to trouble-shoot the systems?

At the very least, I would think a decent battery charger would be helpful for getting a charge into the batteries. Before charging the batteries, check to make sure they have the proper level of water in them. If the cells are low/empty on water, the batteries won't hold a charge.

Good Luck,

~Rick

What do you have to check stuff with?

Test light?

Multimeter?